Rethink the recruitment strategy
The study progress reform can be a headache for recruitment supervisors. When do you begin the application process for the graduate programme? And do the students still have the opportunity for an internship? Head of the Career Centre at Aarhus BSS, Aarhus University Thomas Hvergel Jensen provides an overview.
A well-defined recruitment strategy. This is Thomas Hvergel Jensen’s succinct reply when asked what recruitment supervisors in the business community must pay attention to when it comes to the impact of the study progress reform.
“Previously, it was difficult to figure out when the Master’s degree students could do an internship or when they would finish their studies. To a large extent, they were able to plan their time to degree themselves. The study progress reform has changed that. And today, the students have a more well-defined course of study. However, we can see that companies have been accustomed to recruiting when it fit into their own cycle - they’ll have to rethink that now if they want a successful recruitment strategy,” he says.
Internship in the autumn - graduation in the summer
Roughly put, the study progress reform means that most of the Master’s degree students at Aarhus BSS do an internship in the autumn and complete their degree programme in the summer. In particular, this applies to the traditional business and communication-related degree programmes. In the social science degree programmes (political science, law, economics and management, and psychology) it is still possible to do an internship in the spring semester. However, the impact of the study progress reform is clear, and the time frame for when the companies can assign an intern is limited. According to Thomas Hvergel Jensen, this requires even better planning.
“The companies will have to commit at an earlier stage when it comes to recruitment. If they want an intern in the autumn, the obvious thing to do is to begin the recruitment process early in the spring. The same applies if they’re looking for students for graduate programmes or full-time positions. Begin the recruitment process during the winter if the objective is for the students to start just after the summer holidays,” he suggests.
Welcome extended to the business community
The study progress reform also means changes to the offers that the business community gets from the Career Centre at Aarhus BSS.
“We’re going to do more to welcome companies into Aarhus BSS so that it fits the students’ cycle. This means that we’ll focus on opportunities for internships in the spring and on thesis collaboration and graduate programmes during the autumn,” says Thomas Hvergel Jensen.
In addition to the fixed framework regarding internships, thesis collaboration and graduate programmes, there will still be other opportunities for meeting the students throughout the year. This includes, for example, Job Shadow and Career Corps activities or looking for student assistants or project collaborations in the AU Job and Project Bank.
Contact information:
If you would like to know more about the study progress reform’s impact on your company, you are welcome to contact Thomas Hvergel Jensen, head of Aarhus BSS Career and Alumni, at thj@au.dk or +45 30595768.
