Graduate recruitment

Getting into a graduate recruiting role in HR is competitive – all the top organisations want to hire the best graduates as they come out of university, and there are only so many graduates to go round. Human resources professionals who work in this area will also look to international universities in order to find the best talent.

India and China, for example, produce more graduates per year than the UK could ever dream of, and universities from America and the antipodean countries traditionally supply a lot of graduates for roles in the City.

A graduate recruiter will:

• work closely with the HR team
• work out which universities and courses are currently producing the right graduates
• build relationships with the universities themselves
• organise events and campaigns to advertise the organisation on campuses
• attend annual recruitment fairs.

The assessment and selection process will also involve the graduate recruiter as, having got the candidates this far, they will have an invaluable insight into the type of candidate they will be screening.

What’s required

For any on-campus activity you’ll obviously need to be friendly and approachable, with a good sense of humour. But you’ll also be embodying the organisation to the graduates that meet you, so professionalism is essential. To be able to consistently find the best graduates for your organisation, you’ll need the specialist knowledge and business acumen to stay one step ahead of the competing employers.

An HR-related degree and a CIPD qualification will be required. Any HR experience will be useful, especially if it’s for a company who do a lot of on-campus recruitment marketing. Assessment and selection experience would be valuable also. Be sure to talk to any on-campus recruiters if you’re interested in the area to see how they got into it – you never know, they may be looking for graduates in that area too.