Reviewing Your Graduate Recruitment Program

Other Sources of Feedback

As well as the information and statistics you keep yourself, there are a number of other sources of information worth considering, which can potentially allow you to improve the process. Managers will probably not be slow to express informal views, nor will the successful candidates. Information will also be plentiful from individuals within the organisation who work with, train or manage the new recruits.

This information should be supplemented with the views of candidates who did not reach the final stages. It is easy to do this by sending them a short questionnaire. What did they think of the process? How could it be improved? Would they have wished to join you if they had been made a job offer, and if not, why not? If candidates decided to withdraw part way through, why did they do so? What did your competitor do to make it a better prospect for the applicant? However, do not expect a high return rate from candidates you did not accept!

Your own application form can also be a good source of information, if you designed it so that the appropriate questions were asked. The response to: "Why did you apply to this organisation?" might give you a clue as to what attracted them in the first place, but remember that when completing the form, applicants are more concerned with selling themselves than providing you with information. A better question to ask of applicants post-implementation is "Which of the following caused you to consider this organisation for a position?" as it is not used by candidates to sell themselves, instead it gives you information about which of your advertising media were most successful.

Good feedback on what students think of your organisation and your recruitment process can be found in your employer file maintained by Careers Services – most Services keep files on each employer advertising vacancies. Some ask students their opinions about companies who interviewed them, and while these comments don’t constitute a statistical sample, any strongly felt view – even from a single individual – is worth noting. These views might relate to the facilities you use for your assessment centre, the travel expenses you offer, or perhaps your selection methods. Most Careers Services are happy for you to look through the file if you ask, but you should not remove or insert information yourself. Make a note of anything you wish to take out and hand the information officer anything you want to insert.

• Why Review Your Program?
• Collecting Statistics
• Other Sources of Feedback