Monday 7 April 2014

Fresh Graduates - The Answer to Singapore's Fair Consideration Framework?

Article by Manisha Dhalani

The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey has estimated that nearly 23% of companies in Singapore are looking to increase their hiring exercises next month. While this is healthy considering the rise from previous quarter, companies are worried about the possible shortage of Talent due to the tightening of foreign worker policies here in Singapore.

There is, however, a ray of hope that could fill up the gaps as a result of these restrictions.

Enter: Fresh graduates.

Graduates with relevant qualifications are now highly sought after to meet the demands of the increasing economy in Singapore. But how do we ensure that fresh graduates from local universities and polytechnics fit the bill?

Asia has no shortage of hiring managers and recruiters who can help facilitate the hiring. Vigorous screening processes, interviews and entrance requirements undoubtedly play their part in allowing companies to pick out the cream of the crop.

However, hiring fresh graduates has its pros and cons. Here’s a summary of the good that you can get out of placing them, things you need to look out for and the disadvantages that you might want to consider:
 

Pros 

Less expectation
Most fresh graduates won’t ask for an exorbitant starting pay. Bear in mind that this does not imply that graduates aren’t aware of the current market rate, so be strategic before putting forward your offer. If the qualifications and personality sounds like a perfect match for your company, don’t hesitate to hire what could possibly be a future star employee for your organisation.

Eagerness to learn
For my first job, I insisted on being tasked with roles and responsibilities that I had never handled before. I wanted to learn as much as I could. This is also very true for the other graduates like myself. Encourage them to continuously explore tasks out of their comfort zone –they might excel at it and benefit your company in turn. If they stumble, give them the right guidance to bring out the best in them.

Ability to be moulded
As fresh graduates are eager to learn, use this opportunity to mould them into valuable assets for your firm. Give them the opportunity to brainstorm, manage people and projects and find out about their career aspirations. Tell them about your company and the expectations, if their mind-set aligns with your organisation’s culture, fine-tune their skills set and watch them perform outstandingly and provide off-the-chart results.

New perspective
With the constantly evolving nature of business today, we are always looking to explore new innovations. Gain new perspectives on the latest technology, market trends, user experiences and relevant tools from graduates who also form part of the current target audience and rising end-user market.

Cons

Lack of experience
As resumes of fresh graduates may not be seem promising due to their lack of experience, hiring managers may have to conduct lengthy interviews or admission tests to establish the skill sets of fresh graduates. Luckily, with more creative positions opening up thanks to social media, we can also evaluate a candidate by their level of involvement in contemporary communication platforms that could help set them apart from the other job applicants.

Lack of critical thinking
Having just entered the job market, it may take a while for new hires to get better at assessing and negotiating situations. They may be unaware of established communication practices within your corporate culture and may not have polished problem-solving skills. This, in no way, means that they aren’t able to do so – a little bit of on-boarding programmes, training and development go a long way.

New age preferences
As Singapore companies can expect more contract staff hiring, the advent of a new generation brings with it a need for a fresher approach to the conventional workplace practices. New intakes may expect flexible working hours and prefer jobs that fit with their personal lifestyle, i.e. those that provide a work-life balance. Make use of analytics to help you identify the preferences of your new batch of hires.

With the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) move to push the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) initiative and the national jobs bank launching in August, more graduates will be seen as the solution to the tightening of foreign worker policies. In order to prepare the future workforce, organisations can consider partnering up with colleges and universities to alert undergraduates of the missing pieces of the hiring puzzle so they can figure out the must-haves and gather the right experience before graduating.
 

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