Graduate recruitment: the 2009/10 IRS survey

The IRS 20th annual graduate recruitment survey investigates the impact of the current economic climate on the 2009/10 hiring round; highlights the most effective ways that employers have found to attract and select graduate recruits; and looks at any changes or barriers to graduate recruitment practices. 

The current economic crisis has had an impact on demand for graduates, with the majority of employers taking on fewer than last year - although they remain optimistic for next year's round. Besides this, there are other fundamental problems within graduate recruitment - over a third of respondents indicated they had encountered problems with graduate recruitment over the past two or three years, with the main issue being poor quality candidates. 

• Graduate recruitment: the 2009/10 IRS survey For the first time since we began recording starting salaries, the median starting salary for graduates was frozen at the 2008/09 rate. 

Also

The IRS graduate recruitment survey 2008/09 The 2008/09 IRS survey of graduate recruitment looked at hiring prospects; highlighted the most effective ways that employers have devised to find and select the best graduates; analysed starting salaries; and mapped trends in improving recruitment techniques. 

Assessment centres: the IRS report The use of assessment centres can help improve hiring decisions considerably, yet even employers that have committed the time and money required to adopt this demanding selection process could gain more from their investment, as this IRS report shows. 

How to: recruit graduates Recruiting graduates is becoming more difficult, with companies swamped with applications for their graduate positions and a big increase in the number of students completing university courses.