What Is Graduate Recruitment?

Graduate recruitment is a hiring practice that targets upcoming or recent college graduates. Often facilitated by colleges and universities, graduate recruitment allows employers to meet with perspective new hires, while allowing students the opportunity to make professional contacts and land post-educational jobs. There are many benefits to graduate recruitment programs for both students and businesses, including the opportunity for students to go through several interviews and assessments with a variety of different companies in a single location.

Businesses often seek out graduating students to fill positions that require the fresh, eager eye of a new professional. While the jobs available through graduate recruitment programs are not always prestigious or high-paying, they often include many elements that young professionals are seeking, including health benefits, pensions, and the opportunity for professional growth within an organization. Since many students carry student loans that enter repayment soon after graduation, even the prospect of an assured, steady paycheck may be an excellent draw for student job seekers.

Many universities use recruitment or job fairs as a way of putting students and alumni in contact with professionals. Schools often benefit by having a high rate of graduates in the workforce, and often facilitate graduate recruitment in order to help exiting students secure real employment as soon as possible. Large campuses may have different recruitment days for each department, or even sponsor multi-discipline job fairs that all students and recent graduates can attend. Since these programs tend to have limited space for visiting employers and limited appointment availability for students, it is important to sign up for space as soon as a recruitment event is announced.

Different organizations may run graduate recruitment programs in very different ways. Some gain new employees through school fairs, while others prefer to create programs that help students transition from internships to full-time positions within the company. Jobs that require in-depth industry knowledge may benefit from a mentorship or internship program, while those with easy to learn duties may do well through recruitment events. Many companies periodically review the performance and experience of graduate hires, to ensure that the existing recruitment program is efficient and results in knowledgeable, suitable employees.

At recruitment events, company representatives may choose to assess job candidates using a wide variety of different methods. Some prefer to conduct a typical, oral interview that covers the student's interests, work and educational history, and career goals. Others may use assessment tools such as standardized tests that relate to a specific industry or job. Recruiters may also use personality or psychology tests to determine if a student has the right type of intelligence and aptitude for a specific job. Students attending a recruitment fair may need to prepare to handle nearly any type of interview process, and may want to ask previous fair attendees about their experience with a particular company.