| How do you advertise vacancies that graduates could apply for? | IT, Engineering/Building Maintenance, Any |
| From which degree discipline do you normally recruit graduates? | Any |
| Do you have any minimum academic requirements? (e.g. Yes/No) | No |
| What sort of work experience do you feel is appropriate for the kind of graduate roles that you recruit for? | Depends on the post; not really work experience its the skills they may have gained. |
| What for you makes an applicant stand out from the crowd? | Personal credibility - who can make an impact through their oral communication. People who have done something else other than university or their A-levels |
| What common mistakes do you see applicants make at interview? | Skills are listed like a job description - they don't talk about how they do things or what the significance of what they are doing. |
| What kind of training do you provide for new starters within your organisation? | There is on the job training, online training as well as organised training workshops and opportunities for self development. There is continuous training programme throughout your career with the Department. |
| What is the average starting salary of a graduate within your organisation? | -1 |
| Do you offer any other kind of work for undergraduate students? | Paid part-time work,Other |
| Other kind of work for undergraduate students | Summer schemes for students |
| Do you know approximately how many graduates your organisation has recruited over the past 5 years?
Please provide details | Unable to say how many graduates are recruited because they recruit on skills rather than qualification |
| What is involved in your recruitment process? | Local newspaper, Graduate Link, University Careers Services |
| How does your organisation ensure a good work-life balance? | Staff can work flexible hours. They have child friendly policies and provide financial support to parents with children under the age of 5. There are play schemes that run during the school holidays and HR policies to give staff time off when needed. Where the business allows it staff can work at home as well. |
| How are people inducted into your organisation? How long is the process? | There is a formal induction training course that new starters attend and then it is down to individual teams to take care of the induction in to the department. The whole induction process usually takes about 3 months. |
| How does the organisation embrace employees to make them feel part of the team? | The Department is very strong on culture and they have a number of behaviours that are well publicised throughout; information can be found on the staff intranet and they put posters up. Team leaders constantly communicate with staff about issues and changes and a team culture is inherent across the Department. Ideally they want to recruit people already thinking along the same lines. |
| What kind of training do you provide for new starters within the organisation? | There is on the job training, online training as well as organised training workshops and opportunities for self development. There is a continuous training programme throughout your career with the Department. |
| What benefits/rewards are offered by the organisation? | Minimum starting annual leave allocation of 30 days plus 10½ public privilege days which are the 8 Statutory bank holidays plus additional days.
Offer of help for travel in the form of interest free loans.
Car parking on both Runcorn and Sheffield sites.
Paid sick leave.
Excellent pension options.
Access to Internet.
Childcare provision - nurseries on site.
Prayer rooms for people to follow any religion.
Staff restaurant on site.
Gym on some sites and access to facilities close by where there is no gym at a reduced rate. |
| What is the recruitment process for a graduate applying for work with your organisation and what core competencies do you look for? | Advertise vacancies in local and national press. Do not specifically recruit graduates, recruit on skills rather than qualifications. Applicants are requested to send a CV and a personal statement explaining why they feel they have the skills and qualities required by the role and what value they can add to the organisation. The written information is then sifted and successful applicants are invited for interview with the vacancy manager and an independent person. Depending on the level of the post, the interview may sometimes include a presentation but this is only for senior specialist roles. |
