School leavers: Not to be missed?

There can be no doubt though that many more employers are looking to the school leaver market for recruitment, across all disciplines and sectors, and competition for talent is fierce. With increases in university debt more and more talented 16 and 18 year olds are looking for alternatives to university.

School leavers: Not to be missed?

There can be no doubt though that many more employers are looking to the school leaver market for recruitment, across all disciplines and sectors, and competition for talent is fierce. With increases in university debt more and more talented 16 and 18 year olds are looking for alternatives to university.

There are some commonly held views about the advantages for employers to recruit school leavers:

1. Quick to learn
2. Enthusiastic
3. Loyal
4. You can “imprint your brand” on them
5. Reduced training and recruitment costs
6. You can watch their development
7. They can adapt to your future business needs

However not every employer is moving to school leaver roles, so there must be concerns around school leaver recruitment in these business and professional environments:

1. Demand more line manager time
2. At an earlier stage of development in maturity and life skills than traditional graduate recruits
3. Less developed complex problem solving skills, compared to graduates
4. Less to go on at interview

Read some case studies of employers that took on this challenge:

HW Fisher

Kirk Newsholme

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