1. Return on Investment

By taking the time and spending the required amount on obtaining the particular type of graduates you need, you will quickly see a return on your investment. The ideas and skills brought by high performing graduates can make a significant difference to your bottom line. Some companies do not believe spending is required to secure the cream of the crop, but for most it is necessary, they just need to come around to this realisation. As proof of the return on investment statement, research was carried out by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) and they found that high performing graduates account for or contribute approximately £1 Billion of added value to the UK economy on an annual basis.

 

2. Blank Canvas

Should you secure one of these (or many for some larger businesses) quality graduates, you are essentially working with a blank canvas to which you can influence and paint upon. Generally speaking, individuals just coming out of college/university, will not have formed these pre-conceived and cynical notions about the business or about work in general. This gives you the opportunity to shape them into what it is you need, while still giving them the agency to grow and flourish in their own way within the business. You can integrate them into the culture of the company and allow them the freedom and confidence to come forward with ideas and ways of working which may benefit the organisation. You need to find graduates who are willing and able to be shown the ropes, while still having the confidence to work their own magic.

 

3. Business Skills

The best graduates out there come equipped with solid business skills, having taken the time to work on these core and transferrable skills during their time at 3^rd level. These skills include oral and written communication skills, organisation, data analytics, all of which are transferrable to most industries in some form. By bringing in these types of graduates, it can have a positive effect on the already present staff members, who may realise they need to step their game up, or face being overtaken. It is also worth noting that many of the top universities offer these candidates work placement opportunities during their time in college/university, which means they already have experience of applying their academic knowledge to the practical world

 

4. New Perspectives

Employing the right graduates can lead to endless amounts of new ideas, from customer targeting strategies to process streamlining. If you obtain a well-qualified and confident graduate, they will have no problem using their excellently developed communication skills to show, illustrate and display their different ideas they have that may improve, expand or streamline areas on the business. Taking on board their valuable opinions on certain topics could prove to be invaluable. After all, this is the generation that have grown up surrounded by technology, and a generation who have been inventing ways and methods for getting things done faster and more efficiently.

 

5. Succession Planning

Succession planning is of huge importance to any business hoping to grow and continue to be successful. With the right candidates in place, treated correctly, you can prepare them for future management positions within the organisation. The more driven and motivated candidates will accept any challenge you throw at them as an opportunity to prove themselves. Give the right graduate something to work towards, give him/her the tools to succeed and you will be amazed at the results.

 

6. Attitudes to Work

The higher calibre of graduate, the type GradSecure provides are very serious about their work. They are aware that in order to get ahead and progress within their career, they need to hit the ground running. This means deploying a professional attitude to all things job or career related. This generation of graduates are ambitious, they want to be challenged, as I mentioned in the previous point. These individual high end graduates want to be known for being hard workers, high-achievers and experts within their field, and they want it as fast as they can get it. There are also positive knock on effects because of these graduates behaviour and attitudes. Current, more experienced staff will see these young, talented and hard-working generation coming in and performing to such a high standard, that they will have no choice but to step their own game up or be overtaken in the race to the top. These positives are only possible if you seek the best graduates for your business and do not settle for whatever comes in the door first. Specific graduates are suited to specific companies.

 

7. Extremely Tech Savvy

The graduates who have the largest ambitions of getting ahead do not rest on their laurels. They are placed into organisations and immediately display their superb tech ability. They have made it their priority to not only have the working knowledge of the applications they will use, but begun their journey of becoming subject experts in particular technologies, apps etc. This will inevitably show itself in efficiency levels and productivity. In a generation of tech savvy youth, the right graduates can improve virtually anything from productivity to streamlining of processes using ideas they don’t need much time to think of, it comes that naturally.

 

8. Responsibility

Graduates of this day and age crave responsibility, at least the ones who hope to move up through the ranks of an organisation. Not only do they take on these responsibilities and tasks, but they will complete these projects, and to a very high standard. This gives organisations the option of using their more experienced and seasoned employees to concentrate on other more important projects while still giving the graduate excellent exposure to whatever projects they are left to work on. Again, this can lead to an improvement in productivity and the bottom line of the company by year end.

 

9. Not afraid to Ask Questions

Long serving employees may think that asking questions can reveal their weaknesses, so often they do not. The stronger graduates are experienced at it, from such things as requesting feedback from lecturers in college/university. Today’s graduate will ask relevant and searching questions displaying their eagerness and willingness to learn. They will seek clarification with the intention of completing their work to the highest of standards. They want to know the details of what they are working on, and why it is valuable to the end product/service.

 

10. Up to Date Knowledge

Between their college education and the society they have grown up in and are currently living in, Graduates are up to date with almost everything that is currently going on. From the latest and greatest in social media to who is buying what products and why.  By picking up graduates who are up to date and knowledge-rich, employers can use this to really expand and cash in on such knowledge. In other words, if you can obtain “streetwise” and academically astute graduates, you are on to a winner.