To find the best talent, your efforts have to be strategic. Especially for European businesses not afraid to go international in their hiring process, finding effective ways to locate and reach out to unemployed but qualified candidates can be an effective strategy.
Of course, before even thinking about this type of strategy, it’s crucial to ask yourself a core question: where are Europe’s unemployed graduates? If you can identify talent pools looking for employment in your field, can create more targeted outreach designed to attract those pools toward your company.
Unemployment Rates Across European Graduates
A central data point to start your evaluation is understanding which economies produce qualified college graduates that nonetheless struggle to find employment. Eurostat has compiled that data, finding that Southern Europe tends to be a central area for this criteria.
Graduates in Greece, Italy, and Spain struggle particularly with finding work with employment rates in this group at 49.9%, 57.5%, and 68.7% respectively. All three of these economy are currently struggling or fighting their way out of significant economic recession, explaining the geographic phenomenon. In 2013, the New York Times published a landmark article on youth unemployment in these countries that adds a qualitative and personal note to these quantitative statistics.
On the other end of the spectrum, Malta (96.9%), Germany (93.3%) and Sweden (90.9%) employ their graduates at the highest rates in Europe. These markets, understandably, are particularly competitive when it comes to recruiting recent graduates to your company.
Understanding the Difference Between Employment and Qualification
Should high youth and graduate unemployment rates encourage or discourage your efforts to recruit in these markets? It’s tempting to gravitate toward the latter. But in fact, the opposite might be true.
As mentioned above, unemployment rates are far more closely connected to a country’s economic situation than its education system. A high number of unemployed graduates does not mean that these graduates would be unqualified. In fact, for your company, it could be a recruitment opportunity.
According to the above study, and assuming that unemployment rates are at least somewhat connected to talent desirability, the average Greek college graduate is currently unemployed. In Germany, however, a graduate with the same profile is probably being recruited by multiple companies in their field of study. In other words, you are able to reach potential applicants at the same talent level, but with less recruitment efforts.
Effectively Reaching Unemployed European Graduates
Of course, you still need a recruitment strategy to succeed, particularly when working to convince international applicants to move to your organization. The first key is to understand recruitment practices in that country, and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Next, find out the typical steps an applicant in Greece, Italy, or Spain takes when looking for a job. Do they prefer to reach out to companies, or have companies reach out to them? What types of tangible and intangible benefits do they expect from their dream jobs?
Posting on a job board that is well-known in the country from which you are recruiting is crucial. But so is taking advantage of a variety of media channels – such as social media and email – to draw attention to your posting, and how it can help graduates in your desired field of study enter and advance in their career.
Where are Europe’s unemployed graduates? You will find some of them in every European country. At the same time, identifying the countries in which qualified graduates are struggling to find work can help you engage in more targeted outreach, finding the right talent for your company at a lower cost. An employee from Greece may be just as qualified to work in your company as their counterpart from Sweden. By identifying this talent pocket, you can help your company optimize its talent search.
