Recruiting a graduate can be an exciting opportunity for a business. But finding graduates isn't always straightforward.
Where do you advertise your graduate role? How do you reach graduates with the right skills? And how can you make sure candidates understand what your business is looking for?
As a Graduate Employability Advisor at Birmingham City University (BCU), I work with employers and graduates to help create successful connections between emerging talent and the organisations looking to recruit it. A recent partnership with Birmingham law firm 43Legal offers a useful case study of how this can work in practice.
From a vacancy to a new graduate
When 43Legal needed to recruit a paralegal for its Litigation Department, Director Melissa Danks wanted to fill a business need while creating an opportunity for someone starting their legal career, so she got in touch with the university.
"I was looking to recruit a paralegal and wanted to offer the opportunity to the next generation of professionals.”
From there, the recruitment process was shaped around what 43Legal needed.
I worked with the firm to understand the requirements of the role and develop a job advertisement that reflected the opportunity. The vacancy was then promoted to our pool of recent LLB graduates.
After applications had been received and candidates shortlisted, support continued through interview preparation. This gave graduates the opportunity to think about how they could demonstrate their skills and experience, while giving 43Legal the chance to assess candidates against its values and ambitions for the future.
The process resulted in a successful appointment, with one of our graduates joining them as a paralegal.
This is a great example of what happens when businesses and universities work together, an employer gets access to graduate talent, while a graduate gets the opportunity to take an important first step into their chosen profession.
How does the graduate recruitment service work?
Recruitment needs differ however our account managed service is designed to make finding graduate talent straightforward.
- Tell us what you need:
It starts with a conversation. Our team works with you to understand your organisation, the role you're recruiting for and the skills you're looking for. We can then help develop the job description to appeal to the right graduates.
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We find the talent:
Once the role is ready to go, we promote it to relevant BCU students and graduates. Rather than leaving you to search through applications alone, the service gives you a direct connection to our graduate talent pool.
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We support the process:
From shortlisting candidates to preparing graduates for interviews, our team can support both sides of the recruitment process.
This gives employers the opportunity to focus on finding the right fit, and candidates are better prepared to show what they can bring to the role.
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You make the appointment:
The final decision always sits with the employer. Our role is to make the journey to that decision easier, connecting you with relevant candidates and supporting the process along the way.
Why hire graduates?
Research from Universities UK found that 47% of employers with vacancies said graduate or equivalent-level roles were hard to fill, the highest proportion for any level of role in the survey.
For businesses, working directly with a university can provide another way to access this talent and make the recruitment process more manageable.
It can be particularly useful for organisations that don't have an established graduate scheme or a large recruitment team, but have a specific role where a graduate could make a valuable contribution.
More ways to connect with BCU talent
Graduate recruitment is just one-way businesses can develop their talent pipeline with BCU. Depending on your needs, you can also connect with students and graduates through:
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Placements and internships – providing businesses with additional support while giving students valuable industry experience.
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Careers fairs and events – giving employers the opportunity to meet students and graduates directly and promote their organisation.
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Apprenticeships – providing a route to recruit and develop talent while building the skills your organisation needs.
Looking to recruit a graduate?
You don't have to navigate the process alone. Whether you have a specific vacancy to fill or want to explore the different ways you can connect with BCU students and graduates, our recruitment team can help.
Find out how BCU can support your recruitment needs
Get in touch with our team
