Highlights from the ISE’s Attraction and Marketing Forum 2019

ISE Student Recruitment Survey 2019

To start off the morning, we heard an insightful presentation from Tristram Hooley (Chief Research Officer, Institute of Student Employers), looking into some of the ISE’s latest findings on trends in the graduate recruitment market.

The Inside Student Recruitment 2019 study saw responses from 153 ISE members and covered 37,389 student hires.

Recruitment budgets

Their findings show that most (57%) of firms’ recruitment budgets are being spent on marketing; including online marketing and attraction (30%), selection (27%), face-to-face marketing and attraction (18%), diversity (9%) and other activity (7%).

The most effective approaches to attracting graduates

Tristram also shared that visits to universities, the use of external jobs boards and advertising on their own websites are the three most effective ways to attract candidates.

Diversity

The study also reports that some firms are making changes to improve diversity, with 38% of respondents noting that they have changed the universities that they have visited to better enhance diversity.

We also know from the report, that members believe the biggest driver for engagement with diversity is the desire to secure the best talent (cited by 76% of employers) – therefore showing that it’s not only a moral argument but it will actually help create a stronger and more talented workforce too.

Hype Collective: What students want in a graduate job

We then heard from Hype Collective, who shared their recent research, conducted with the ISE, on what students want in a graduate job.

The Work Issue Part 1 – July 2019 consisted of 9 industry interviews, 7 focus groups and a survey of over 1,000 students.

Im(moral) values

Hype Collective looked into whether Gen-Z prioritise a company’s values highly (after salary). They found that most students didn’t rank morals in the top 5 reasons why they would choose to work there (with some not even ranking this in the top 10) – which is quite surprising!

It’s time to talk

Whilst young people feel more comfortable than ever talking about their mental health to their friends (90%), when we look at whether Gen-Z feel comfortable talking to their employer about their mental health, only 25% said they do.

Assessment processes have also come under the spotlight in their research, with respondents noting that they are bad for mental well-being, since they feel their value as a human is being judged.

Hype Collective: Panel discussion

Hype Collective also ran a panel as part of the ISE forum, with the following panellists:

• Natasha Dallyn, Recruitment Marketing Advisor at Shell
• Shanice Mears, Head of Talent at The Elephant Room
• Maria Donovan, Recruitment Director at Unlocked Graduates

Here are a couple of highlights…

Asking applicants about their mental health

We know that students and graduates have support networks and counselling available at university, but what happens when they leave and enter the workplace. A lot of employers are making huge advancements to support newbies, but can you ask applicants too much, too early in the recruitment process?

Maria from Unlocked Graduates noted that it is easier for them to ask, as a large proportion of the prison population have a mental health condition. They recommend that employers ask mental health questions after the offer is made, so that young people feel confident that this will not affect their chances of getting the job.

The longevity of a graduate’s first role

Natasha Dallyn from Shell spoke about the concept of the ‘flaky graduate’, and how leaving a job can be polarised by many people, who make assumptions and consider this a negative. She added be asking whether it is bad to see that someone has moved around in their career.

Shanice from The Elephant Room discussed portfolio careers, and how getting the most of graduates can mean supporting passion projects and sabbaticals, which can help retain employees.

Roundtable Discussions

Next everyone in the room got involved through group roundtables and a panel discussion covering diversity in the workplace and hiring challenges, this threw up some really interesting thoughts and ideas.

One of the discussions was around how marketing and attraction approaches have changed to improve the diversity of candidates. Groups fed back that the university a candidate attended was no longer an important metric in deciding whether a graduate was right for the job. Minimum requirements were being removed from job descriptions to create a fairer process – especially since the value of a degree classification can vary from one institution to another.

Siemens and AIA Worldwide: Using tech to identify and hire top STEM talent

The morning concluded with an impressive case study from Siemens and AIA Worldwide on their Sir Williams Siemens Challenge, engaging and empowering engineering talent.

Working with AIA helped to reinvent and advance their traditional Sir Williams Siemens Challenge (which used to consist of submitting an essay-based task).

Their objectives

• Increase the diversity of candidates applying (gender and degree)
• Convey the exciting aspect of Siemens
• Raise awareness of the brand and sells of the business

Advice on how to make a hackathon successful

Get people to sign-up

Using a mix of print work, web pages, a teaser video (showing someone in the field creating a model, so that people knew what to expect), run focus groups

Make it exciting

Show those apply everything that is included (such as the equipment they will get to use) – highlighting why this is a great opportunity

Keep them engaged

Through closed groups on Facebook, an educational hub (perhaps through a university) and event information (so that they can follow updates and competition rules)

Properly plan

Create an event agenda and map out every hour of each day – detailed planning is key!