Companies are wasting their money advertising for
graduates in newspapers, as 80% of graduates onlysearch online for jobs,according to a
study.
Research carried out on 400 graduates by
Reed Employment found that just 3% of
graduates scour newspaper advertisements for jobs.
It also found that 57% spend less than an hour researching
companies before an interview, and that 9% of graduates do not do
any research at all prior to interviews.
Reed said 18% use specialist recruitment agencies to find jobs,
and that 8% apply in person.
The research also found that 80% of respondents were avid users
of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and
YouTube.
Stephen Harrison, operations manager at Reed Graduates, said,
"The Facebook generation of graduates is clearly more receptive to
receiving information online than in print format.
"To attract top graduates, businesses will need to rethink the
ways in which they recruit, ensuring that online recruitment and
perhaps even social networking sites are included.
"It is worrying however that even with so much information about
companies available on the internet, many graduates are not
spending enough time preparing and researching for job
interviews.
"However, the onus is also on companies to ensure their websites
are up to date, their job descriptions are as detailed as possible,
and for recruitment consultants to ensure that jobseekers are
prepared for their interviews."