11 of the BEST early career recruitment practices for 2023
Some handy tips to get the best out of your early career recruitment strategies.
For early careers, recruitment strategies are ever-changing. It's about being able to communicate your organisation to a consistently young generation, which can be tough to keep up with trends. That's why we've partnered with our pals Not Going To Uni — specialists in career paths for school and college leavers to share with us their best practices to implement into your recruitment strategy.
The best practices to implement into your recruitment strategy
Understand your 'culture': To ensure you attract candidates matched with your organisation's culture, you need to have fully defined it.
Create a strong employer brand: for Gen Z the employer's brand is a key factor in determining their career choice.
Avoid unconscious bias: Particularly in the CV screening phase.
Involve parents: Parents evenings, taster sessions/days, podcasts and social communications.
Consider a longer campaign to build momentum: Continuously keep your brand front and centre and drive quality applications.
Never lose sight of the importance of the candidate journey: Detailed information allows for informed decisions. Make sure the vacancy description includes opportunity for progression, day to day examples of duties and the lowdown on benefits — including flexible working, training and development etc.
Timely feedback for candidates is key: This helps to keep them engaged and leaves them with a good impression of your brand.
Consider the essential requirements you list on the job/vacancy description: Is there any flexibility on grades? Does previous work experience in the sector override the need for other 'essential' criteria?
Consider the methods you use to reach your target audience: Create campaigns, use relatable influencers, feature role models, explain different pathways and appoint brand or sector ambassadors ensuring that these are relatable to engage young people.
Use videos to boost awareness of your brand and opportunities: showcase your office, people and culture. This also gives candidates a realistic view of a possible future workplace.
Avoid lengthy recruitment processes including long interviews: Candidates are likely to be inexperienced interviewees so give them time to shine.
There you have it — a vast range of tips to get the best recruitment strategy possible. Will you be trying any of these practices out? Let us know!
Thanks to our friends at Not Going To Uni for providing us with this handy list!
About Not Going To Uni
Not Going To Uni is the leading website for school and college leavers, considering the alternatives to the traditional university route.
Since 2008, they have delivered thousands of campaigns for many of the UK's brightest brands across all sectors. We provide the platform for organisations to showcase their opportunities, attract great candidates and significantly raise their profile amongst their target audience.
