Congratulations to the Class of 2018!
So graduate, what are you planning on doing with the rest of your life?
Well there is some good news, according to a 2018 CareerBuilder poll, about 80% employers plan to hire a graduate this year, this is a jump from 74% last year, but even more when looking back to 2008, only 58% of employers wanted to hire recent graduates. That is large jump in the last decade.
Working with employers throughout the PEO and outsourcing industry, we are often asked by our clients to find candidates with certain skill sets and experience and most college graduates have very little of either? So why hire a recent graduate?
Here are some 5 things to consider:
- You can afford them: Finding talent is an obvious first hurdle, but salary negotiations is a close second. The seasoned, tenured employee often comes with a high price tag. Recent college graduates on the other hand, are much more affordable.
According to the CareerBuilder study expected starting salaries for recent college graduates break down as follows:
- Under $30,000: 21 percent
- $30,000 to less than $40,000: 23 percent
- $40,000 to less than $50,000: 22 percent
- $50,000 and higher: 33 percent
In comparison to last year, almost half of the employers surveyed said the salaries would be on the higher range in comparison to last year. Still, these salaries are much lower than hiring someone who has been in the workforce. Hiring recent graduates may be a smart bottom line strategy to bringing in talent that can be developed
- Enthusiasm: Recent college graduates enter the workforce with enthusiasm and eagerness to perform at a high level. They have not been in the workforce for that long, so there is an inherent energy that comes along with that.
- Technologically Savvy: These graduates have been raised in a world dominated by computers, social media and technology. This makes them very fast learners when it comes to learning and implementing new platforms and applications. As an employer, this decreases your time to train new hires. They also bring along with them the latest in applications and ideas where technology can be a solution. It is second nature to this group.
- Succession Planning: Hiring a recent graduate, when done right, can have a significant investment in the future of your organization. If you are able to establish a career path within your organization, these recent graduates remain enthusiastic and engaged in the long term success of the company. The company in turn is able to solve organizational succession planning needs.
- New perspective: One of the cons of hiring experienced, tenured employees from an industry, is that they often bring forth the ideas of the previous employer and industry status quo. Recent college graduates are not hindered with “how things have always been done” because they have never done it. They bring with them new ideas and business theories from academia, but even more beneficial is the fresh perspective of seeing a problem for the first time.
As an industry, we talk about penetrating the market not utilizing PEO. How do we go after the other 90% of the small businesses? When it comes to making hires though, as industry, we are often just looking for a previous manager or sales professional from another PEO. What about the other 90%?
My first job out of college was with a Professional Employer Organization. I was fortunate to at least be able to Google what a PEO was, prior to the interview. I came with no experience outside of summer office jobs and internships. The PEO took a chance on me and brought me into the bottom floor of the company. I ended up spending the next decade with this PEO. I worked in various areas, developed into a role of Senior Leadership and was part of the organization’s success and growth.
I now work for McHenry Consulting, Inc… so essentially, mic drop.
Consider a grad. They might surprise you.
