UK companies should be taking graduate recruitment as seriously as their counterparts in the US, a recruitment expert has claimed.
Peter Johnston, associate partner at Andersen Consulting, criticised British companies for not placing graduate recruitment as high on the company agenda as their US counterparts.
US companies place the issue high on their business agenda and also provide much better support for people tasked with recruiting graduates.
Johnston said, “That support gives the recruiter a much higher profile and a greater leverage within the company.”
Companies spend millions of dollars lobbying universities and even individual academics within departments to cream off the best talent, Johnston said.
Alumni schemes also provide huge cash donations to departments that allow their graduates to benefit from the best technology and research. As a result, undergraduates are far more in touch with the needs of industry and employers.
