3 Steps to a Successful Graduate Recruitment Campaign
Graduate recruitment season has kicked off in Asia and employers are getting their campaigns ready for recruitment success. Do you have a plan in place to help you meet objectives?
We’ve put together three key steps to help you prepare for an effective campaign so you can attract and hire top graduate talent.
1. Establish a recruitment plan
Great talent can be hard to find, so it’s wise to establish a clear recruitment plan early to help set your program up for success. Your graduate program should form part of a long-term talent strategy for your organisation, geared to fill short-term and long-term needs.
Work with your business managers to identify the right opportunities for graduates, and be strategic with the qualifications, skills and traits required. When you have clear objectives and understand what a successful hire looks like, you are better able to attract and recruit great talent.
Some things to include in your recruitment plan:
- The number and types of roles
- The in-demand skills, nice-to-have skills, and future skills you’re seeking
- The qualifications sought; specific or generic?
- The development program and opportunities graduates can expect
- Your selection process;
- which tools and suppliers will you use?
- how long is your process?
- when are interviews and offers made?
- who is required to help interview, and are they available?
Ideally, you’ll have most of these details confirmed prior to starting your in-person marketing.
2. Define your marketing strategy
Now that you know which graduates you want and need to hire, you can start thinking about where to find them! Are your ideal graduates likely to be on-campus attending their university’s career fair and employer presentations during course lectures? Are they most likely to connect with you online, in an online forum or on social media? Or, are they going to find you in a Google search?
You’ll want to evaluate the way you are reaching your target audience to make sure your marketing is effective.
Some things to consider in your marketing plan:
- Where are your graduates looking for opportunities?
- When are your graduates looking for opportunities?
- Will you need marketing collateral? If so, what? Print collateral? Business cards, merchandise, program flyers? Organise this months in advance, as you’ll need to arrange design, suppliers, and delivery before your events.
- Your digital branding and online presence. How does your online brand show up? Do you have an effective career site? Social media? GradConnection employer profile?
Having an employer profile on a job board like GradConnection ensures your program can always be found, no matter what time of year.
Now you know where to find your graduates, you can start booking in for the online and in-person events that will provide the best exposure.
3. Register early for graduate career events and university fairs and save
If on-campus, in-person career fairs are part of your marketing strategy, then do your homework and get onto these quickly. Most events offer huge savings with early bird discounts, meaning the sooner you register your attendance, the less you’ll pay. It pays to be organised.
Connect with students at GradConnection’s student fair
If you have limited budgets, time, or availability and you want to get maximum bang for buck, you might like to register for our inaugural Hong Kong Local University Student Career Fair.
We created this career fair so that employers can showcase their brand directly to local students from major universities in Hong Kong as well as returnee students. Get in touch for more information or book in a free graduate recruitment campaign strategy session with our award winning team.