Finding your ideal candidate with the training, the skills, and the experience you want in a stack of resumés can feel like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack. The search may require you to come to terms with the reality that these perfectly qualified candidates are few and far between. If you do locate the perfect applicant, what are the chances they will accept the position you are offering paired with the benefits package you can afford?
Hiring managers and employment recruiters cross paths with talented candidates regularly. The reasons why they don’t hire these candidates vary. However, bright individuals likely get overlooked because of their lack of experience.
While experience is highly prized among employers because it allows new hires to hit the ground running in their new position, many new graduates struggle to gain experience to add to their resumé while still lacking work experience. This single characteristic can be a barrier to both the employer and the employee. However, for those willing to invest in new talent, the rewards can be plentiful.
Why Hire New Graduates
Business owners, c-suite executives, and managers have responsibility for many individuals, departments, projects, and initiatives. With hardly a spare moment in their day, the thought of training a less experienced employee is undesirable at best. However, passing up the opportunity to bring on eager new employees may rob the organization of a bigger asset down the line.
1. Blank Slate
We have all met a new hire so entrenched in how they did things at their previous job that they struggle to fit in or perform effectively in a new environment. These employees are not trying to fight the system. They are merely creatures of habit. Over years of employment, they have developed methods and beliefs that can be challenging to change.
Recent college graduates carry none of this baggage. New members of the workforce are just learning how to perform their duties. Accustomed to adapting to new environments, they are moldable and quickly learn to adopt company policies and procedures and work within the established company culture.
Yes, they will require more training. However, hiring flexible and adept learners provides you the opportunity to train up the leaders that will one day direct the operations of the organization.
2. Innovation
Applicants just entering the workforce are coming from a phase of life that requires them to think creatively and critically – to solve unique problems. Working closely with peers and professors, they learn to analyze situations and provide solutions. While they lack experience in a specific industry, their ideas are not limited to the expected solutions seasoned employees may proffer based on past experience.
Just as a new set of eyes helps solve a problem, a novel perspective can lead to innovative solutions. Inviting indoctrinated thinkers into your organization can fuel new ideas and ways of thinking.
3. Enthusiasm
Do you still remember your first real job? You were finally doing what you wanted, and you couldn’t have been more excited about it.
That type of enthusiasm for the job is common among new graduates. Eager to learn the ropes and prove their worth to their coworkers and managers, they pour their best efforts into their assignments. They do not let their lack of previous experience hold them back. Instead, they seek out the advice and knowledge of others, asking questions to fill the gaps in their experience.
4. Technology
The generation of individuals graduating from college now grew up with smartphones, laptops, and the internet at their fingertips. They are accustomed to the fast-paced changes that occur in technology. They are fast learners and are quick to adopt new technologies and learn new systems.
As many of them attended classes virtually during the pandemic, they have learned to operate effectively in a virtual environment. They have experienced remote learning and working situations, which has prepared them for an economy where many meetings and interactions with coworkers and clients occur online.
5. Cost Efficient
Hiring new graduates can be especially fruitful for a growing business. During periods of rapid growth, employee expansion can quickly absorb the increase in income. Balancing expenses and income may require spending less per employee. Doing so without sacrificing the quality of your hires can lead you to hire less experienced or inexperienced but trained individuals.
Without years of experience, you need not offer them the same compensation and benefits you would give a seasoned employee. However, as you provide opportunities for these new employees to expand their skill set and gain experience, you reap the benefits of intellectual capital in the long run. By providing opportunities for advancement and growth, you also increase your employee retention.
The Common Denominator
The benefits gained by hiring new graduates boil down to their flexibility. After studying in their field for many years, they are anxious to land a great job, enter the workforce, and begin making their mark. This attitude towards their employment makes them better collaborators and innovators, willing to adapt and accept new challenges. Utah recruiting experts know that new hires are an investment, but investing in the new top talent can pay you back in spades as you mold them into future team leaders and managers.