The graduate job hunt is changing: meet the people changing it
There are many ways to approach the job hunt creatively. Stick your CV on a sandwich board and wear it round the City; cold call businesses and tell them that they can’t afford not to hire you; gate crash networking events wearing a Donald Trump wig. Fun as these things may be, the current shift in graduate employment is not being driven by prospective employees, but by a new breed of innovative recruitment companies.
These companies are transforming the graduate job hunt, empowering young people and connecting them with jobs that they really want. They are also fostering mutually beneficial relationships between graduates and employers: it is important to remember that companies need a fresh intake of good employees as much as graduates need good jobs.
This shift in graduate recruitment can be partially attributed to the recession. In an extremely competitive job market, many career paths that once seemed wide-open can close-up. With fewer options, young people think harder about what it is they really want to do, and a handful of recruitment companies have emerged to showcase the full range of opportunities that are available.
Interestingly, all these companies have been founded by young entrepreneurs. This could be due to the fact that the founders have all experienced the difficulties of the graduate job-hunt first hand, or perhaps they just feel that what people want from a job is changing. Meet them here:
Escape The City (www.escapethecity.org):
Founded by Rob Symington & Dom Jackman, this innovative recruitment company encourages people to ‘do something different’. Showcasing exciting jobs, opportunities and inspiring success stories, it’s a platform for people to find work that they really want to do.
Enternships (www.enternships.com):
Rajeeb Dey, ’02 Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award Winner 2009′, founded Enternships after his experience as President of the Oxford Entrepreneurs at university. His company enables ambitious and driven students and graduates to develop business experience through work placements in small and medium-sized companies.
Recruitment Squared (www.recruitment2.com):
Andy Shovel & Edward Jenner run a recruitment company ‘by grads for grads’. Recruitment Squared offers companies ‘try before you buy’ interns, and provides graduates with two-month paid internships that offer genuine opportunities to stay on in a full-time role.
Brave New Talent (www.bravenewtalent.com):
An innovative company ‘connecting talented people to employers in a social world’. Their online social recruitment platform enables young people to assume control of their career search.
It is important when looking for a job, to be aware of the full range of options available: it’s not just graduate schemes and the Milkround E-newsletter. The more people that embrace the companies mentioned in this article, the greater number of interesting jobs and career opportunities these companies will be able to provide.
The founders of Escape the City, Enternships, Recruitment Squared and Brave New Talent will be on our Expert Panel and available for questions and advice on 2-4pm Saturday June 12th. To ensure your question is answered in the allocated time, send it in advance to: tom@open-society.co.uk
