Recruiting Young People : A Best Practice Guide

RECRUITING YOUNG PEOPLE: A BEST PRACTICE GUIDE

For the electronic version please go to: www.neweconomymanchester.com/stories/1844-recruitment

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Why employ young people?

It is well known that unemployment is rising and perhaps equally well known that youth unemployment is a particular concern. In Greater Manchester there are currently in the region of 45,000 unemployed 16-24 year olds (July 2013).

In difficult times, young people are particularly disadvantaged when it comes to recruitment and selection. As they leave school, college and/or university, they bear the brunt of the economic downturn and find it difficult to compete in an open jobs market which becomes more competitive with fewer opportunities and increased demands.

This means there are thousands of young local people with up to date skills, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn looking for work.

Despite often having less experience of work, young people are a great addition to the workplace. We recently surveyed a group of managers who had employed young people who were previously unemployed.

We found that 80% of managers thought their young (previously unemployed) recruits were of the same standard or of a superior calibre to their other, more experienced employees1 When asked to identify specific elements that they were particularly satisfied with the most often identified elements were:    

Willingness to learn.

Ability to get on with other staff.

Positive attitude to work.

Ability to follow instructions.

New Economy Best Practice Guide for Interviewing Young People This Document highlights how the capabilities format can bring forth the best attributes of your candidate. For More info please Call 0161 237 4157

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“It’s a sad sign of the times that there are so many young people looking for a job. They are enthusiastic, willing to learn and make a vibrant addition to any work place. What they may lack in experience they make up for in energy and a thirst to develop their skills. How often do you get to take on an employee who is a clean slate ready for you to mould to the needs of your business” Mike Brogan, Chief Executive Procure Plus How is recruiting young people different?

Traditional approaches to recruitment and selection often focus on the candidates’ previous work experience which can sometimes create unnecessary barriers to the recruitment of young and longer term unemployed people. This toolkit is focusing on the individuals’ potential instead, by assessing a set of capabilities (skills and attributes) which may have been developed in a range of learning or life contexts.

How can traditional recruiting methods be more inclusive?

Most recruiters follow a traditional recruitment process of advertising their vacancy and requesting applications by CV or application form and then inviting shortlisted candidates to attend an interview.

The interview is usually a CV or ‘unstructured’ interview which gathers general information about the interviewee and their employment history but does not test any specific capability or personal attribute. In an unstructured interview, the candidate is judged on the general impression that he/she leaves; the process is therefore likely to be more subjective and can disadvantage young people with less experience and those who are currently unemployed.

Many recruiters have found that by focusing on candidates’ capabilities rather than previous experience, they have been able to successfully select the candidate that displays the most appropriate skills and attributes for the role.

New Economy Best Practice Guide for Interviewing Young People This Document highlights how the capabilities format can bring forth the best attributes of your candidate. For More info please Call 0161 237 4157

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Alternative recruitment practices Standard recruitment methods can be lengthy, expensive and time consuming. Yet there are alternatives out there which can quickly fill your vacancies quickly, easily and most importantly cheaply. Using the links contained on our New Economy website you can access all of the resources that you need to change your existing processes.

There is also a link to various organisations that can help to fill your vacancies free of charge, entitled ‘Where to get help with your recruitment’ About this guide This guide and the accompanying library of documents have been designed as a toolkit for change to provide you with everything that you need to move to more inclusive recruitment practices.

It is understood that some of the content will cover knowledge and skills that recruiters already possess but it is hoped that the content will provide inspiration to change any recruitment practices that are unintentionally disadvantaging young unemployed people. The documents are designed as an ‘off-the-shelf’ solution whether wholly or in part. It is hoped that they will make it quick and easy for any changes to be made without the necessity to create processes and documents from scratch.

The Capabilities1 contained within the toolkit have emerged from a GM project called Aspirational Futures2 which sought to bring together young people’s needs with those of providers and employers in responding to the skills challenge of the City Region. The resultant Framework has been agreed by partners and endorsed by the new Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce (GMCC) as a vision to work towards in supporting and assessing young people embarking upon, and sustaining, their careers.

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Listed and described in the Capabilities Framework, see http://neweconomymanchester.com/stories/1844-recruitment 2 www.aspirationalfutures.co.uk

New Economy Best Practice Guide for Interviewing Young People This Document highlights how the capabilities format can bring forth the best attributes of your candidate. For More info please Call 0161 237 4157