August has come.

The last summer month is perfect time for hiring interns or graduates: a new season is coming, and HR specialists do their best to find first-rate employees and help them get a dream job.

Hiring graduates has many benefits. And if you still doubt whether to give them a chance of becoming your employees, here are some reasons for you:

• graduates learn quickly;

• graduates are more affordable and flexible;

• graduates are easier to shape into what you need;

• graduates have solid business skills;

• graduates can bring new perspectives;

• graduates can increase competition within a team;

• graduates are ready to take challenges.

It’s all well and good, but hiring a graduate has some tricky nuances for recruiters to keep in mind while choosing candidates to invite for interview.

What are they?

1) Let graduates know about open positions you have for them, and their colleges and universities can be your best helpers here.

2) Have a story about why your company would be a grate place for a young specialist to work.

3) Let graduates know about the impact they would have if worked at your company.

4) Show them options for career growth.

5) Let them see why a smaller company could be a better perspective to take (if your company is small, of course).

In her article for Entrepreneur, Gwen Moran describes and explains these shades in further detail, citing Tom Gimbel, founder and CEO of LaSalle Network.

And what do other experts say?

Five below mentioned recruiters and career specialists (including your humble narrator) have their own views of this problem. They all are experienced masters of their craft, they have hired dozens of employees, and they are no strangers to working with yesterday’s students.

So, what tips they would share on hiring graduates?

Jodeen A. Kozlak, Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Target:

This expert pays attention to so-called soft skills of her candidates, and she tries to understand the thought process and emotional drive of every young specialist who comes to join the Target team.

So, her tip would be the following: try to understand who your candidate really is. “What have they done in their life—in school or beyond—to make a difference and have an impact? Why did they choose one path versus another?”

 

Swatee Jasoria, Professional Development Counselor and Head of Careers at New College of the Humanities:  

Swatee is generous to share tips and advice on finding good graduates and hiring the best of them. She recommends to start recruiting early, when students are still in college, to get to know them better.

It would be nice to make interviews positive and enjoyable for graduates and give them clear career development opportunities. More tips from this expert can be found in her article for Management Today; those describing your online presence and individual approach to every candidate deserve high attention.

 

Mike Steinerd, Director of Recruiting at Indeed’s job search site:

Mr. Steinerd becomes very thorough when it comes to communication skills and professionalism of his candidates. As well as Jodeen Kozlak, he considers soft skills important for job seekers to have.

Eye-catching resumes play their roles, too: a young specialist who can connect their interests and professional skills to the open position, using both proper grammar and creativity, deserves high attention and may become a perfect candidate you are looking for.

Lesley J. Vos, Career Specialist for College Students at Bid4Papers:

Lesley helps yesterday’s students build resumes and portfolios, and she hunts for freelancers. For those hunting graduates she would recommend to check more specific resources rather than big and general platforms such as Upwork or Freelancer.

Heather R. Huhman, Career Expert and Founder & President of Come Recommended:

This specialist is all in favor for hiring graduates, and she explains all reasons of such a viewpoint by sharing an impressive infographic at Undercover Recruiter.

As for tips she would recommend for recruiters to consider while hiring graduates, video interviews and social media as tools to interview candidates deserve high attention; Millennials are digital natives, and a must-have skill for every modern HR is to be on the same wavelength with their interviewees.

As you can see, interns and graduates are worth hiring: they are more affordable, they know how to use soft skills and implement them to work, they learn quickly, they are not afraid of challenges, they use multiple resources for job searches and self-development; moreover, they can bring new perspectives to your company and increase competition within a team, which motivates others to work harder and more productive.

And what is your experience of hiring young specialists? Could you share any tips with your fellow recruiters on working with graduates?