On the 13th December, top graduate recruiters such as Teach First, CEBR, Adobe and the Civil Service came to King’s College London to enjoy a presentation on increasing graduate employability by Kate Daubney, Head of King’s Careers and Employability department, as well as a presentation on what changes GDPR will have on HR and graduate employment by Rachael Oakley, Associate Solicitor at Osborne Clarke. The key takeaways of the event have been summarised below.

1. Increasing graduate employability – The purpose of University came into question. It appears to becoming more employer-led with the increasing demand for universities to produce graduates with more suitable skills which can therefore increase their likelihood of landing employment post-graduation. Employers hire graduates for certain hard and soft skills but also because a graduate has shown commitment to apply themselves to one subject for three years is compelling. KCL are responding with more investment and strategic planning on how to embed career-readiness skills as part of the curriculum. This has resulted in Academics playing a direct role in boosting student employability, as well as making students aware of these learning outcomes and the 200 transferable skills in the QAA framework. The challenge is enabling students to “express” these skills to employers at interview and in the workplace.

2. Introduction to GDPR – GRN members learnt what changes GDPR will bring to data protection in the wider industry and then the day-to-day for a graduate recruiter. A complex subject was neatly broken down into three components: 1.) Reliance on consent, 2.) Updated privacy notices and 3.) Third party contracts.

3. GDPR compliance – Simplifying the complexity of GDPR, and various methods of staying compliant with internal and external recruiters. Key questions about the use of data revolve around explaining a legitimate purpose for asking and retaining candidate information.

This is just a flavour of the topics covered during a typical GRN event. To join please apply for membership and receive invites for future events. Our 2018 events calendar is as follows;

• March 13th 9am-11am. City University,London

It’s free and a fantastic opportunity to develop as a professional graduate recruiter in your sector with a diverse range of graduate recruiters facing the same challenges.