Depending on the type of business you run – you might do bulk recruitment for seasonal staff over busy periods such as Christmas or summer, for example, or your recruitment strategy might just be to recruit staff as and when vacancies arise in your company. Whatever the case, there are probably many students and young people out there who would jump at the chance to be awarded a part time student job, seasonal work or even full time work (some students may be looking for jobs whilst doing a gap year) with your company.
Whatever your recruitment strategy, the process can be costly and time consuming so it is obviously important you get the right people who are reliable, hard-working and who are going to make a positive contribution to the development of your business. Students can make up a valuable part of your existing team whether it is on a temporary basis or for a more long term role.
1. Providing Jobs For Students Means You Are Giving Back
Before we get into the nitty gritty of how students are going to benefit you and your company, let’s first consider how, by employing them, you will benefit them and in turn, the future workforce of the United Kingdom.
Many companies are now starting to employ university students and even young school leavers because they can provide them with necessary training and give them valuable on the job work experience and transferable skills. Some of this is done more formally in the guise of apprenticeships or school leaver programmes but students can also pick up valuable skills from the casual, seasonal or part time student jobs you might have available, too.
By providing jobs for students, you are making your contribution to their future. Depending on your company, you might be able to train them in a formal qualification where certificates are awarded (basic food hygiene, for example). You are loading them with experiences they can transfer to their CV for future job applications and, of course, if they work well for you, you can provide them with a glowing reference to back up what is written on the CV. And of course, making student jobs available means you will be easing the financial burden on the young people working for you while they are studying.
Not sold by the altruistic argument? Okay, read on to find out what’s in it for you, the student job recruiter…
2. Students Can Be Flexible With Their Time
More and more these days, companies need to stress the importance of flexibility when recruiting staff. If you have the type of firm that requires staff to have a certain degree of flexibility with their time, these can be ideal jobs for students. Many degree courses only need students to be in university for a few hours a week and, in lots of cases, that’s the only concrete demand on the student’s time. The rest of the time, they could well be the ones you call on when you need staff to cover illness, holidays or busy periods.
3. Many Students Have Good Communication Skills
When in tutorials and lectures students are encouraged to discuss aspects of their specialism. Some students might be in debating societies or spokespeople for groups they are members of. The fact that most students have an active social life should not be ignored, either. An active social life develops confidence and social skills. Advertising jobs for students as part of your recruitment strategy means you could end up with a team of young staff working for you who are able to communicate well with customers, with other staff members and also with representatives of other firms who deal with your company.
4. Students Tend To Be Resilient Individuals
Staff retention is always a concern for employers – the last thing you want to do is to spend time and money on a recruitment drive, award people the jobs and then lose a number of them because they just can’t handle the job.
Students are young people who are often living away from home for the first time. When they first went to university, they were in unfamiliar surroundings with unfamiliar people. Chances are they have overcome homesickness, they are missing friends and family but they’ve also made new friends, they’re fending for themselves and they’ve had to accustom themselves to a whole new way of study.
All of this means if you include jobs for students in your recruitment strategy, you might not be employing someone who is going to quit their job at the first sign of the going getting slightly tough.
5. Providing Student Jobs Could Be Good For Your Staff Retention
Obviously, many companies have staff retention in mind when they plan their recruitment strategy. When you interview young people who are looking for student jobs, they are likely to enter your company in an entry-level role on a part time or seasonal basis.
Whether you have apprenticeships, school leaver programmes, graduate trainee programmes or management training in place at your firm, the students you employ could be the people who go on to fill these roles on completion of their studies. This means the time and money you spend on graduate recruitment could be reduced. You already know the qualities and strengths of your employee and they are already familiar with the workings of your business.
Staff retention is important for companies – having a good team of employees you can trust to carry the firm forward and help it succeed in the future. Good staff retention begins with recruitment strategy and the questions companies use to interview applicants. So, if you do decide to include employment for students in your recruitment strategy, how do you make sure you are getting the best students to match the needs of your firm? For some ideas and tips, take a look at my blog post about essential interview questions to find the best student employees.
6. Providing Employment For Students Can Inject Innovation Into Your Company
Young people and students, especially university students, are under the tutorship of some of the leading minds in the United Kingdom, if not the world. The knowledge those tutors have passed to their students can in turn be used to benefit your company.
And even if your student is not yet at university, they are young – they have grown up in a technological environment that is changing at rapid pace. Young students can be an asset to your company because, even on an informal, social level, they are constantly adapting to technological advances and have no fear of change. You might find they can input a few ideas to your firm that you had never considered previously.
7. Students Usually Have High Quality Analytical and Problem Solving Skills
Whatever subjects they are studying, during their study time at college or university, students are regularly given tasks which require them to look closely at a particular situation and come up with an informed, reasoned opinion about it. This might involve reading and essay writing, or it might be in the form of hands on, practical tasks. Whatever the case, these are valuable, transferable skills that can easily be carried forward into all types of seasonal and part time student jobs.
And, when it comes to the problem solving skills that students might possess, these are not just developed from the academic side of their life. Throughout their time at college and university, students learn to think on their feet; developing creative methods of trying to be more resourceful with their limited funds, for example. In your workplace, this could be a definite advantage when difficulties or regular daily challenges arise because your student staff should be able to rise to those challenges and be excited by them rather than fearing them.
8. Students Are Completely Familiar With Working Under Pressure To Meet Deadlines
Again, it is about keeping in mind the transferable skills that students are developing while they are at college and university. Whether it is course work, meeting assignment deadlines, completing exams within the given time or solving practical problems in a controlled environment, these are all deadlines that students must meet on a regular basis. And often, particularly with exams, they are expected to submit quality work within a given space of time in a stressful situation. Indeed, some students even thrive from working under this type of pressure.
Whatever type of company you own or run, making space for student jobs in your recruitment strategy means you can draw on the students’ abilities to work under this pressured environment. Maybe you need your staff to reach particular targets such as sales targets. Or maybe you need your staff to be able to remain calm and confident in potentially volatile situations such as crowd control. Students tend to be relaxed under pressure because this is a part of their daily life. Give them a student job with your company and you could see the benefits quickly.
9. Students Tend To Be Good Team Players
All companies need staff who are able to work together as part of a team to get tasks done and contribute to the growth and development of the firm heading into the future.
Students can be good team players for a variety of reasons. They might play as part of a college or university sports team; in which case, they will know all about the importance of camaraderie, helping others out when needed and falling into the team where necessary. This is a valuable transferable skill to take into the workplace if they are given student jobs with your firm.
On a day to day level, students are in the classroom or other place of education, working in groups with fellow students on a regular basis. These could be young people they wouldn’t necessarily be friends with outside of the classroom and yet they make a good team in completing set tasks to a high standard. Students are able to adapt to working as part of a team with people they may be unfamiliar with – because at university, they are in an environment where people have come to study from all over the United Kingdom (and even different parts of the world) and these young people are from different walks of life.
In many cases, students will be living in a student house or halls of residence with other people of a similar age. Working together as part of a team to make their accommodation function – being considerate to others, being mindful of their different habits and activities and working through inevitable disputes – means students should be able to fall into your team in the workplace relatively seamlessly.
10. Students Can Make Effective Leaders
Obviously, if you have vacancies at your company and you want to advertise jobs for students as part of your recruitment strategy, it depends on the nature of your business whether or not a student or other young person would be suitable for a leadership role. For example, students can make effective team leaders in seasonal roles such as summer activity camps and they can also make very successful leaders in customer assistant roles or in catering positions. Their strength is in their diversity.
Students need to be accountable to themselves, as well as their supervisors, while completing their studies, making sure their time management is effective and taking charge of their own finances. Skills such as this that are developed naturally can be used to good effective in leadership roles in the work place.
In Conclusion
These are just ten of the reasons why your company might benefit if you have student jobs embedded into your recruitment strategy. If you would like to recruit young people, students or graduates for any openings you have at your company, take a look at the e4s employer page to see the packages we have available. Registration is completely free. Click the following link to find out more: Recruiting Students. Simplified.
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