Hiring College Grads. Spring Semester 2018. | Crawford Thomas Recruiting

February is slipping away and before you know it, Spring semester will be done.

The first graduation of 2018 is only a handful of weeks away. Is your company ready to expand for a new wave of professionals?

Have no fear, hiring managers, this group of undergrads is going to be great! According to Forbes, they’re known as “innovative, cutting-edge risk takers” and could be “the most successful entrepreneurs.” Before you jump ahead of yourself, not every soon-to-be college graduate will have entrepreneurial aspirations, those qualities are inherent in a generation that has experienced a deep recession and bumpy economy.

Here’s what I can assure you, by hiring Millennials now, you’re snatching them up while they’re still fresh in the workplace. That gives you the opportunity to mold them into the employees you want them to be.

A few basics when hiring new college grads.

According to Kathryn Randolph a writer for Monster.com you’ll want to “Address the Skills Gap of New Talent”

“Many employers provide some type of on-boarding for their new hires. When on-boarding Millennials, employers would be wise to include training to boost their soft skills and help them succeed.

While these skills are learned over time, your company can implement exercises and employee training that nurtures their employee development.

Millennials are also seeking mentorships within the workplace. Pairing these young professionals with older, more seasoned veterans enables them to get a better understanding of different facets of the company while gaining professional experience from someone who has been through the ropes.

Seeing the company and industry from this angle enables them to envision and achieve their path for advancement, a key quality in companies that attract new college graduates.”

Level Up

For lack of a better representation, video games tend to influence these individuals. When you complete a difficult level in a game, you’re rewarded with items and a new set of challenges. This is essentially what newer college graduates are looking for in the workforce. Once they are hired and perform a task, they then are under the impression there will be a reward and a new level of tasks. This is partially true. Although not every task carries a promotion, each set of duties should include feedback and recognition.

Simply put, “they want to see the company they work for working for them. Do so by providing in-house and outside networking opportunities. Invest in the skills and training they need to fulfill their career dreams. Have candid employee performance reviews that provide positive feedback on ways they need to improve to realize their potential.”

Kathryn writes,

“The key point in hiring college graduates is to avoid making them something they’re not. Instead, strive to be a company with a “brandful workforce” — a place that offers Millennials the flexibility, freedom and the ability to move in, move up and move on as they develop professionally.

Hiring new graduates requires getting to know them and caring about their desire to thrive as they enter the workforce. Being the kind of company that cares about these qualities will attract Millennials and new college graduates as well as future generations to come”.