Connecting with our Early Talent Community in Auckland and Wellington

Talent Solutions had the pleasure of reconnecting with our Auckland and Wellington clients and wider early talent community during our recent graduate roundtable events. Talent Solutions facilitates these discussions to support the deepening of connections across this fabulous network of practitioners.

The sessions were a great opportunity to dive into the latest trends and insights in early talent acquisition and development. Thank you to everyone who participated and shared their valuable perspectives!

Our discussions covered a wide array of topics, highlighting the collective knowledge and experience in the room regarding early talent programmes and initiatives. 

Here are the key takeaways from our sessions:

Generative AI and Its Impact

In both Auckland and Wellington, organisations are currently navigating the implications of generative AI technologies like ChatGPT. Some companies are employing tools to detect AI-generated content in job applications, and there have been instances of obvious AI use, such as unedited text from ChatGPT appearing in long answer application form questions. 

Many organisations have imposed restrictions on employees accessing AI tools on work devices, while a few firms are developing proprietary AI systems for internal use. 

To counter AI in recruitment, some organisations employ personalised questions and set their one-way video interview questions with tight time limits.  

Inviting/encouraging the use of AI in application processes is not yet a common practice.

The Role of Cover Letters

Opinions on the value of cover letters versus focused motivation questions were mixed. While many graduate managers felt that cover letters were a poor indicator of fit for a role, it was recognised that many hiring managers still want to see a cover letter as part of a candidate’s application.

It was also recognised that with AI perfectly capable of producing excellent cover letters, the value of cover letters will continue to diminish.  Education of hiring managers will remain important to ensure recruitment processes are rigorous and fair.

Selection Processes

While in-person processes were generally agreed to be the preferred format for smaller graduate programme assessment, it was accepted that virtual methods offer unrivalled scalability, accessibility and cost-effectiveness. Virtual processes are particularly beneficial for supporting neurodiverse candidates and reducing biases. 

Video interview (one-way) was widely used across most graduate recruitment processes.  

A number of organisations ran a mix of in-person and video (two-way) interview as the final stage of their process.  Some organisations offered candidates the choice of in-person or video interview processes.

There was an even mix of organisations using job interviews compared to assessment centres.  There was also an even mix of organisations running virtual vs in-person assessment centres.  The best solution was highly dependent on the organisation, scale of programme, location of roles, number of applicants and type of position.

Different Entry Pathways

Internships, virtual internships and cadetships provide valuable pathways for non-traditional applicants/career-changers.  While many organisations were interested in exploring different entry pathways (such as cadetships) there were few examples of these among the organisations in attendance.

Learning and Development

Organisations are putting more of a focus on “keep warm” strategies (to engage hires  between offer to start).  Structured onboarding and continuous learning pathways are deemed essential to ensuring graduates get off to a good start and are retained through a graduate programme.  It was recognised that graduates value learning and development highly and often (and rather frustratingly) value external programmes more than internally run programmes.

External experts can significantly enhance learning experiences, though budget constraints pose challenges to accessing these options for some organisations. Most organisations adopt the 70-20-10 learning model with 70% of learning on the job, 20% from interactions with others, and 10% from formal education. There was a strong emphasis on developing emotional intelligence, resilience, cultural competence, communication skills and goal-setting in graduates.

Attraction Strategies

Most organisations experienced an increase in application numbers in round 1 of 2024.  Most organisations were pleased that the quality of applications were also high.

Campus expos and on campus events remain important, especially for smaller brands. Organisations using platforms like TikTok had mixed reviews.  Organisations were using multi-channel approaches to try to reach as broad a range of students as possible through social media, job boards, university newsletters, clubs and societies, careers fairs and employer presentations and events (e.g. speed networking).  A number of organisations were partnered with TupuToa to support efforts to increase representation of Māori and Pacific candidates.  Organisations commented on the increased numbers of international students at careers fairs and an increased percentage of international students submitting applications to graduate roles.

A number of organisations were putting a focus on their own websites to ensure they were accurate, engaging and doing a good job of channelling applicants to apply.  

Virtual internships were being used by some organisations as a way to access talent earlier in their studies alongside summer internship programmes. 

A number of organisations were considering how to increase representation of diverse candidates in terms of gender and neurodiversity alongside ethnicity. 

Managing Rotational Programmes

Balancing business demands and graduate commitment to rotational programmes can be challenging. Solutions included setting minimum commitment periods for the business (to avoid managers ‘poaching’ graduates from the programme early) and flexible programme lengths (making the official programme length 18 months rather than 2 years with 6 months of ‘transition time’) were all helpful to manage expectations of graduates and the business. 

The large majority of organisations were offering permanent graduate contracts (as opposed to fixed term).  

Thank you once again to everyone who attended and contributed to these discussions. We look forward to continuing these conversations with our early talent community at future events!

Graduate Managers and organisations turn to Talent Solutions to help build successful graduate and internship programmes.  Whether that’s through getting the right tools for the job (video interview, testing and applicant tracking system software), some additional resource (we help organisations screen thousands of applications every round), strategically reviewing programmes, implementing award winning development initiatives and everything in between.  We are your one-stop-shop to up the ante on attracting, selecting and developing early talent.

Let’s talk grad! Contact Seren, Aron or Vicki (seren@talentsolutions.co.nz, aronc@talentsolutions.co.nz, Vicki@talentsolutions.co.nz)