Grads into Planning

Coming back to my post of 3/9/07 (I know, I am terrible at regular updates... sporadic updates seems to be more my forte!) Back to The Blog in which I mentioned I had been investigating the options of getting Graduates into Planning. From my (a recruiter) perspective it is certainly the long game that needs to be played here, rather than the short one. In other words, the stance I now take with those Graduates I come across or those that approach me is that of helping them get into the industry via advice/ideas and useful things to look at (ie. adgrads, adlads and another planning blog) rather than placing them into roles myself.

This may seem an odd way of doing things - after all, I will often only get paid when I place someone in a job, rather than for any of the work up-front/in-between. But there are reasons...

Firstly, and most importantly, there are only a small number of agencies for which a specialist Planning-recruiter is of relevance. The big networks/Agencies have their Grad Schemes, on which they certainly spend enough money anyway, and to which much Graduate talent generally flocks in good numbers... recruiter not needed.

Secondly, the small-to-mid sized agencies with teams of 2-6 Planners have very different problems. Problem 1. They may not have the graduate-awareness or the necessary internal structure to set-up a Grad-scheme. Problem 2. Hiring a Graduate is always a risk - Graduates, however good on paper, are always an unknown and untested quantity - and it is rare that they will be willing to pay a recruiter's fee because of the risk factor involved. Problem 3. Most importantly, I rarely come across a Planner or Planning Unit that is not overworked. Planners, as a breed, are most certainly not slackers! The impact of this is that the smaller agencies simply do not have the time nor the resources to dedicate to getting a Graduate up to Junior Planner speed, they need Planners with 2/3years experience who can hit the ground running... recruiter not needed.

What does this leave me with then? There are certainly a few mid-sized agencies as well as exceptions to the above rule to whom I might be of use. However, the numbers of agencies and potential roles here are relatively quite small and Graduate recruitment can often be accomplished via personal contacts of the Junior members of an agency... recruiter rarely needed.

So, to use a terrible analogy, Graduate recruitment (into Planning) is somewhat like walking through an Orchard full of ripe apples, but without having a basket to place them in.

Why then do I take the time to meet/inspect these apples I happen to come across (analogy finished now.. don't worry!)? Well, of course there are a number of viable routes into Planning (via Grad schemes, Account management etc) for those Graduates who are 1. driven enough and 2. good enough - and it would be hugely short-sighted of me not to get to know and to help them now... as in 2 years time... when the recruiter is needed (plenty more blogs on this one to come)... I would hope that I am still in touch with them, and in a good place to be of assistance.

Any clients reading this who happen to be the exception to the above rules and are indeed looking for Graduate Planners, do feel free to get in touch here.