The demand for campus hires has been particularly high over the past few years with many colleges and universities experiencing a decrease in early career candidates making it into open positions within their institutions after graduating from college and university. The effect of needing to fill a plethora of vacancies in an extremely short amount of time has led to many colleges and universities hiring candidates that have just finished their undergraduate education. This has led to a reduction in the quality of candidates that have been hired as early career hires. The average age of campus hires has been increasing over the past few years with more candidates having just finished their undergraduate education instead of post graduate work. This trend increases the risk for young graduates to enter the job market with little and no work experience.
Why Campus Hiring Increases For Early-Career Positions?
There are a wide assortment of reasons why the number of early career hires has been increasing both on and off campus. The primary reason for the increase in early career hires is the low interest that many students have had in their undergraduate education. Many institutions have seen a decrease in the number of applicants to their undergraduate programs due to an increase in college costs, poor financial management from university leaders, and poor communication with parents about opportunities available to them through higher education. The decrease in applicants has made it more difficult for colleges and universities to fill their classes with qualified candidates that can meet the standards of the institution.
1. The Increasing Number of Early Career Hires :
One of the biggest reasons why there has been an increase in early career hires is because many students have been compromising their education for financial opportunities. Many students choose to pursue a degree that offers them a high pay potential as well as a high likelihood of employment after graduation.
The reason for this is that many students feel obligated to pay back the large amounts of student debt that they will incur after receiving their degree. Students are realizing that there are several positions available in the workforce with minimal educational requirements and incredible starting salaries. This leads to an increase in Campus hiring software for early career positions because there are more positions available within businesses and organizations with low educational qualifications than candidates available for those positions.
2. The Increase in the Employability of University Graduates:
Another reason why there has been an increase in early career hiring is due to a rise in the employability of university graduates. The purpose of higher education is to prepare students for a variety of future careers within their degree field by giving them the skills and knowledge that they will need to excel when they enter their chosen field of employment. This has depended on a number of factors including the quality and standards that academic institutions expect from their students, as well as what they offer students in terms of training and other assistance needed for students to obtain jobs after graduation.
3. The Increasing Demand for Outsourcing:
The demand for outsourcing within the workforce has been increasing over the past few years in response to the large amounts of student debt that has been placed on employers. There have been many businesses and organizations in recent years that have outsourced many of their employee positions to foreign countries in order to reduce their own costs and increase profits. This has led to an increase in the number of international hires as well as domestic hires due to a larger requirement for workers with less education than previous generations.
4. The Increase of a Large Amount of Unemployed Graduates:
One of the biggest reasons why there has been an increase in early career hires is because there are many graduates that are unemployed. The number of unemployed graduates due to a large amount of student debt has increased over the past few years. This has made it more difficult for students to acquire employment after graduation. This trend creates an increased need for employers with connections in the industry that will have an easier time finding candidates within their industries after they graduate from their institutions instead of having to compete with higher education schools and other organizations.
How To Attract, Hire, and Keep the Best Early Career Candidates?
Higher Education institutions have been trying to figure out how to attract and hire early career candidates while also retaining them in order to fill the many vacancies that are being left open. The many colleges and universities that have been experiencing large vacancies in earlier career positions have conducted surveys and asked students what they want in their job as well as what they expect from higher education. These findings were taken into consideration when creating programs that would attract early career candidates looking for jobs after completing their undergraduate education.
The most significant changes that higher education institutions have made in the past few years include the following:
1) Increasing Their Recruitment Efforts:
Institutions have been increasing the number of resources that they put into hiring early career candidates. This includes both sending recruiters to job fairs as well as using social media platforms to search for candidates on their own. The purpose of these resources is to increase their ability to hire qualified candidates by utilizing human capital instead of relying solely on student labour within their organizations.
2). Increasing Their Contact with Businesses:
Higher education facilities have been increasing the amount of time they spend working with businesses in their local communities as well as internationally. The purpose of this is to help business owners find new employees that are qualified for their positions and will increase the profitability of the business. This has increased the amount of resources that businesses are willing to invest into higher education institutions in order to attract recruits that are interested in starting a career with them after graduating.
3) Changing The Requirements for Getting into Higher Education:
Higher education institutions have been changing the requirements for entering their programs as well as altering what students need to do in order to get accepted into their institutions. This includes adding more standardized test requirements in addition to online recruiting software to complete additional college coursework before they are able to be considered for acceptance.
Mercer | Mettl is a leading provider of integrated talent management solutions for connecting and retaining top talent in the early career phase of their careers. Its unique approach includes the development of scalable technology platforms for integrated talent management that enables organizations to increase their efficiency in identifying and hiring high potential candidates by using the latest innovative best practices.