6 minute read
Industry Stakeholders
To build and execute a successful graduate recruitment program it is first important to understand the context in which you will be operating. Of course your primary objective is to find and recruit the best graduates to meet the present and future needs of your organisation. However, it is important to understand that there are many other stakeholders in the graduate recruitment industry in addition to the potential graduates themselves.
Employers
The number of employers in the graduate recruitment market varies from year to year and is influenced by the individual recruitment needs of organisations as well as broader labour market trends. A significant amount of recruitment is conducted by small to medium businesses without involvement in the targeted attraction and selection campaigns outlined in this guide. However, there are many other organisations that invest heavily in attraction strategies and recruitment processes and will be fierce competition to your own organisation.
The employers in our market vary enormously in size, activity and methods of recruitment, and span both public and private sectors. Each organisation will have its own processes, priorities, strategies and objectives.
It is important to understand the other employers operating in the market, both those that may be in your industry as well as those from complimentary or even different industry groups, as they may all be targeting a similar group of graduates and thus will be your competition on campus.
Despite this fierce competition, it is important to remember that you and your organisation will share many of the same challenges as your competitors. We recommend that you build relationships with those in similar roles to your own, as it will prove vital in your role and to the success of your program. You can connect with employers in your industry through industry bodies such as the AAGE or through networking groups organised within your industry.
Students
In 2018, over 147,000 domestic students graduated from Australian universities with an undergraduate degree. These graduates are studying an increasingly diverse range of disciplines as universities offer more
and more options to attract students to their campuses. Other factors to consider are the decreasing enrolments in some subjects and the under-representation of one or other gender in other subjects (e.g. males in teaching, and females in engineering). There has also been an increase in students studying by distance so your potential graduates may be studying in a completely different location to the university in which they are enrolled. Given this background, the task of promoting your organisation to your target market becomes even more challenging.
There are a number of sources of information available to give you more information about student numbers or students views:
The AAGE’s Annual Graduate Survey, Candidate Survey and Intern Survey The AAGE’s UniStats Report The AAGE’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency statistics on graduate program gender statistics The Australian Government’s Department of Education University careers services The Quality Indicators for learning and Teaching website.
Student societies are also a great way to promote your graduate program. Student societies often hold events and workshops providing employers with the opportunity to promote their program to a targeted audience as well as online marketing.
Careers Services
For many students, the careers service within their university is a major source of information about employers and careers.
Career services go under a variety of names and structures. Some are combined with schools liaison / course advice, or with the university’s alumni program or with general counselling facilities. They range in size from a single person to services with ten or more staff. Many will have dedicated Employer Liaisons whose role it is to manage the interaction with employers and facilitate their presence on campus. Many will also have dedicated Careers Advisors who role is to counsel students about future career options. Careers services, therefore, are an important target for employers and the impression an employer makes on careers advisors can be crucial.
The most important aspect of a graduate recruiter's relationship with careers services is keeping them advised of organisational plans and policies, particularly if changes that could affect recruitment opportunities are being planned. Likewise, if you want ideas about how to reach out to students, a careers advisor can be an invaluable source of wisdom as well as acting as a link between your organisation and the students. Visit them or ask them to visit your organisation or meet them at one of the AAGE’s regular events throughout the year. Broadening your networks and nurturing the relationships with career advisors will provide your organisation with greater exposure and will enable you to access and recruit some of the top talent at universities.
Academic/Faculty Representatives
Whilst career advisors are important in your role as a graduate recruiter, a more targeted approach to reach students is to develop relationships with university academics and faculty members. They are often open to speaking with company representatives and even more interested in building relationships with industry professionals. It can be worthwhile utilising senior members of the organisation to leverage their academic relationships to provide industry knowledge and thought leadership.
Service Providers
There are an increasing number of service providers in the graduate recruitment market who can deliver some or all of your graduate recruitment processes or programs. In some cases these suppliers will provide a tailored service designed with you to meet your recruitment needs, for example advertising agencies and assessment providers. Other suppliers will have a general service they offer to a wide range of organisations that may only be able to be customised in a small way, for example career directories, and applicant management systems (commonly referred to as Applicant Tracking Systems – ATS) and even development programs.
Examples of service providers in the graduate recruitment market are:
Advertising agencies and employer branding consultancies, some of which specialise in graduate marketing campaigns Applicant Tracking System providers Other technology providers Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Psychometric assessment Graduate Development and Training providers Market research companies Career directories or other recruitment publications Careers fair logistics providers Specialised background checking and reference checking agencies.
Industry Bodies
The last group of players in the graduate recruitment market are industry bodies that represent or provide assistance to one or more of the stakeholders above. The main industry bodies are:
Australian Association of Graduate Employers (AAGE) http://www.aage.com.au/ National Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (NAGCAS) http://www.nagcas.org.au National Union of Students (NUS) http://unistudent.com.au/main/ Engineers Australia http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/ CPA (Certified Practising Accountants) http://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/ Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand (CAANZ) http://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com Australian Computer Society Foundation (ACS Foundation) http://www.acsfoundation.com.au Universities Australia http://universitiesaustralia.edu.au/ Department of Education https://www.education.gov.au Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA) http://www.finsia.com/ The Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA) http://www.afma.com.au/
N.B. Full information on the AAGE can be found in Appendix 2.
Each of these industry bodies seeks to provide information and networking opportunities for their members as well as commenting on, and helping to set, the strategic direction of their industry.
Graduate recruiters can utilise their resources and contacts to assist them in building and executing their graduate recruitment plans and getting feedback or benchmarking information on such activities. Building a network of industry bodies will make your job as a graduate recruiter much easier as well as provide you with exposure to their members in an often neutral and supportive environment.
There are also national associations similar to the AAGE in a range of countries such as Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States that can provide you with information on the graduate recruitment processes in their local market.
