How to pick the right graduate for your recruitment role
If you’re a recruiter, the chances are at some point you’ve had a shortage of experienced talent knocking on your door. Grads are the perfect solution, but there’s so many out there with no previous experience - so what do we base our decisions on?
Hiring graduates makes perfect sense, after all, how can we as an industry expect a constant stream of high calibre experienced recruiters when we’re not introducing new talent at a junior level.
However, the graduate hiring process can feel like a total minefield, so if you’re feeling a lingering sense of doom and confusion, I'm here to walk you through some things to consider.
Do they understand the job?
When graduate applications start rolling in you want to be sure they aren’t just hitting the apply button for anything and everything they scroll past on LinkedIn.
It’s no secret that most of us in recruitment didn’t have a lifelong dream to work in the industry, but it’s still really important that they’ve shown some initiative and done some homework on the type of work they’ll be doing in the role.
Is the role in line with their skill set?
Is it something they want to do?
You want to onboard people that know what they’re getting into, so if they have no idea what a recruiter does - they may need to go away and research further.
Think Transferable
A degree is fantastic, but with no other life experiences on top, what strong transferable skills will they actually have?
Many recruiters look for candidates with relevant experience that they can get up and running quickly, but when it comes to looking at your candidates, it’s always important to think about their transferable skills too.
Pay attention to what part-time jobs they’ve had in the past and any hobbies they may mention, at face value these may not seem relevant, but these experiences will have given them life skills and can tell you a lot about the maturity and potential of a graduate.
Both hard and soft skills can take a long time to master, but once they’re picked up, they can be used in a variety of situations and areas, from managing people to communicating effectively. Transferable skills shouldn’t be overlooked and can come with the benefit of less need for support longer term.
Don’t Focus On Their Degree Subject
When it comes to working in a recruitment role, what they studied at University isn’t going to make much of a difference to their recruitment potential.
For example, employees can be tunnel-visioned on hiring a science graduate for a recruitment role that’s pharmaceutical-based, but the reality is it makes no difference and there are far more important things to be looking out for.
A related degree won’t be valuable if their skill set, potential and personality aren’t a match for what you need. While what they’ve studied can be an advantage, looking at the bigger picture will allow you to find applicants that you otherwise may have overlooked based on their degree subject.
Recruitment is essentially a sales role
Recruitment is a two-fold sales role, as you need to sell the position to the candidate, while at the same time selling the candidate to the client. So, you need to be testing their potential to sell during the interview process.
Someone might have a great degree and come across well whilst you’re having a chat, but if they can’t get through a sales role-play, are they the right person to fill the role? Hiring the wrong person can be costly and can really slow down your agency’s growth plans.
Introducing role plays in your interview process will let you see them in a situation that resembles the typical conditions of the role and how they cope with the tasks. Role-plays can be an uncomfortable experience and nerves are bound to kick in, so let’s remember that we’re not looking for perfection, but potential.
Understand their personality and behaviours
How a new hire fits into your team is so important, you want someone who’s able to handle the highs and lows of the role. Recruitment is such a people-focused role, so you need to hire graduates who you are confident and will be great with both clients and candidates.
Conducting a personality profile like a DISC assessment as part of your interview process will help you learn a lot about the behaviours and personality traits of a person and will help you probe them further around important areas, such as, how they prefer to communicate and what their approach to work and life is. This insight gives you the ability to find out more about a person’s traits before even offering them a job.
So, You’ve Found The Perfect Person, What Now?
A common mistake that a lot of companies make is assuming new hires will learn on the job but once you’ve found the right grads and invested in them with time and effort, you want to keep them there.
It’s vitally important that grads are well trained so they fully understand how to do the job. Providing coaching can promote and embed learning in graduate starters by helping them to appreciate the role and what is required of them. Coaching can also promote independent thinking in all staff, not just your new starters. It provides your team with the opportunity to continue to flourish professionally, by offering the right support and coaching throughout their career.
This should be the cornerstone of your onboarding process and be seen as a long-term investment, as coaching can lead to higher staff retention, a better reputation, a more adaptable and better-performing team.
If you're struggling to train and get the most out of your new grads, I’ve put together this free email series for you including 6 emails to give you everything you need step by step to bring on the right graduates!
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