Category Archives: Corporates
Attempting to categorise people with labels and boxes is fundamentally flawed, explains Rebecca Fielding from Gradconsult and an ISE Fellow. It’s 2032 and the new hire in your talent team is researching early careers and future talent, specifically looking at Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). They call (or hologram/VR in who knows!) you and ask: ‘Did we really used to ask people who they were sexually attracted to when applying for a job?! Why on earth did we ever think that was appropriate?’. We will be the people defending and explaining the EDI metrics we find ourselves using today. How ... read more
by Rebecca Fielding I’ve launched graduate schemes many dozens of times over the last twenty years, both in-house and more recently with clients. In this third and final blog, of a three-part mini-series this Summer, I share my final tips to set your graduate scheme up for success. You can read the first ten tips in detail in part 1 and part 2 of the series. But let’s take a look at my final five top tips here: 11. Recruit for potential Assessing and recruiting graduates is different to recruiting experienced hires, namely as: You often do not have proven ... read more
by Rebecca Fielding I’ve launched graduate schemes many dozens of times over the last twenty years, both in-house and more recently with clients. In this second blog, of a three-part mini-series this Summer, I share tips 6-10 to set your graduate scheme up for success. To read tips 1-5 please check out part 1 in the series here. 6. Bust the myths with benchmarks and data When you are launching a new graduate scheme lots of people internally will have a view on things like the recruitment criteria, which universities you partner with or salaries to pay. These views can ... read more
by Rebecca Fielding I’ve launched graduate schemes many dozens of times over the last twenty years, both in-house and more recently with clients. In this blog, the first of a three-part mini-series this Summer, I share my five top tips to set your new graduate scheme up for success. 1. Be clear on the WHY There are a couple of typical scenarios where a business wants to launch a graduate scheme. Most frequently: Making ad hoc hires of graduates, interns and placements individually has reached a tipping point where it is more efficient and effective to take a co-ordinated, programmatic ... read more
By Rachel Brown I’d love to get your thoughts on setting targets to improve diversity within organisations. Recently, I was encouraged to read that 92% of respondents to a research survey in the UK reported that their organisations are already focused on improving diversity and inclusion. (“Let’s Get Real About Equality: When Women Thrive 2020 Global Report“ published by Mercer in March 2020). A couple of weeks ago, I was pleased to join a roundtable session that demonstrated just that. Organised by Shepherd and Wedderburn for their suppliers and wider network, it focused on Diversity and Inclusion (or Belonging and ... read more
By Tim Elgar For some of you – this is easy. There is someone who jumps right into your mind and you can quickly recount why you thrived under their leadership. However, I ask this question a lot as part of leadership development programmes and for the majority it’s a difficult question. Most responses take attributes or characteristics of certain leaders and piece meal them together. Some openly admit they don’t think they have ever had a great leader and find it much easier to reflect on the ‘bad’ leaders they have experienced. Some have never reflected before on the ... read more
By Rachel Brown Why its important your new starters feel “safe”. For many years I have been working with leaders to support them in creating psychologically safe work environments. Employees who feel psychologically safe are more engaged, less fearful, more innovative, and perform better (the list goes on – if you want to know more, I highly recommend “The fearless organization” by Amy C. Edmondson.) 10 weeks ago, I started a new role and was plunged into a completely new type of organization with a very different culture. It got me thinking of the importance of psychological safety for new ... read more
By Rebecca Fielding Whether you are a graduate employer seeking to increase (nay double) your available candidate pool, or a university wanting to improve the number of your graduates entering highly skilled graduate employment post-graduation there seems to me to be one simple solution that no-one is really talking about. It’s simply learning to drive. A recent (January 2018) report commissioned by the Department for Transport, conducted by the University of Oxford and the University of the West of England, Young People’s Travel – What’s Changed and Why?, has demonstrated a significant and sustained decline in the number of young ... read more
By Rebecca Fielding We’re well into the graduate recruitment season and in the coming months quite a few graduates are going to find themselves in the position of having multiple job offers. And despite a general Brexit-related economic gloom, all signs seem to me to be pointing to an increase in the number of graduates finding themselves in the position of multiple offers – particularly in high demand areas such as Teaching, Engineering and Software. Why do I think multiple job offers might be on the increase? • The ISE (Institute of Student Employers) graduate recruitment volumes have increased in ... read more
By Jane Clark The traditional university milkround has come and gone for this graduate recruitment cycle. An intense period for graduate recruiters travelling up and down the country on delayed trains and planes, laden with cumbersome boxes, bags and penguin stands. For those recruiters hiring high volumes of graduates, the assessment centre schedule is starting to wind down and for some recruiters, the hiring target has been met and it is now time for that well-deserved holiday. But beware, in my experience, there is still a way to go. Here are three major themes at this time of year that ... read more
I made the move into early careers from experienced hire recruitment almost ten years ago and quickly realised how differently I’d need to work. It was clear that my strongest allies would be my target university careers services, and that a long-term approach to the relationship would be my best bet. Over the years I’ve worked hard to build relationships with my target universities and I’ve been rewarded with strong pipelines to some of their best and brightest. I’ve also recently worked within a university Careers Service team and it was such an eye opener being on the other side ... read more
The first few months of any graduate programme from September to December are busy. From induction to line manager briefings, the first placements and inevitable first bouncers working out they are in the wrong place. January is often the first chance to come up for air and do some thinking about the year ahead. The programme structure, budget and core topics will most likely have been set for some time, but there are a few key questions I’d encourage all graduate developers to ask as we all plan and prepare for 2018: • Has the business environment, leadership, strategy or ... read more
By Kylie Cook Originally published on LinkedIn Every week, on movie night, my husband asks me what I want to watch, and every week I shout SHREK 2 at the top of my lungs. I don’t know how it started, but it always makes me chuckle on account of me being very easily pleased. My demands for the cinematic delight of everyone’s favourite CGI ogre are rarely indulged, but I know the film pretty well nonetheless. What’s the point? Well, there’s a bit where Donkey and Shrek are talking about people being like onions and having layers*, and I think ... read more
By Jane Clark Originally published on LinkedIn I wonder how many of us really practice what we preach? OK – so let’s clarify that question a bit more. What I mean is, I wonder how many of us find the time in our busy working day lives to take a pause, and get to know more about the people we work with daily and how we can support each other more? There are lots of different models, methodologies, frameworks and complexities to help us solve some of these questions, and it’s making use of the right tools at the right ... read more
Originally published in Issue 1 (Autumn 2017) of ‘The Student Employer’ Magazine by ISE. By Rebecca Fielding If you’re new to the world of student recruitment I’m here to give you a great big welcome. You have joined an innovative, collaborative and fun sector at an exciting time. And I can say that as someone who has worked in it for 17 years! Every year seems to bring new challenges (apprentice levy anyone?), exciting technological developments (AI and virtual reality – eek) and a deeper understanding of the important role our profession plays within people’s lives (candidate experience, fight for ... read more
Originally published in Issue 1 (Autumn 2017) of ‘The Student Employer’ Magazine by ISE. By Amy Collins and Rachel Seignot Bright Network research suggests graduates see a prestigious reputation and a fast-growing, innovative image as the most important criteria in an employer. But what other, more practical, aspects are they looking for? As recent graduates who have taken a wider look at the graduate recruitment market whilst working at Gradconsult, Amy Collins and Rachel Seignot explain their decision-making process behind applying for graduate jobs. When first considering graduate job applications, we both created a ‘checklist’ to narrow down the myriad ... read more
Last week, four of the Gradconsult team attended the annual AGR Student Recruitment Conference. It was Jane’s first conference with us, and it’s safe to say she loved every minute! We spent three days down in blustery Brighton, both leading sessions and attending workshops. Changing world of university partnerships @gradconsult with @FDMGroup, full session. #AGRconf17 pic.twitter.com/PqzvzWIL9n — AGR (@AGRorg) June 7, 2017 Mike delivered a fantastic session with Kate Croucher from the FDM Group on the changing world of university partnerships. They spoke about how the lines are blurred between careers services and employers as universities are getting more involved ... read more