I was reading your article of last week, Graduate jobs market shrinks, and I felt concerned and sorry for 2008’s graduates. I graduated in 2007 with a 2/1 degree, only to find myself with no options and barely any support. And I think smaller companies are missing a trick.
I applied for graduate scheme after graduate scheme and never even got an interview. Applying for 20 jobs a day, my student debt made me realise I’d have to get a temporary job in the meantime, but it turned out I was over-qualified. It seems to be a common pattern: I don’t know of a single person with a BA or master’s, or years of experience, who has found a job in a related discipline to their degree—or even has a job at all.
I was finally offered a job six months after I left university: the call came from a former tutor who was now a director of a branding agency.
Big companies have graduate schemes and the hard work is done for them, but what about smaller companies? What are they doing to harvest talented graduates?
There are a lot of advantages in hiring younger talent, especially in the creative industries. We’re not jaded, our ideas are fresh, we haven’t seen it all before, and we go out of our way to impress when we’re given a chance.
If companies hired more graduates, they’d have a chance to shape how they work, and to make them real beacons for the company. I admit this tactic relies heavily on strong line managers—but if you don’t have those, then you need to review who you’re hiring anyway!
Companies should invest more money in training and more belief in the graduates of today. I was given a rare opportunity; taking a chance on graduates has been so successful at THINK-eng,  that five of our 25-strong team are recent graduates.
What’s to stop smaller companies from holding competitions with local universities, or participating in guest-lecture spots to find the best new talent? After all, someone has to be the workforce of tomorrow, and what better way to find them but in a natural environment like a university—not as forced as an interview, and much more reliable then a CV?
Don’t leave it to recruitment companies, who filter who you should see, when they barely know what’s involved in the job anyway. I was with a recruitment agency who apparently specialised in recruiting for the creative industries and they asked me if marketing was ‘what that girl does in Ugly Betty’.
If you want the best, you have to go out and get it for yourself. You’re the best judge of what’s right for your company. By targeting people while they’re still at university, you can build unique relationships, and lay a successful foundation for a professional relationship that will benefit your business. Don’t shy away from a challenge, and don’t shy away from a graduate!
Klara Zakis, Happy and Proud, graduate marketing executive.