4 Top Tips for Employers Recruiting in September 2022

We are 2 weeks out from our September recruitment season, so here are tips for employers, to maximise your chances of securing interns and graduates this year.

A recent survey of EMA members showed that 100 per cent of responding employers with vacancies were struggling to fill them with almost 40% of employers advertising for more than six months.

Hiring interns and grads is no exception: candidates are scarce, competition for talent is intense, and you’ve got to work for it! Gone are the days of posting a job ad, sitting back and watching the awesome applicants flood in. We’ve shared insights about low engagement, so how can we maximise our chances for success?

We have amazing candidates! But you’re going to have to work harder to get their attention and get them through your hiring process.

Here are our 4 top tips for employers looking to hire interns and grads this year:

Be empathetic

Streamline your process: candidates are time-poor. If your process requires hours (or days) of effort, you’re going to have fewer applicants. Do you really need that technical test? Assessment centre? 2-hour panel interview?

Remember that students have had limited formal in-person interactions in the last couple of years. We recommend that you take a bit more time to help break and ice and be patient as it might take a little while for them to warm up.

We know that employers are very excited to attend our in-person Meet & Greet events, but this is NOT universally true for students. Please attend our online Meet & Greet as well as in-person, as this will enable you to connect with students who are unable or unwilling to attend large in-person events.

Be proactive

Don’t just wait for people to apply, do a proactive search, find candidates who might not have thought to apply and let them know you’re interested. Less confident candidates may not apply, and those who are earlier in their studies or later to complete their profiles might not have found your opportunity yet.

Got some applicants? Great - reach out to them! Thank them for their interest, let them know about the next steps, invite them to chat with you at Meet & Greet, invite them to submit a cover letter, ask what interests them about the role, invite questions, or run an informal online presentation with Q&A’s….

Coming to our Meet & Greet event(s)? How can you engage before, during and after the event? What’s going to entice people to talk to you, to apply for your roles? We highly recommend you record a “pitch video” to explain your opportunities, but what else? How about a personal message / incentive / gift / invitation? It doesn’t need to be fancy or big budget, but something that’s true to your business, your team culture, and likely to attract people with the interests and potential you’re looking for. Conversations and connections are essential to cast your net wide and kick off your hiring process.

Be generous

Re-think your criteria and ensure you’re hiring on potential. Final year, academic over-achievers with side projects and portfolios are likely to be super popular. Remember it’s a global talent market, and international/remote jobs are on offer to grads, too. By all means, connect with them, woo them, hire them… but please also consider widening your search and loosening your traditional criteria!

Interns and grads are unlikely to come with relevant experience, and if they’ve had a rocky couple of years with their study/life situation, their skills and knowledge may need extra support. If you and your team can support newbies, if you have the capacity to train and mentor, please consider less traditional candidates, design your hiring process to help them show you their awesomeness, and take a chance!

Invest to grow, and retain. Do it for your team, but also for the wider tech industry. The only way to address our talent shortage is to invest, hire, grow and retain our people. The best time to hire interns was 5 years ago, the second best time is NOW.

Be authentic

Now more than ever before, you need to pay attention to candidate experience. This includes the people you want to hire and the people you don’t (yet) want to hire! Student word of mouth is a very important marketing tool, and if someone has a poor experience applying to your company, they will tell their friends, and this will very likely impact your future recruitment efforts. If you chat to a student who isn’t quite ready for your role this year but manage to leave them with a positive impression, some tips and practical things to work on, then they’re much more likely to come and chat with you next year, or the year after.

Be clear about your organisation's values and team culture. Talk about your mission and the value of the work they’ll do. It is essential to understand their learning and development goals and be clear about how you’ll support their development during their contract, and if there’s scope for ongoing employment.