SOCIAL MOBILITY AND GRADUATE RECRUITMENT

“Social mobility opens you up to a far deeper talent pool, and brings you into contact with driven, ambitious people with talents you would otherwise miss out on.” AGR

Graduate recruitment often presents a number of challenges, and, no matter what industry you’re in, if you’re recruiting graduates, you’ve likely asked yourself a number of questions: “How can I win the war for talent?” “How do I beat my competitors?” “How do I get candidate engagement right?” in short, you probably want to know more when it comes to hiring graduates.

The early 2000’s saw a fall in birth-rate numbers, so it’s true that we will likely experience a shortage of graduates as 2020 approaches and need to use new techniques to future-proof graduate recruitment. Attracting top talent is an ongoing challenge, and it may be about to get harder, but have you considered that you may have narrowed your search for talent before you’ve even begun?

It’s usually unintentional, but a number of employers use recruitment and selection methods that act as a wall when it comes to candidates from less privileged backgrounds. For example, are you asking that your graduates achieved at least a 2.1?

According to graduates.co.uk 26.5% of students achieve a 2.2, the majority of these individuals either studied part-time or do not originate from the UK. There is a huge and diverse pool of talent here that you are likely missing out on if you have a minimum expectation of your graduates achieving a 2.1.

Social mobility means working together to knock these walls down.

Embracing social mobility should matter to you- not only will it create solutions for some of the questions above, it will widen your talent pool, increase diversity in your workplace and demonstrate Corporate Social Responsibility.

This then poses the question “how do I increase social mobility?”

Well…

Stipulating degree classification- or even using UCAS points, is this a fair way of deciding whether someone will be a good fit for your business? Yes, you have high expectations of your future talent and academic ability may be important, but lower academic achievement doesn’t necessarily reflect an individual’s ability to do a great job.

Pay your interns- if an individual is from a less privileged background, they probably can’t afford an unpaid internship.

Be flexible- take the wider needs of your graduates in to consideration, could they have care responsibilities at home? Bringing this to the table will make your recruitment proposition far more attractive.

Reimbursement- less privileged graduates may not be able to afford travel or clothes for an interview. Helping them out here could make a big difference.

So, when social mobility gives you the ability to make your business better, why wouldn’t you embrace it?

Cohesion encourages employers to take this approach to their recruitment and selection methods. Whilst many businesses won’t budge on degree classification, we help our clients to knock down the barriers of social mobility and access a wider talent pool. Having filled 98% of our client’s graduate roles this quarter, we know that this is a solution that really works.

To find out more about our graduate recruitment campaigns click here or contact us.

Written by Hannah Ratcliff, Marketing Executive