Hiring new graduates has often been seen as a risky move for businesses. The unpredictability of their ability to learn quickly and the cost and time resulting from ongoing training needs can turn off business owners.
In turn, graduates fresh out of university and TAFE often find it hard to take the first step in their career due to employer demands for entry-level recruits with previous experience. But how can they gain experience if business owners are too afraid to give them a chance?
Unfortunately, this has scared many talented and proactive employees away from the Hunter region.
I think we can all agree that we want to keep our talented individuals here to benefit our community, rather than another.
At The Marketing GP, we have been proactive in recruiting new graduates and believe they offer countless opportunities and benefits to businesses, particularly as they offer a different perspective and set of skills to what is offered by our team of seasoned professionals. Over the past few years, we have recruited 11 new graduates who had either just completed their degree or were polishing it off when they commenced with us.
In fact, we’ve hired three new graduates in the past six months alone as part of our growth trajectory.
As a business owner, I get it! From a short-term profit perspective and time investment, hiring a new grad may not align with your initial instincts. But hear me out! We like to hire the right person for the job. And that’s largely around cultural fit – you can train the right person, but you can’t change their attitude.
Finding the right person and investing in them, even if that does mean additional training time and costs, will pay dividends over the long-term.
Here are five reasons why.
- They bring new perspectives to your business
The new generation of employees have grown up in an era rich in innovation, and universities today encourage new idea creation. Students today are open to thinking outside of the box, can view your business from a different perspective and go beyond the norm to help you gain a competitive edge over competitors.
Our new graduates are always part of our business strategy days and make crucial contributions to our direction, as well as to the tactics we offer our clients.
- Their minds are a clean slate
For most new graduates, this is their first full-time role, so they haven’t been affected by the practices of previous workplaces. As a result, they are often quicker to adapt to your processes and systems. It can be easier to teach a new grad your preferred way to work than mould someone with previous habits.
We are continuously improving our systems and processes and find our new graduates are nimbler in embracing new workplace practices, particularly around technology, then some seasoned employees.
- They know tech
Technology plays an extremely important role in any business. The right technology will help make your business more efficient, successful and competitive.
Students today have grown up with technology – it has become a natural part of their daily lives and, as a result, they are extremely efficient in adapting to new technology and finding solutions to improve your current tech stack. We recently upgraded our project management system and found our new graduates were able to pick up the technology quickly upon commencing with us.
Their generation are also more likely to stay up-to-date with new technology trends, features and functionalities, which means you’ll have access to technology that can help your business sooner.
If your current team isn’t particularly computer or tech literate, a new graduate might be the perfect fit by filling that gap.
- Grads are more affordable while they’re learning … and they love to learn
As this is their first role within a business, new graduates are more open to a lower salary compared to seasoned professionals, in return for the chance, training and experience. We believe it takes around three months to properly onboard a new employee – if you are spending less over those three months for training, that makes the time off the tools easier financially.
And whilst you are paying a lower wage, new graduates are extremely keen to learn, grow and progress. We find that our new graduates are extremely willing to learn, spend time on self-education, and are able to make meaningful contributions to the business and our work quickly as a result.
- We have a responsibility to take care of our industry
Beyond the finances, we believe there is a social responsibility for businesses to support the next generation and the industry we work within. Making money is one thing but providing a step-up and an opportunity for new graduates learn in the field from industry experts is the key to ensure our industry continues to progress and keep our talent in the Hunter region is a worthwhile reason to recruit graduates in itself.
Now is your chance to be the business that provides that first opportunity for tomorrow’s leaders, and benefit from that in turn.
That’s cause enough to us!
