KPMG has announced that it has changed its graduate recruitment process to suit the millennial generation, after a recent survey has shown that their lengthy recruitment process is frustrating for candidates.
The three separate assessments held over several weeks will now be combined into one day. The accountancy firm has also said that applicants will hear the outcome of an interview within two working days.
The changes come as a result of a survey conducted by KPMG this summer, suggesting millennials were frustrated by the length of their recruitment process. KPMG questioned 400 of this summer’s graduates applying for a graduate role at their UK firms. It was found that over one-third of graduates were annoyed by the length of the recruitment process and also the time it took to hear if they had got the job.
As well as this, more than half of the graduates surveyed complained about not receiving feedback if their interview was unsuccessful.
Simon Collins, the chairman of KPMG, said the changes had to be made to compete with smaller start-ups offering faster recruitment processes in order to secure the top graduate employees.
“We are competing with the full gamut for the best brains and talent leaving university: getting our graduate recruitment right is crucial to the long-term success of our business,” he said.
KPMG is not the only firm to change their recruitment process; Goldman Sachs removed their face-to-face interviews on university campuses in June. This move was made to attract a wider variety of talent.
The investment bank now conducts video interviews with first-round undergraduate applicants to find applicants from a wide range of disciplines other than finance, economics and mathematics.
Last year, Deloitte also changed its selection process meaning recruiters did not know where applicants attended school or university. Again, this change was made to recruit a more diverse range of talent and to avoid ‘unconscious bias.’
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