At GCS, helping our clients to recruit the best graduates is something that is very important to us. I spoke to our specialist consultant, Megan Percy, who tells us about the importance of the graduate intake and how it has changed post COVID.

“I have been running graduate events for the last six years; they have always been successful but at times, the logistical problems arising with students at University and College in different locations are quite difficult to overcome.

For example, the Thames Valley has always been a hot spot for Technology jobs with graduates from around the UK (and the world!) looking for jobs in the area. Even if they only lived a few hours away, it was time consuming and costly for them to travel back and forth for multiple interviews. And at the time, most companies insisted on seeing candidates over a couple of stages.

We also found that the most popular time of year for companies to hire their Grads (Spring) is the same time that most students are at their busiest with projects and exams, which left them to choose between focussing on their studies or taking a day out for travel in order to see a client in person.

This year, with Teams/Zoom calls being second nature, processes have become much more streamlined and it has also taken away the logistical issues of having to travel to a company site for an interview. This has had a positive effect on the graduate projects that we are delivering.

Last week, a client came to us with multiple Technology graduate positions. They were exceptionally busy with projects which was exciting, and they could get candidates started very quickly. This week alone, the client has interviewed 10 people over Teams and made eight offers.

The likelihood that they would have been able to get these candidates in to see them face-to-face in the same week would have been very low. But all parties have been flexible and adapted their processes so they have been able to rapidly secure the people they wanted in order to deliver on their project.”

It is great to hear that Megan was able to quickly deliver on this project and due to the flexibility and adaptive nature of the client, they were able to hire some excellent talent which will help their company to grow over the coming years.

At GCS, we have seen first-hand the difficulties for businesses during the pandemic. But it is important to celebrate certain adaptations that have had a positive effect. In the past, SMEs have found it difficult to compete with the major FTSE and Tech companies for graduate talent but now, by being innovative and offering a virtual recruitment process to talent, they are able to move quickly and secure the best candidates in the market.

If you would like more details on how to run a virtual grad programme please reach out to Megan Percy on [email protected] or contact our GCS Connect team on [email protected].