The digital draft: Channel partner strategies for recruiting graduates
With recent research suggesting a drop in graduates entering the IT sector, CRN canvassed channel firms on how they’re connecting new minds to the industry
The new academic year is in full swing with bright-eyed students filled with optimism and drive embarking on the next phase of their education, ready to add to the societal changes AI is already making.
At least that’s what the tech industry hopes.
In reality, according to a study from money.co.uk, the information and communication industry saw a 6.6 per cent year-on-year decline in the number of graduates entering the sector.
money.co.uk categorises information and communication as roles within the ICT sector such as software engineer, technician, web developer, and more.
The industry had 19,285 grads in the 2020/2021 academic year. This figure fell to 18,020 in the 2021/2022 academic year.
The firm warned that if nothing changes, it could be at risk of a skills shortage in years to come.
Given the sector’s reliance on cutting-edge skills and innovation, this drop could be particularly problematic. Professional certifications, coding boot camps, and on-the-job training are other pathways into the industry, but more may be needed to make up for the decline in degree-qualified entrants.
So, what are channel partners doing to try and combat this problem? CRN quizzes some top resellers to find out.
Hayley Mooney, CCO, and Fiona Morgan, head of HR, Bytes
Have you experienced a drop in the number of graduates in your organisation?
Mooney: “Bytes do not actively look for graduates. We are focused primarily on early careers and apprenticeships.
“I think this is a common approach across the industry. Being one of the many who ‘fell’ into the channel by chance, I think the channel attitude to recruitment is to ‘grow your own’ and therefore early careers and apprenticeships are more popular amongst the channel partners.
“There is certainly a place for graduates, and we see success in the sales and technical departments, however there is such a large problem with awareness in schools about choosing the tech industry as a career route, this problem (lack of uptake) is just going to increase, not to mention the cost-of-living crisis that is now ruling university out for many.
“A paid apprenticeship is a far more attractive and financially secure option.”
Should the channel be concerned about a decrease?
Mooney: “I think we should be concerned about the lack of awareness generally.
“The Princes’ Trust has recently published a new Digital Skills Gap Report that highlights many of the challenges we are facing when it comes to attracting young people into the workforce.
“The curriculum is wrong, and we must all take responsibility to try and fix it. Fundamentally, young people know very little about the tech industry and channel.
“They are ‘switching off’ from tech at Key Stage 3 (11-14 year olds). This is because we as an industry cannot easily tell them about the opportunities ahead of them. We must get better at this if we are to increase uptake across all pathways, including graduates.”
What initiatives/programmes/investments do you have in place to attract/reach out to graduates?
Morgan: “We trialled pure graduate sales intakes through the likes of Pareto. These did give us good people, but this was some time back and was a significantly higher cost than standard recruitment, with little guarantee of good candidates.
“In terms of current investments, we are mainly bringing people onboard who can grow and develop, with some moving to graduate-level apprenticeships.
“The highest success rate of graduates does appear to be in sales and specialist technical roles where people move into leadership positions.”
Continue reading to hear from Node4, SEP2 and Bechtle UK...
Dave Birchall, chief people officer, Node4
Have you experienced a drop in the number of graduates in your organisation?
“That figure is a surprise.
“We’ve got a broad portfolio and we’ve seen an increase in interest from graduates to get into things like cybersecurity, digital apps and innovation. These are real growth areas.
“When we opened our graduate scheme last financial year, we had a huge number of applicants for around eight or ten places.
“We filtered that specifically for STEM graduates.
“We’re rolling out these programmes every six months now because of the number of people trying to break into this space.
“So that decrease is not something we’re seeing in Node4.”
Should the channel be concerned about a decrease?
“Yes, in short. But I think to mitigate it, people need to look at doing things that support career progression within their own organisation, so that you're not relying on grads coming in.
“Something we do a lot of is non-linear career progression. We support people to move across and around the business, so that if we're struggling to recruit externally, or we don't necessarily want to constantly bring fresh people in, we want to promote within.
“It's about opening up career opportunities and putting training and development pathways in place to support that if you're not getting that entry level talent.”
What initiatives/programmes/investments do you have in place to attract/reach out to graduates?
“We have an emerging talent programme that has three streams for people coming into the business.
“One is our apprenticeships programme aimed at school leavers.
“We have a specific graduate scheme where you need to have studied a STEM subject.
“And finally, we have what we call a ‘for everyone’ pathway.
“The graduates and ‘for everyone’ programmes are both into our digital side of the business, which is business apps, and then all your applications, professional services and consulting services.
“Graduates go through a 12-week induction programme alongside focused training on specific technical entry level qualifications, like Microsoft for example.
“And then after the 12 weeks, they go on a carousel around our different digital practices so they understand the broader business.
“The ‘for everyone’ pathway is designed for people who don’t have qualifications, whether they be retired from the forces, someone looking for a career change or returning mums, and they go through a similar 12-week programme.”
Next up: SEP2 and Bechtle UK...
Tim Ward, co-founder, director, business development, SEP2
Have you experienced a drop in the number of graduates in your organisation?
“SEP2 is a ‘people powered’ cybersecurity specialist organisation that is constantly growing, with graduates being a key element of this growth.
“We are continually recruiting graduates across all teams in our business, doing our part in helping reduce the known skills gap in cybersecurity.
“We are also proud to be able to offer employment to people throughout the UK, as we have offices in London and in Leeds, and offer remote working.”
Should the channel be concerned about a decrease?
“The channel is made up of so many elements, so I’m not sure if I can make that judgement!
“SEP2 pride ourselves on recruiting talent from all different bases, with our graduate and apprenticeships schemes helping to address the skills gap in our industry”.
James Napp, managing director, Bechtle UK
Have you experienced a drop in the number of graduates in your organisation?
“No, in fact we are seeing more high-quality graduates coming onto the market and adding to our teams across all areas.”
Should the channel be concerned about a decrease?
“Not necessarily – it’s about quality not just quantity.
“There are lots of ambitious and highly driven graduates in the market with raw skill sets. As an employer you need to be prepared to invest time and effort into these young people to give them the best opportunity to succeed.
“It’s about creating the right environment where they can feel valued and flourish - I believe we are doing that well at Bechtle UK.”
What initiatives/programmes/investments do you have in place to attract/reach out to graduates?
“We have a very streamlined search and onboarding programme, so we are covering the market well.
“We invest heavily in training over the first three years but also beyond that, with more bespoke training as people progress.
“We also make career paths as clear as possible and offer internal promotion where we can. This is very popular, with people able to move between departments and roles when the fit is right.”