Graduate recruitment program brings many benefits

Q: What’s the brief history of yourself and Fluid Recruitment?

Sophie: I am the Branch Manager of Fluid Recruitment NZ and have been with Fluid for six years. We have grown from a boutique consultancy born in Dunedin to a nationwide provider of specialist recruitment services across vertical markets such as IT, Engineering, Manufacturing, Accounting and Finance and Commercial placements.

We now have offices in Dunedin, Sydney and soon Wanaka, with ambitious growth plans throughout New Zealand. Our business rests on the principles of adding value to our clients and making the process easy when it comes to staffing and recruitment.

Q: Why did you create a graduate recruitment program?

Sophie: Initially when we began to strategise around profiles that best reflected our business, we realised a lot of the skills and attributes we sought were not so much experience based but character based. Dedication, motivation, ethics based, commercially aware, aptitude to learn, mouldable; these were all characteristics we could link to graduate candidates or those with a relevant background that showed this nature.

Initially we began by networking with local institutes about up-and-coming graduates. We are also a YES employer, a provider of youth employment and actively interviewing graduates who demonstrated an interest in HR, Recruitment and Staffing.

After successfully engaging and establishing four key members of staff from recent graduation, Eden Brown is passionate about driving the graduate recruitment program and creating a formal framework. He is one of our key hires who came to us following receipt of his Bachelor of Commerce.

Q: When did it start and how does it work?

Sophie: We have pushed “go” on this initiative very recently. The aim is to provide a transparent employment option for graduates to enter the recruitment industry, without necessarily being bundled up with one of the traditional big players.

We want to utilise the fact that we have an HQ in New Zealand’s most vibrant University city and offer opportunities for some of the best talent coming through.

Q: How many graduates have been employed so far?

Eden: Four - myself, Blake Mather, Tom Stevens and Mat Baird all joined very soon after

finishing university and have since built strong desks within our industry verticals. Blake joined our Sydney office alongside Peter Clark and really set the precedent for what could be achieved by someone with superb drive.

Q: What have been the benefits?

Eden: Recruitment is unique in the sense that you can get up and running very quickly. The spotlight you face from day one and exposure to industry is unparalleled.

Very quickly you are learning to deal with all sorts of people and simultaneously building the commercial acumen required to make things happen. If you are with a great agency, I don’t think you can the earning potential, flexibility and autonomy anywhere else.

At Fluid, our focus is on one-to-one mentorship from forward thinking leaders who genuinely care about helping to build better people. The tight knit team environment is a comforting first entry point into the workplace.

Q: How do you see the graduate recruitment program growing/developing in the future?

Eden: We are an ambitious company and a progressive employer. We will be pushing very hard to continue to grow our national brand presence and alongside that, our team. I’d love to see Fluid not only recruit grads in Sydney and Dunedin but use the model to build our team in future locations alongside our experienced business leaders.

Q: How has Fluid Recruitment benefitted?

Sophie: There have been a multitude of benefits for Fluid as a business incorporating a graduate recruitment program.

We have seen a huge positive impact on company culture and a natural extension on our values.

Within a team of individuals who come with mixed levels of experience, age and backgrounds there is a shared passion for doing great work and a tangible commitment to continual learning and development.

We have also been able to influence levels of professionalism and sustainability by training based on best practice and long-term relationship-based recruitment and consultancy.

With the program being officiated and run by a member of staff who started with our team based on this method, Eden has also created a platform for creating a modern, relevant message about what the role looks like.

I like to look at this as our ability to “raise” and nurture future consultants who really improve the face of recruitment in NZ.