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KPMG changes graduate interviews to suit millennials

In previous posts, we have spoken about the altering attitudes and needs of the emerging millennial workforce. Millennials will make up 75% of the global workforce by 2025 and accountancy firm KPMG have made practical changes to their recruitment system to take advantage of this.

The firm has said that the recruitment process itself is changing and has been adapted to suit people born between 1980 and 2000, the BBC reports.

Firstly, the duration of interviews and response time has changed. Previously, interviews would consist of three separate assessments conducted over the course of several weeks. Now, the process has been whittled down to just one day.

The firm has also confirmed that applicants will find out whether they have been successful or not within two working days. These changes are in response to research which indicated that millennials were “frustrated by lengthy recruitment processes.”

The survey, piloted by KPMG, focused on 400 of this summer’s graduates who were applying for graduate positions. Research found that “more than one-third were annoyed about how long they had to wait to hear the outcome of an interview, and how long the recruitment process took.”

However, the most common complaint – made by more than half of those surveyed – was the lack of feedback received upon hearing they were unsuccessful. That is, if the company actually contacted them to confirm that they had been unsuccessful.

Race for the best brains

KPMG chairman, Simon Collins, reported that the company felt as though it had an obligation to make the changes in order to stay competitive and not lose recruits to smaller start-ups or tech firms, which usually provide a faster recruitment process. They hope these changes will continue to attract and secure the best graduate talent.

"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 aren’t the only ones to review their graduate recruitment process. In June, Golden Sachs said that “it had scrapped face-to-face interviews on university campuses in a bid to attract a wider range of talent.”

The US investment bank adapted their interview process earlier this year and now incorporate video interviews for first-round undergraduate candidates. The change hopes to attract graduates from a broader range of disciplines by making the process more accessible.

If you’re a millennial, what changes would you like to see made to the recruitment process? To find out about the great vacancies available in your home territories, have a look at our jobs page today.