An estimated 99% of businesses in the UK are SMEs, providing around 59% of the total private sector workforce and 51% of turnover (source BIS, 2007). The well-publicised fall in graduate vacancies has created a situation that these SMEs could be taking advantage of by starting to recruit graduates themselves.
Traditionally it has been challenging for SMEs to attract graduates, due partly to the limited budget that can be assigned to advertising and partly to a misconception that graduates only get excited about “Graduate Schemes” for blue chip organisations.
Smaller businesses often face challenges when recruiting graduates due to a lack of budget and in some cases expertise.
In order to attract the best applicants it is important that awareness of a company’s brand is increased among graduates. Budget needs to be used in a smart way to ensure that advertising effectively reaches the favoured target audience. A graduate-specific recruitment consultancy can add expertise in this area and use preformed relationships with university careers services to the benefit of its clients.
A specialist recruitment consultancy can also add to a company’s staffing infrastructure. Even if there is existing dedicated resource a consultancy such as Discovery Graduates can use their specific industry knowledge to put a strategy together and work with the internal HR team or managers. Extra support can also be offered through coaching, support visits and even additional training. These services aid retention, which is something that smaller businesses often have concerns about – worrying that graduates will use them to gain experience in order to move on to a bigger and supposed “better” company.
Discovery Graduates work in partnership with SMEs to guarantee the right graduate is identified, developed appropriately and retained within the business.