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The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of graduate recruitment in the professional socialisation and subjectification of Big Four professionals.

The paper draws on documentary data and interviews conducted at one British university. It adopts an interpretive perspective and is informed by Foucault’s work on technologies of power and technologies of the self.

The paper argues that the graduate recruitment practices of Big Four firms represent a series of examinations which produce the category of ideal recruits. It moreover suggests that this category serves as the ultimate objective of an ethical process whereby aspiring accountants consciously and deliberately seek to transform themselves into the type of subjects they aspire to be – ideal recruits.

The findings of the paper are primarily based on interviews conducted at one university. Future research could explore if students at other universities experience graduate recruitment in similar or different ways.

The paper highlights the constitutive role of graduate recruitment practices and shows that they can construct ideal recruits as much as they select them. It also shows that graduate recruitment is an important anticipatory socialisation mechanism that can compel aspiring accountants to learn how to look, sound and behave like Big Four professionals long before they join such organisations. Finally, the paper discusses its implications for the future of the profession, social mobility and the use of Foucault’s work on technologies of power and the self in studying subjectivity at elite professional service firms.

This study aims to investigate graduate employer perceptions of determining factors in recruitment decisions and their preferred use of recruitment channels. This study drew on the employability capitals model to interpret findings and identify ways to better prepare higher education students for recruitment and selection. This is particularly important in declining graduate labour markets, further weakened by COVID-19.

This study gathered data from surveying 183 Australian employers from different organisational settings. Responses were analysed using descriptive and multivariate techniques, the latter exploring variations by role type, sector and organisation size.

Findings reaffirmed the criticality of students having the right disposition and demonstrating professional capabilities during recruitment, highlighting the value of building cultural and human capital during university years. Recruitment channels that require students to mobilise their identity and social capital were prioritised, particularly among private sector organisations. Work-based internships/placements were considered important for identifying graduate talent and developing strong industry–educator partnerships, needed for building networks between students and employers.

This study provides valuable insights into determinants of graduate recruitment decision-making from the employer perspective. These highlight to students the important role of capitals, and how they can be developed to optimise recruitment success. This study presents practical strategies for universities to build their students’ human, social, cultural and identity capital. Findings on the prioritisation of recruitment channels among graduate employers from different sectors will enable students and universities to better prepare for future recruitment. It emphasises that student engagement with employability-related activities is a critical resource for an effective transition to the workplace.

This paper seeks to examine the changes in the methods of graduate recruitment and selection that have been used by UK‐based organisations and to establish the reasons for the main changes and developments in the process of attracting and recruiting graduates.

Data were collected through the use of a structured questionnaire. Questionnaires were sent to 700 UK‐based employers selected from the Prospects Directory, the Graduate Employment and Training (GET) Directory and the Times Top 100 Graduate Recruiters. The response rate was just over 50 per cent and the data were analysed by using the statistical analysis software SPSS. The variables used were organisation size, recruitment methods, selection methods, cost, skills and reasons for the use of methods.

The analysis has shown that all employers, regardless of organisation size or activity type, tend to use more sophisticated, objective and cost‐effective methods of recruitment and selection than before. The process of graduate recruitment and selection in the UK has become more person‐related than job‐oriented because many employers are more interested in the attitudes, personality and transferable skills of applicants than the type or level of qualification acquired. Although some of the usual methods such as interviewing remain popular, there is a greater variety of ways by which graduates are attracted to and selected for their first jobs.

The findings of this study are expected to be useful for employers considering the introduction of new graduate recruitment programmes and for those wishing to improve their existing ones as well as for institutions of higher education to reconsider the type of knowledge and skills they provide in order to prepare their students for the real world of work.

Reports the results of empirical research into the graduate recruitment and selection practices adopted by SMEs, and the skills being sought by employers in that sector. Describes in detail the research methods, which included interviews with large organisations to determine, alongside existing research, the extent of characteristics of SME graduate recruitment which might be particular to that sector. Findings and interpretations suggest that, in common with large organisations, SMEs value what are now termed transferable skills, although there are some differences of emphasis between the two sectors. There appears to be greater difference in the selection methods employed, though this is not as great or significant as might be expected or predicted. An important difference between the two sectors suggested by the research is the expectations placed on graduate recruits by employers in the two sectors. Unlike large employers which are more likely to provide graduate development programmes, SMEs expect an immediate contribution from graduate recruits. The implications of these similarities and differences will be explored in the final article of this series.

A “critical case” approach is used to examine whether the recruitment practices and procedures advocated by social scientists within the personnel field are realised in practice. The “critical case” selected is the graduate recruitment known as the “milkround”, where “scientific techniques” in theory stand the best chance of being used. In practice a major discrepancy between theory and practice was found, which is explained in terms of the preoccupation with material and symbolic security that conditions the actions of personnel managers in competitively co‐ordinated employment establishments.

Traditionally recruiters of male graduates, private sector organizations have been steadily increasing their intake of female graduates in recent years. Investigating “women‐friendly” recruitment and retention measures, this exploratory study sets out to discover whether the prospects for graduate women were improving over the whole working lifespan. Suggests that employers may have as yet given insufficient attention to the long‐term implications of a rise in the proportion of women in their graduate intake. A more gender‐sensitive approach is called for to the monitoring, development and long‐term management of graduates in order to secure a satisfactory return on this valuable resource.

The recruitment of engineering (and science) based graduates and their subsequent development to managerial status is discussed. The problems that organisations experience in the recruitment process are described and ways in which the success rate can be improved are suggested.

‘Demand for “good graduates” will remain highly competitive. The most successful recruiters will be those from financially strong organizations with stable recruitment records and a good training and development policy.’ Such is one informed forecast of the likely trend in graduate recruitment between 1976 and 1980. Much research has been carried out and written up on the topic of graduate recruits' attitudes both towards choosing an employer and towards their first years of employment. The conclusions reached consistently focus on the importance of the employer's reputation and economic strength, its utilisation of their knowledge and skills and its training and development policies. The success with which an employer recruits graduates will, therefore, depend a good deal on these factors. But what, or who, is a ‘good graduate’? And how can a ‘good graduate’ be identified? It is to these two questions that this article is directed, with a description of one company's experiences in attempting to answer them by developing techniques which have not been widely used in the area of graduate selection.

This article explores how strengths-based recruitment is enabling graduate recruiters to engage, attract and select the best talent. Drawing from the example of major graduate recruiter, Ernst & Young, it shows how strengths assessment can be used at each stage of the recruitment and selection process.

Strengths-based recruitment is focused on assessing candidates in relation to their performance and motivation. It identifies what people do well and enjoy doing, relative to the requirements and job-fit of the prospective employer. Strengths are also assessed online as part of a front-end screening process through the situational strengths test. This assesses the strengths candidates have, together with how they would use those strengths in a range of scenarios and situations they would be likely to experience in the role.

Strengths-based recruitment and the Situational Strengths Test engage candidates by providing them with a realistic job preview of the role. They help candidates to make informed decisions about their own fit with the role. They help organizations to select the candidates who match their requirements more effectively from those who do not, delivering better outcomes for candidates and employers.

Strengths-based recruitment is an engaging recruitment approach that appeals to the Generation Y of current graduates who are focused on the opportunity to use their strengths at work. Ernst & Young has seen improved candidate experience, enhanced business engagement, and better selection outcomes through its use of strengths-based recruitment.

For many years the demise of the graduate recruitment scheme has been predicted, some suggesting that dynamic employers want graduates that can take substantial responsibility and contribute to bottom line profitability within months of joining an organisation. Contrary to this view, some “blue chip” (organisation that if invested in, would be considered to be very reliable and safe and among the strongest performers in its sector) employers have retained their “scheme”, believing that hand picked recruits developed in(to) the organisational “mould” are more likely to achieve the medium‐ to long‐term results so desperately sought. This paper demonstrates that one such scheme produces greater career progression among scheme recruits when compared to graduates recruited outside the scheme. Further, this paper demonstrates that one such organisation operating such a scheme actively facilitates the personal development of such scheme entrants to generate enhanced career progression as a consequence of enhanced performance. The paper concludes that scheme practices could be equally applied to non‐scheme recruits to further enhance the overall performance of the organisation.