Articles 2 min read

3 Graduate Recruitment Trends To Get Ahead Of The Curve

Are you attracting the right talent?

We live in a different world of recruitment.

How graduate talent works, looks for jobs and wants to be hired has drastically changed in the last two years.

One thing is for sure; getting an accurate pulse on emerging graduate recruitment trends isn’t easy.

We put the legwork into identifying and summarizing those key trends for you.

After reading this article, you’ll have a huge edge in recruiting in an increasingly competitive environment.

Here are the top 3 graduate recruitment trends to take advantage of in 2022:

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in graduate recruitment

Undeniably, interest in recruitment AI and its uses has been steadily increasing since the early 2000s.

“Recruitment AI” has finally caught up to interest in “Recruitment tools” – Source: Google Trends

So does AI help? Or is it just a buzzword?

While AI was previously the stuff of science fiction, it has finally become a practical reality.

Its applications are entirely overhauling the operating model in some industries.

Graduate recruitment is no exception.

Here’s how AI can make your recruiting life easier:

  • High-volume tasks and busy work can be automated, leaving recruiters more time to focus on high impact work.
  • AI-standardized job matching means a fairer recruiting model and higher candidate quality.
  • Identify the candidate skills and traits you can help build to unlock their potential.
2. A shift toward values-based recruitment

Credentials and hard skills are a must.

We all know that.

However, there’s a big trend making waves in recruitment: values and behaviors deserve as much (if not more) weight as skills.

Why?

  1. Values drive behavior.
  2. Behavior builds habits.
  3. Habits train skills.
  4. Recognition of skills reinforces values.

Values are the foundation on which skills and performance build.

This cycle repeats, creating a positive feedback loop.

The more aligned a candidate’s values are with a company’s, the stronger the feedback loop becomes. Their continuous growth within your company has a halo effect on the people they interact with, helping to nurture an engaging, high-performance company culture.

So how do you evaluate values and behaviors?

Psychometric testing is a fast and accurate way to determine a candidate’s:

  • Cognitive abilities
  • Personality
  • Work behaviors, and
  • Potential to grow within their role

It’s clear why 78% of HR and recruitment professionals consider it to be a “powerful tool.”

3. Creating an amazing candidate experience

“Candidate experience” is every touch-point a candidate has with your company during the hiring process. It can start as early as they hear about your company and continue long past their last interaction with you.

Why candidate experience matters:

  • It’s their first impression of you and your company.
  • It influences how engaged they are and how likely they are to accept your offer.
  • It impacts your retention rates post-hire.
  • It turns into word of mouth — good or bad.

So how can you make sure it’s a fantastic candidate experience?

Here are some tips:

  • Optimize for mobile experience; as of 2022, Pulsifi observes an average of 53% of candidates accessing the platform via mobile device. Make it a seamless experience, and you won’t frustrate or alienate candidates.
  • Have a more inclusive process; show candidates that you don’t think of them as just a resume.
  • Run personality tests to show that you’re trying to get to know them.

Combining these tips makes your process feel like a personalized candidate experience.

How to get ahead of the trend
At Pulsifi, it’s our mission to help teams like yours find and acquire the best candidates at scale. 

Our platform uses AI and predictive analytics to help People teams focus on what they do best; find, acquire, and nurture the best talent.

Some quick examples of companies using Pulsifi:

  • Nestlé saw a 97% accurate job performance prediction for new hires
  • Baxter saves more than 65% of its time screening candidates
  • Heineken’s candidates gave their candidate experience 90% satisfaction

You can explore exactly how we helped them and the results they achieved here.

We help recruitment teams that:

  • Aren’t able to go deep to understand each candidate
  • Don’t have enough time to consider all candidates
  • Aren’t hiring the right candidates that perform and are committed

If any of that sounds familiar, feel free to book a demo here.

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