What Graduates Want From Their Future Employers
Each year, millions of new job candidates enter the market, prepared to take on a new challenge and launch their careers. If you’re keen to recruit new grads to your company, it helps to know what they are looking for in an employer.
A recent survey by TimelyMD polled over 1,000 new grads across the U.S. and found that they overwhelmingly (90%) have a positive outlook about their job prospects, and feel excited and ready to enter the workforce.
What new grads want
While new graduates are feeling positive about entering the workforce overall, the pandemic is still making its influence known.
After salary, the next most important benefit for new grads is flexible hours (68% of respondents) and a flexible work environment (47%), and they will need these benefits to be permanent fixtures.
The majority of new grads still prefer a fully in-person work model (58%), with 24% interested in hybrid working, and 18% wanting a fully remote position.
Almost all of those surveyed (92%) said it is essential for companies to offer mental health benefits. Mental health support is crucial to this demographic, as 70% said they are either somewhat or very stressed about the transition into the workforce, with the same amount reporting that the pandemic made them feel nervous about entering the workforce.
More than a third of new grads feel that mental health support is equally as important as a good retirement plan.
Specifically, new grads are worried about:
finding and keeping a job (65%)
supporting themselves financially (52%), and
being independent and self-reliant (49%).
How to Attract Recent College Graduates
How can you better position your company so as to attract recent graduates to apply? Here are a few ideas:
Advertise in the right places. Look beyond Monster and Indeed to where the college grads can actually be found. Advertise on entry-level-specific boards such as College Recruiter, Scouted, and Entry Level Jobs.
Use your social media channels to spread the word. A strong social media presence means you may attract the attention of an about-to-be college graduate who hasn’t formally started looking for a job yet.
Employed new grads before? Use them as your very own focus group. How did they hear about you? Why did they join your company? Why have they stayed? Use what you learn to tailor your approach.
Update your website to include a careers page that hits all the right notes for new grads - this is the place to tout your benefits, your flexible working arrangements, and your development opportunities. If you have recent grad employees, include testimonials from them.