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The Benefits of Hiring Graduates

It is a paradox that in South Africa, even though there are massive skills shortages, tens of thousands of graduates struggle to find employment, writes Peter Nisbet. In this article, Peter highlights 15 benefits of recruiting graduates into your organisation.

by Peter Nisbet

For more details on the Skills Maestro graduate recruitment and development programme, please contact Peter Nisbet on pjnisbet@skillsmaestro.com or visit our website on http://www.skillsmaestro.com/

Organisations are often reluctant to recruit graduates into their organisations. The reasons for this vary, from organisations not having the resources required to run a graduate programme, to organisations finding the risk of not being able to retain talent after they have been trained a deterrent. The latter is often due to trainees and interns exiting the organisation early on, as they have not been given sufficient support in terms of training and mentoring.

Any business needs to consider the return on investment (ROI) of a graduate development programme and then understand the unique competencies and skills that graduates bring to the organisation. This is important in determining not just the number needed, but also where to place them.

If you’re not seeing these attributes in your recent graduates and interns, the problem is most likely a result of weaknesses in your recruiting and development process rather than with the graduates.

15 Business Benefits of Hiring Graduates

1. Lower salary costs: Most are willing to work for significantly less salary than “experienced hires”.
2. Continuous learners: Because they have a recent history of learning, they are self-motivated “continuous learners”. This may actually be the most important competency.
3. Comfortable with technology: New graduates expect to use technology and have no fear of it. They learn new technologies rapidly, and this, combined with their extensive knowledge of the latest hardware and software, automatically makes them a high-value hire both for current and future needs.
4. Fast change and agility: Nothing more accurately describes the business world these days than intense competition and rapid change. If you’re going to be successful, you’re going to need agile individuals, not only those who are capable of fast change but also those who literally look forward to it. Fortunately, graduates have a combination of youth and an excitement for trying new things that makes them more willing to accept and adapt to rapid change. They’re also agile, and as a result, they are able to shift rapidly and frequently between unrelated tasks.
5. Team players: Very few major projects can be accomplished these days without teamwork. Fortunately, graduates these days are thoroughly experienced in teamwork and cross-functional teams. Rather than their having to be forced to participate, it comes naturally to them. »

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