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A plea from David Macfarlane to early careers specialists: know your audience or prepare to be ignored.
Full disclosure, I used to work in early careers.
And I really enjoyed it. Early careers is a space which produces some of the most innovative and impactful work. Often there’s a little more leniency when it comes to brand guidelines. Even in strict corporate settings, there’s recognition that this environment may necessitate a bit more flexibility.
It’s a sector that delivers work that genuinely shifts the market and redefines what’s possible.
But the budgets! Believe me, if you haven’t struggled to maximize slim resources, you haven’t truly experienced early careers budgets. There’s an assumption that lingers around early careers employers that talent should…just want to work for us, right? They’d be lucky to, why do we need to convince them?
So early careers requires a pretty scrappy approach.
I won’t reiterate what you know: your early careers proposition is as vulnerable here as in any other space. That in effect you need to go to market with a fresh approach annually because this audience probably haven’t heard of you anyway, and aren’t interested in your ‘legacy of success’. Plus, the very best candidates are, obviously, in heavy demand from all sorts of other organisations offering, whisper it, roughly the same sort of thing.
All of this you know.
In my experience early careers practitioners tend to over emphasise how unique their sector is.
They certainly face some unique challenges, but then that’s not different to any niche area. In truth it’s the same as hiring software developers for a large retail organisation or finance professionals for an events business.
What’s certainly true though is that early careers audiences are more changeable than most. There’s a fluidity to their behaviours and interests which employers must remain aware of. It’s an audience that’s nuanced, typically generalised, very green and requires real empathy and clarity of communication. This can be difficult. And did I mention the budgets?
The fact that each graduating class is (for the most part) arriving fresh to the world of work means employers need to set out their stall on an annual basis and find a relatable way to bring their offering to life that’s in tune with what this audience aspires to.
But year on year this audience is changing…
So understanding the audience is critical to success with an early careers campaign. Trying what’s worked before might bring some success initially, but overtime it’s going to fall flat and you’ll be left behind.
You must continue to revise your understanding of what your audience is looking for and to align yourselves authentically with their interests and motivations. Those meagre budgets need to work hard for you – and it’s important not to overlook the investment in market insights.
There’s stuff you can do for yourself for free. It was painful to hear at our recent early careers event that of all those present none had mystery shopped their own early careers process within the last 12 months. This is a big miss.
A failure to properly understand your audience runs the risk that your offering will be swamped in the noise of your competitors’. It’ll morph into a homogeneous blob, with no clear defining characteristics and while you might feel you’re leading with your strengths, if these aren’t of interest to your prospective talent, they’re not going to respond favourably. And in time your brand will suffer.
Increasingly, we acknowledge that highlighting workplace awards and industry accolades may not resonate with Gen-Z. However, staying attuned to their current preferences allows you to proactively adapt, ensuring your message remains relevant and engaging for the future.
So the recipe for success is much the same as any niche area.
You’re the experts. You understand the processes, requirements and ambitions for your early careers programme. Don’t restrict yourselves by falling into the trap of relying solely on what has worked before.
Start with the premise that nobody knows who you are, that you need to relearn who you’re talking to with each new cohort, and that any available date and insight will help you develop a strategy for success.
It’s a tough ask, but there aren’t any easy shortcuts. Even if that means really squeezing the slimmest budget you’ve seen.
You’ve got this.
