•Read the following article about recruitment in the UK and the questions on the opposite page.
•For each question (15-20), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.
graduate recruitment has a growing role. But companies need to know whether their recruitment staff who interview candidates for jobs really know what they're doing.
Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), acknowledges that in a perfect world, the people who recruit graduates would have been in the role for some time building up workplace knowledge. He says the reality is that the high turnover of graduate recruitment managers in most blue chips means there is little continuity in how companies operate. 'There's the difficulty in maintaining important contact with university careers departments, for example,' he explains. 'You need a depth of understanding to appreciate where the company is coming from and how it's progressing.'
We can identify two specialisms within the recruiter's role. Those that work on the recruitment and selection side need traditional human resources (HR) skills such as good interviewing technique, observation, common sense, objectivity, patience and listening skills. But increasingly there are those who take a strategic view and look more widely at how their company is represented in the marketplace. It's a clear advantage if you can identify with your target audience.
Many young members of middle management are seconded into HR for a year because their firms feel they can identify with job-seeking graduates. Yet in an industry that has been revolutionised by the internet, privatised career services and rocketing numbers in higher education, it is questionable how relevant these managers' experiences are. Some high-fliers see a secondment to HR as a sideways move; a firm's HR function might not carry the same kudos as, say, the finance department, although obviously the recruitment and retention of staff is of crucial importance.
Georgia de Saram, specialising in graduate recruitment at a law firm, is one of a new breed of young dynamic recruiters who see HR as their vocation rather than a transitory career move. 'I was attracted to the profession because I enjoy working with people and it's an obvious follow-on from my anthropology degree,' she says. 'In this capacity, you get to know people and they know you even though they might not know other people in the firm.' As a recruiter, she sees herself as the interface between graduates and the firm that's looking to attract them？ It's such a tug of war between law firms for the best trainees - often they'll turn you down in favour of an offer they've received from elsewhere. You need to be good at marketing your firm, to know what interests graduates and how you can reach potential employees, whether that's through virtual law fairs or magazines.'
A recent AGR survey suggests that the sectors in which there is less turnover of graduate recruitment managers are more successful in recruiting the graduates they want. The legal sector's sophisticated understanding of the market, for example, means they manage to recruit exactly the right number of trainees despite intense competition and thousands of applications. The people recruiting seem to build up a specialism and then pass on their knowledge and expertise to those new to the graduate recruitment sector.
Jackie Alexander, an HR partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, feels that HR professionals are finally reaching board level and receiving the sort of acknowledgement they deserve. 'They are judged by the value they add to the business,' she says, 'and, as a professional services firm, the right people are our biggest asset.' As Georgia de Saram points out: 'From our company's point of v. iew, if I can't establish a rapport with a candidate
A．detailed knowledge of their sector.
B．appropriate academic qualifications.
C．understanding of graduates' expectations.
D．experience of the companies they work for.
