How has Covid-19 affected graduate recruitment?

The global Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted all aspects of life over the past year, and changed the way we have approached work and life on a massive scale. But how has Covid-19 affected graduate recruitment specifically?

In this post, we break down some of the key takeaways on how Covid-19 has changed the recruitment process, with a focus on graduate recruitment in the UK.

Has Covid-19 diminished the demand for graduates?

The number of grads recruited per year by a company is usually correlated to its forecast of sales/business demand. In essence, if a company expects to do well, then it will look to hire more graduates that year to support this growth. Conversely, if business isn’t doing too well, then it is only logical they scale back on hiring graduates, so that they can reduce costs in line with the fall in demand for their services.

Covid-19 has been disruptive to businesses this year, and the impact of the virus on the economy has led to a drop in demand for most sectors and services. This has translated to a slowdown and reduction across the board in terms of the number of graduate vacancies.

According to research done by the Institute of Student Employers (ISE), the number of graduate jobs at large employers fell by 12% and is expected to continue declining in the following year. The number of internships suffered an even more significant decline (40%). A large number of employers had also expressed uncertainty in recruitment policies for the next year, which shows that they are not confident about the outlook of business and therefore at the moment not committing to hiring as many graduates as previous years.

Is it all doom and gloom?

Not all industries have suffered, however, and a number of employers continued to maintain healthy recruitment levels for graduates this year. Consulting companies and other professional services continued to recruit at near-normal numbers.

This is because clients have continued to buy services and work from these companies which means demand has not fallen. In fact, a number of consultancies pivoted to selling ‘Covid-19 solutions’ to their clients, to enable them to navigate these unprecedented times and helped to solve various process issues revolving around Covid-19. Big shocks and crises can sometimes prove to be opportunities for consultancies, as their value-add involves helping firms to navigate big changes.

Some corporate finance firms, and the insolvency arms of professional services firms, have experienced an increase in demand for their services as well. As businesses go under, insolvency and restructuring services will be needed, and this is when such companies can benefit from increased demand.

What does this mean for graduates?

Certain sectors and roles (consulting, professional services, some areas of financial services) will continue to recruit healthily, while others will see a significant drop in vacancies (industries more sensitive to consumer demand such as travel, retail, hospitality etc).

This is important to bear in mind as you plan your applications and manage your own expectations of which sectors will be harder to break in to.

While you shouldn’t have to change your career ambitions based on a single, unprecedented global shock on this level, it is interesting to note which sectors and roles are more resistant to big changes in the global economy, and you may want to factor this into your career planning.

On the flip side, we now have a vaccine approved for roll-out in the UK so finger’s crossed that things return to normal sooner rather than later!

Other changes to the recruitment process

Virtual internships were popular this year

Some companies had taken to making their 4-6 week summer internships a 100% virtual experience this year (including some of the Big 4 accounting firms). Certainly, working remotely from home and not being able to be in the office does take away a lot of the experience — you don’t get to meet your colleagues and fellow interns in the flesh, and it’s challenging to build those initial relationships virtually. However, feedback from some students is that it is actually not bad, and companies are making the effort to get interns as involved in the work as possible. Focus on making the best of these virtual internships and polish skills such as communicating on calls and writing emails, which will surely be important going forward in a post-pandemic workplace.

Assessment centre days took place online

Assessment Centres used to be the one stage in an application process which was guaranteed an in-person event, i.e. you had to come in to the office and meet other candidates and the recruiters in person. You would usually be assigned to groups and had to do a number of activities such as group discussions and presentations.

This year, it was not possible to hold the ACs in the office. As such, a number of companies transitioned to doing this online. Recognising that it isn’t easy to replicate the same group dynamic online, some companies have therefore truncated the experience to an ‘immersive’ virtual assessment that was conducted 1-on-1 by a manager from the business. The objective was still to assess a candidate’s ability to react and perform in an actual workplace situation, although the group interaction aspect was significantly omitted.

Whilst we’re sure that ACs will be back as part of the process, given it is such a fundamental part of assessing candidates’ abilities to work as part of a team and interact with colleagues, the virtual AC has provided a unique opportunity this year. Candidates did not have to worry about booking travel and dealing with the stressful situation of meeting hundreds of other candidates on the day, and this has helped to bring out the best performance for some. Having fewer variables (uncollaborative teammates for example) and a more ‘contained’ AC experience may be a silver lining after all.

Interviews on Zoom and Skype

This was the year of Zoom, and many of you will be familiar with the platform and have used it at some point for work, university, or just to catch up with friends and family.

The working world was no different, and many recruiters and companies have turned to Zoom (or other similar platforms like Skype and Microsoft Teams) to conduct virtual interviews. Given the video capabilities of these applications, they are able to produce a pretty good replication of the face-to-face interview experience.

Take advantage of these platforms and the ease of interviewing provided by technology. You can continue to show your personality through the magic of video-conferencing (and with that the ability to use body language as well) whilst disregarding the typical inconveniences of a physical interview (travelling to an office, getting lost or being held up in traffic, etc).

The recruitment process will continue to evolve

The recruitment process as we knew it was due for a radical overhaul, and the global pandemic has perhaps provided the acceleration needed to make the process more streamlined and manageable for both recruiters and candidates alike. Expect to see more changes in the coming years, with technology enhancing the overall process becoming a recurring theme.

As a service dedicated to helping students navigate graduate recruitment and beyond, Pagoda will continue to keep abreast of these rapid developments to help students adapt as necessary and continue to conquer the process.