Hiring Fresh Graduates

Confession: I've sucked at hiring fresh grads in my career.

It seems like an easy task but it took me years to realize my mistakes.

If you do it wrong, you:

1. Miss out on high potential talent

2. Hire misfits who are temporarily using you as a substitute for a real job

3. Fail to develop talent batches with future leadership potential

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This will be the first of a series of posts on this topic.

First, why do employers hire fresh grads?

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Some valid reasons are:

1. Low cost.

2. The job doesn't require an extensive skillset.

3. You prefer energy of someone who is hungry to prove themselves.

4. You want raw promising talent that can be groomed into a force.

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Now, here are some WRONG reasons:

1. Hire multiple fresh grads to cover for 1 experienced professional.

2. Throw more newbies at a problem (without a supervision layer).

3. Hire quickly to get by work only to recycle them next year with a new batch.

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Why? These strategies invariably hurt your brand, ROI & productivity.

Next post: Sourcing.

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