Guide to Successfully Recruiting Recent Graduates

With the unemployment rate hovering under 4%, employers who want to build a standout workforce must make new graduate recruitment an integral part of their hiring strategy.

Hiring recent college graduates isn’t without its share of obstacles. There are obvious challenges, like inexperience and a longer average time to full productivity. New grads also have high turnover; according to recent figures, fewer than 50% of college grads plan to stay at their first job out of school for more than two years.

Still, new grads have a lot to offer prospective employers. According to a recent study of Gen Z college graduates by Accenture, workers in this generation more closely resemble their Gen X parents than their millennial predecessors. Pragmatic and eager for stability, this crop of new grads brings a forward-thinking perspective and an ambitious approach to work, provided that it’s engaging and aligned with their degree.

For years, we saw strong trends favoring startup culture and entrepreneurship, with new grads passing up large firms in favor of the chance to work for the next “unicorn.” However, the latest class of graduates displayed an uptick of interest in working for large, established companies for the first time in years. This means enterprise-level organizations, in particular, should jump at the chance to hire young talent.

The competitive job market means that recruiters for recent college graduates need to put their best foot forward by starting recruitment efforts early, tailoring their messaging, and continuing to nurture new hires long after their first day on the job.

Benefits of Hiring Recent Grads

They offer innovative thinking and flexibility: Recent graduates can bring fresh ideas and the latest academic insights, rejuvenating traditional practices. Their comfort with fast-paced changes makes them well-suited to roles demanding adaptability and creative problem-solving.
They are inherently digitally proficient: Growing up in a tech-saturated world, recent grads naturally excel in navigating and leveraging new digital tools and platforms. This ability helps them enhance operational efficiencies and seamlessly integrate technological advancements into company processes.
Hiring them is cost-effective. New graduates often have lower initial salary requirements, making them economically advantageous for roles that need high energy but are constrained by tight salary budgets. This financial efficiency can benefit those looking to innovate on a budget.
They bring enthusiasm and ambition: Their dynamic energy can invigorate the entire team, boosting morale and productivity. This ambition drives them to perform exceptionally, catalyzing new projects and initiatives that energize the company’s goals.
They have significant long-term developmental potential: By hiring recent college grads, companies can mold future leaders aligned with the organizational culture and goals from the beginning. This strategy enhances retention rates and builds a strong pipeline of loyal, skilled employees.

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How to Recruit College Graduates

Promote stability

With layoffs and hiring freezes continuing to cause workforce uncertainty, it comes as no surprise that stability is the number one thing soon-to-be grads say they’ll be looking for when searching for a job after graduation. Though the data shows a persistently resilient job market, news headlines, and social media posts are anything but encouraging. Talk of inflation and exorbitant prices at the grocery store checkout have new grads angling for a position that promises a dependable paycheck.

Employers should grasp this Gen Z desire with both hands and create recruitment campaigns that promote the stability they have to offer young workers. Use language that helps new grads envision the comfort of job security they’ll enjoy as your employees.

Offer competitive salaries, and be open to discussing them

If there’s one thing you can say about Gen Z grads, it’s that they’re optimistic when it comes to their compensation outlook–maybe a little too optimistic. A lucrative salary ranks high on the list of things the latest graduates want, and when asked to name a number, $82,000 was the average response. Considering that the median national salary is around $64,000, these expectations will prove unrealistic for many.

Still, the knowledge is useful for employers looking to build their young talent base. Communicating clearly about wages–like including salary information in your job postings, welcoming questions about pay during the interview process, and highlighting how you stand out from the competition concerning compensation–can help you recruit recent grads more effectively.

Start early

Since graduates are new to the workforce, their impression of your brand is likely pretty limited. This is both a good and bad thing; you have a blank slate to work with, but you’re also competing with a host of other companies who are courting the same young talent.

Start building a positive candidate experience early by targeting fresh talent before they even have their diploma in hand. An internship program is a great way to give students a meaningful experience with your brand while also gauging their aptitude for a future full-time job with you. Likewise, having a presence at college job fairs allows you to get valuable face time with enthusiastic candidates and, potentially, get the ball rolling on the application process.

Building out a segment of your recruiting pipeline that’s specifically aimed at hiring college graduates will help keep your talent pool filled with a steady stream of high-quality young candidates.

Set clear expectations

One of the key findings of the Accenture study we mentioned earlier is that there’s often a breakdown between Gen Z’s expectations about the workforce and the realities of their first job. For example, 97% of new grads said they needed additional training to further their career, but only 67% got any on-the-job training in their first role. Similarly, new grads may find themselves dissatisfied with the constraints of an entry-level role, especially if they don’t feel they’re using the skills they just spent four (or more) years working to obtain.

Employers can help prevent the disconnect by setting clear expectations, starting with the job description. Be sure you’re accurately representing the scope of the role for which you’re hiring, being careful not to under or oversell the responsibilities of entry-level roles.

You can also clarify expectations by giving candidates an accurate idea of what advancement within the company looks like. During the interview phase, have an open discussion about your typical timelines for things like promotions and raises. Remember, new grads have likely never had a 9-to-5 job before. They may be under the impression that they’d be a shoo-in for a promotion after a year, for example, when, in reality, we know that it can take one to two years just for a new hire to become fully productive in their existing role.

While new grads have a steeper learning curve than seasoned professionals, setting clear expectations before hiring can alleviate the growing pains that come with their transition to the workforce.

Match the message and the medium to the audience

A 23-year-old who waits tables and lives with roommates likely has a very different perspective and set of objectives than a 43-year-old with two kids and a mortgage. Work experience aside, their values and priorities—two important components when weighing employers—lie in vastly different places. So why would you use the same messaging to target them?

To attract recent graduates, create messaging that’s specifically formulated for graduate recruitment. It should cover the selling points that Gen Z values most, like engaging work, availability of training, and the opportunity to advance.

Likewise, connect with new grads on the mediums that make sense for them. More and more, platforms like TikTok and Instagram are becoming a routine source of information candidates turn to when wanting to learn about job openings. Consider, too, that 79% of new grads are willing to relocate for a job, so your geographical constraints may be far less than when you’re searching for more established candidates.

Tell a story

Fluent in digital content, Gen Z has grown up consuming rich media. Recruitment marketing to this demographic should be synonymous with content marketing, characterized by authentic stories that are visually appealing.

Employers targeting recent graduates can utilize platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to share interactive and user-generated content such as employee testimonials and day-in-the-life videos or photo series. To best resonate with this age group, focus on creating recruiting content that’s transparent, engaging, and aimed at forging meaningful connections.

Develop programming specifically for new grads

Investing in your young talent, even after their onboarding is complete, pays dividends in the form of productivity, proficiency, and job satisfaction. One way to do this is through a mentoring program.

There’s a reason 71% of Fortune 500 companies have such programs. Mentored employees are promoted five times more frequently than their non-mentored peers and are more likely to get raises. Mentoring programs can also offset the high turnover associated with hiring college graduates; retention rates were 22% higher for employees who had mentors than those who did not (and, interestingly, 20% higher for the mentees themselves).

Along with professional programming for new grads, companies can benefit by offering informal opportunities for their youngest hires to build personal connections, like social hours and networking events.

Provide ample opportunities for professional development

Despite being eager to roll up their sleeves and get to work, many in Gen Z feel they’re not using their skills to their full potential. Fifty-two percent of recent college graduates consider themselves underemployed one year after graduation. Nurture new grads’ young careers through professional development to set them up for on-the-job success.

For inspiration, take healthcare products manufacturer Abbott Labs, which has been recognized for its professional development programming. The company offers not one but six development tracks motivated employees can choose from, from engineering to environmental health, all of which are related to some aspect of the company’s operations. After two to three years in their chosen program, employees “graduate” with a broad understanding of their focus area and a well-rounded skill set that will serve them in their careers for years to come.

Challenge interviewing norms

When hiring college graduates, it’s easy to get stuck in a single, rigid perspective. It’s the mentality of “we do things a certain way and expect certain behavior,” and it’s only natural for hiring managers who do it daily.

Still, it’s important to keep in mind that for many of the candidates you’re speaking with, this might be their first professional interview ever. If you’re married to your idea of how a candidate should look and act, you might miss out on an amazing employee simply because he didn’t wear a tie or she was excessively nervous.

With that in mind, employers can hire new grads more successfully by being open to alternative qualifying, interviewing, and hiring approaches. For example, consider non-traditional interview environments. Where a panel interview is intimidating, one-on-one in a neutral setting, like a coffee shop, may put the candidate at ease so they can better talk about their qualifications.

Additionally, consider new ways for candidates to show rather than tell you their capabilities. Sample assignments are a great way to do this. Assigning a pared-down version of a typical project for the role as part of the interview lets you see the candidate’s approach, skills, and work quality firsthand. Plus, you’ll get a more realistic assessment of their current skills and how much additional training may be needed to bring them to full productivity.

Turn to Specialized Headhunters for Recent College Graduates

The aforementioned graduate recruitment tactics will help you reach new grads and beat out your competitors to attract the best young talent. Still, they might not all be feasible for your organization. If you’re a small business, a limited budget and bandwidth might make a professional development program unattainable. If you’re a large organization, you might face challenges associated with an outdated employer image or a poorly perceived culture. If so, the graduate recruitment and staffing professionals at 4 Corner Resources can help.

Our team of headhunters specializes in helping companies like yours source top talent to fill entry-level positions in finance, information technology, customer service, marketing, and more. We mold our strategy to meet your budget, timeline, and talent needs, helping you hire faster and more successfully.

Are you ready to get a head start on hiring college graduates in your industry? Contact us today to start the conversation.