5 Important Things To Remember If You’re Hiring New College Grads in 2021
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New graduates are applying for jobs by the hundreds. They are sending out applications just hoping that someone will give them a chance at a job even though they don’t have any experience yet. It can be frustrating and demoralizing to hear no hundreds of times even though they took the time to study in college, got good grades, and even went the next step to get applicable certifications. It’s important to look at your talent pool with fresh eyes if you want to include some of these new graduates to your staff. While they need to be held to high standards, it’s important to consider the most important qualities you need at your company. Here are some important factors to keep in mind.
2021 Graduates May Not Have As Much Internship Experience As Previous Years’ Grads
Do you know that 2020 was a wild year? With a worldwide pandemic, everything shut down. This included most of these students’ internship opportunities. Looking at their resume may look like it’s just college, but there are important lessons they learned in 2020 that aren’t as easily quantifiable. They likely had to change everything about their life and learning in an instant. They may have gone from in-person classes to online ones overnight. So while their internship experience might be lacking, what other experiences do they have instead?
What Skeletons Are In Their Closet?
Legally, all you can really do is run background checks. A good check can help you weed out people from your applicant pool with a criminal history if it would impact your business. Some industries also require clean background checks because of the access to sensitive data. Access to personal client information, financial data, and even servers means that each applicant should have a clean record. Additionally, they can identify violent or aggressive offenders that could be dangerous for your staff. It’s important to offer a non-discriminatory hiring process.
New Graduates Don’t Like To Waste Their Time
Don’t ask them to do meaningless tests. It’s a waste of your time and resources and may cause you to lose a great potential employee. They finished college, likely online, during a pandemic. What they need are interviews, not typing tests or tests on filing documents. There are some tests that can provide valuable information for both you and the candidate. These can be done later in the interview process if you need help deciding between two great employees. 2021 graduates want to innovate and share their ideas. They are ready to work and they will work hard for your company in any situation.
They Need Your Respect
New graduates are not babies. Even though they lack the expertise of someone who has been in the industry for 30+ years, it doesn’t mean they are lesser. Some companies tend to treat new grads as if they are children. This will not go well for you. They are professionals and colleagues. While they are new to the industry, it doesn’t make their lived experience and education worthless. Show them respect and they will give it back. If you want quality candidates who work hard and rave about your company, respect is the best way to get it.
They Need Clear Social Media Policies
One thing about recent graduates that could be a negative is they are great at social media. They are so great about it that they may not know what’s expected in a work environment. Creating clear policies about phone use, social media use, and connecting on technology on the job is critical. Not just for them, but for all your employees. It’s best if they know when they can and cannot be on social media and even what they can and cannot share on social media. Some employees might think nothing of sharing pictures of their workspace, but if there is anything sensitive in the background it could be a problem. Make sure to share the policies and hold all staff to the same expectations.
New graduates are an excellent addition to any company. Hiring 2021 grads can provide valuable resiliency, creative ideas, and new energy that can revitalize any team. Their enthusiasm, education, and lived experiences make them the perfect candidates.
