The credit crunch is finally upon us and the group taking a mighty hard hit is this year’s batch of graduates, eager to join the workforce and prove their worth.
 
Compared to the past few years it’s a much more competitive market.

But the fact is that companies are definitely still hiring – there are simply fewer entry-level jobs to go around. As someone who has interviewed dozens of graduates throughout the years, now more than ever I’m not just looking for someone who is academically gifted; I’m looking for candidates with that extra something, a little piece of life or work experience that makes them stand out from the crowd.
 
Fresh talent

So how does a business make the most of this fresh, new talent? How do we take an unskilled work force and utilise them as quickly and efficiently as possible?
 
In a tight market like PR, where it can be difficult to find skilled employees even in the best of economic conditions, attracting talented grads and training them up quickly is a an excellent option for filling spots in the business immediately.
 
Here at LEWIS we take on top grads who show potential and passion for this industry and provide fast-track training programmes to quickly build up their skills. On our LEDA (Lewis Employee Development Academy) programme, grads follow a structured 18-month plan - at the end of it, they are potentially revenue-generating and client-servicing employees.
 
The LEDA is unrivalled in the industry offering graduate trainees and account executives premier training opportunities. Full days are dedicated to training and development and include classroom-based theory, interactive workshops, group projects, internal and external secondments (onsite with media and clients).
 
We utilise our existing employees to bridge the gap between entry-level and industry expert, with senior staff creating and leading training sessions.
 
18 month programme

The 18-month programme consists of three six-month modules: Foundation, Executive Management Training – Intermediate and Executive Management Training – Advanced. Trainees have the opportunity for promotion to account executive after passing the initial module, followed by a further 12 months structured training offering a fast-track route to becoming a senior account executive.
 
During the programme, graduates shuttle between teams and often visit other LEWIS offices, giving them a wider scope of the business and industry at large. For a generation defined by its mobility, this is an attractive feature – and unusual! To travel at this level in this industry is nearly unheard of.
 
And even more good news for us is that these grads can be found through traditional (and relatively cheap) means like graduate fairs and adverts, so we can avoid paying recruitment fees. In a market like this, where most companies start to tighten the reins on recruitment spend, that's a real bonus.
 
Contribution to the business

What’s equally important to remember is that the graduates we recruit want to be challenged and actually make a contribution to the business – the days of just making tea and coffee in your first week are gone. If we are taking on only the top graduates who have worked hard for their shiny new 2:1’s and gained a wealth of extra-curricular and practical work experience, we as employers have to create training programmes which can reflect their requests and move careers forward.
 
After this credit crunch comes the skilled labour crunch where businesses, in particular SMBs, will struggle to find the candidates with the managerial and industry expertise to drive growth.
 
What we’re doing now is investing in today’s graduates to prepare for life after the economic downturn.