Part of the how to hire cluster in the employment knowledge graph — connected to occupations, documents, hiring guides, career guides, country guides and employment law.
Scope the role first
A graduate role is an entry point for people leaving higher education, so scope it around development as much as delivery. Decide what the graduate will do in their first months, what skills they will build, and how the role grows over the first year or two.
Be clear about which degree fields, if any, are genuinely relevant, and where transferable skills matter more than a specific subject. Plan the training, mentoring and support that turn potential into contribution, and reflect that in the advert.
Where to find candidates
- University careers services and on-campus events.
- Graduate job boards and structured graduate schemes.
- Internship and placement pipelines that convert to roles.
- Student societies and subject-specific networks.
- Workforce-matching platforms and early-careers recruiters.
- Referrals and a clear early-careers section on your careers page.
How to screen and shortlist
- Focus on potential, motivation and learning ability over experience.
- Consider transferable skills, not only the degree subject.
- Look for relevant projects, internships or part-time work.
- Use accessible criteria that do not unfairly exclude candidates.
- Assess communication and enthusiasm in the application.
- Confirm right to work and availability to start.
How to interview
- Use structured interviews with consistent questions for fairness.
- Explore motivation, curiosity and how they handle new challenges.
- Ask about projects, teamwork and problem-solving from any setting.
- Use a realistic exercise to see how they think, not what they know.
- Set clear expectations about the role and its development path.
- Keep the process welcoming and feedback-friendly for first interviews.
Documents, checks and onboarding
- A job description covering the role and its development plan.
- An offer letter confirming role, start date and training.
- An employment contract setting out terms, including any probation.
- Right-to-work verification and any qualification checks.
- A structured induction and early-careers development plan.
- A named mentor and regular reviews through the first months.
Common hiring mistakes
- Asking for years of experience in an entry-level role.
- Over-restricting to one degree subject and missing transferable talent.
- Using opaque or inconsistent criteria that disadvantage candidates.
- Testing recall of facts instead of how candidates think and learn.
- Hiring graduates without a real development plan or mentor.
- Neglecting onboarding for people new to professional work.
Export, edit and share documents
The documents, policies and templates this involves can be exported, edited, signed, stored and shared as PDFs with the HELPERG PDF Editor.
Workforce communication tools
Employers, agencies and recruiters often need candidate screening calls, international candidate calls, recruitment coordination and team collaboration. TwinPhone provides browser calling, virtual numbers and international business communication workflows.
Measuring recruitment marketing and traffic?
Related tools from the HELPERG ecosystem that may help with this:
- WebmasterID — Privacy-first website analytics for recruitment marketing — understand traffic sources, visitor behaviour and conversion performance on your employer or careers site.
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