Sukhi Kandola is a recruitment advisor at Atkins.
Please tell us about Atkins.
Atkins is a global engineering company, established in 1938. We have approximately 18,462 employees worldwide. The original company, WS Atkins and Partners, was established in 1938 by Sir William Atkins in London.
What does your role involve?
My role includes direct talent attraction for engineers and architects of all levels. I work closely with hiring managers to advise and agree on innovative candidate attraction campaigns such as: direct sourcing via social media platforms, talent pipelining and the selection of candidates.
How many apprentices and graduates do you recruit each year?
We recruit 400 graduates and 90 apprentices annually.
How are you tapping into talent, while ensuring you're reaching out to all relevant genders, nationalities and age groups?
We engage candidates via a range of platforms to ensure we reach a large pool of applicants. We do this by using social media in the form of Twitter, LinkedIn job posts, engagement via LinkedIn groups and Facebook.
We also like to host events at universities, run open days and support government- backed events, such as National Women in Engineering Day and Tomorrow’s Engineers, to encourage STEM subject graduates via our dedicated hubs and ambassadors.
What's your sorting process to select the best candidates for a shortlist?
Our selection process involves assessment days, competency based interviews, open days, psychometric tests, a telephone screening and situational judgment tests.
How are you ensuring potential recruits know about Atkins and its values?
We run various social media campaigns to share our projects and culture with candidates. We’ve previously run Twitter ‘Q&As’ to raise awareness of #AtkinsMyTime – an initiative which allows Atkins employees share their career journey with peers. We also encourage our employees to share social event and project highlights.
How do you make your organisation stand out to applicants, against competing businesses?
We encourage flexible working, clear career paths and work on exciting projects across a range of disciplines.
What are the best aspects of your role?
I enjoy working with our hiring managers to gain insight into our key projects, people and culture. Getting the business involved in the recruitment process is key, as it helps bring the opportunities we have to life.
What advice do you have for other in-house recruiters?
I think it helps to get hiring managers and the business as a whole, as involved in the recruitment campaign as possible. Candidates want to know what it’s like to work for an organisation, in addition to reading about it in a job description. So, try bringing the culture of the business to life through blogs, short video diaries and social networking.