4 Reasons to Consider Hiring New College Grads vs. Seasoned Recruiters

When I managed a recruiting team, I learned early on that I had more success when hiring new college grads versus seasoned recruiters.  This is not to say that I never hired seasoned recruiters or that they never worked out when hired.  There were a couple of experienced recruiters that I hired who fit into our culture well and easily transitioned into our specific industry.  However, when looking at the most successful recruiters hired, many of those were entry level college grads.

There are many different reasons why you should considering hiring college grads versus seasoned recruiters and I’m going to share with you 4 key reasons why I chose to hire grads over seasoned recruiters most of the time.

1. The possibility of undiscovered talent

In recruitment, we are always looking for the best recruiters who will be relentless in finding the top talent our clients need.  With this in mind, we often believe that we need to consider individuals with recruiting track records that can serve as proof of their success.

However, I firmly believe that by considering new college grads, you have the opportunity to uncover top recruiting talent before someone else lays their claim.

Let’s face it, not many of us dreamt of being recruiters before we got into the business.  Quite often, the most successful recruiters are the ones who stumbled into the business, thinking that it was a gap filler while they decided what else they wanted to do.  I know this was the case for me and I am forever thankful to my first recruiting manager who saw something in me that lead her to believe that I had what it took to be successful in the industry.  Because she took a chance on me, I found my niche and career.

2. Opportunity excitement

In the past, I have always been blown away by the difference in attitude between many seasoned recruiters and college grads when it comes to pursuing their career in recruitment.  Many seasoned recruiters I interviewed seemed to lack the excitement and passion for learning that the new college grads brought to the table.

Perhaps for many experienced recruiters the industry becomes somewhat dull to them after a period of time.  I’ve never been able to quite put my finger on it, but I often sensed a greater passion from many of the grads that I interviewed and hired on as recruiters.

Many of the new grads that I hired seemed to understand the opportunity that they were being given.  They knew that many recruiting managers were only considering seasoned recruiters and that I was taking a chance on them, having little to no recruiting experience.  This in itself seemed to instill in the grads more of an appreciation and passion for the opportunity.

3. Access to fresh ideas

It always amazed me at how bringing in someone new and fresh to the industry could also bring in new ideas and strategies.  Sometimes, being in the industry for so long can limit your out of the box thinking in a way.  Hiring and training someone new can open the doors to new ideas and thoughts of how you are going about your recruiting strategy.

I received some of the best process improvement ideas from the new college grads that hired.

4. Opportunity to groom your future leadership

I’ve always said that it is so much easier to train versus re-train.  When you hire a seasoned recruiter, you need to keep in mind that that recruiter was trained by someone else.  Your strategies and the way your company handles business can be completely different from what your seasoned recruiter knows.  This means that you often need to re-train a seasoned recruiter, which can be more difficult than training someone new to recruiting.

When you hire new college grads, you are able to provide training and mold them into the type of recruiters that you want in your company.  You are not concerned with breaking bad habits that may have been taught at another recruitment agency.

Hiring new college grads provides them the opportunity to be groomed specifically for your company.  This eventually allows grads the opportunity to grow with your company as leaders.  Many new college grads will see and understand this opportunity and it can be a win-win for both your company and the grad.

What has your experience been when hiring new college grads versus seasoned recruiters?  Please share your comments below.

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