Qualitative research with graduate employers to gain insight into the University of Warwick’s Employer Connect service
In-depth interviews with graduate employer representatives
Different sectors represented
Approximate length of interviews, in minutes
Challenge
Employer Connect is a graduate recruitment service offered by the University of Warwick, which enables employers to engage with students at the university as they explore their career options. It offers services such as consultancy with graduate employers, careers fairs, employer developed skills sessions and presentations, and a job advertising portal.
Recognising that the graduate recruitment market has changed in recent years, the University of Warwick and Employer Connect wished to carry out a review of their service provision. Following an online survey with graduate employers exploring their experiences of graduate recruitment, it appointed Enventure Research to undertake a programme of qualitative research to gain further insight into employers’ experiences and understand how their needs are changing.
Approach
A series of in-depth interviews was held with representatives from companies in positions of responsibility for human resourcing or graduate recruitment. Participants were recruited by Enventure Research, following expressing an interest to participate in further research when completing the University of Warwick’s online survey.
Participants came from a broad mix of companies in terms of the number of employees, region, and sector of business, providing a wealth of different views about graduate recruitment. Business sectors included arts, entertainment and recreation, recruitment and HR, education, legal and accounting services, technology, and the charity sector.
Interviews were conducted via telephone by experienced interviewers from Enventure Research, who followed a specifically designed discussion guide to allow all relevant topics to be covered. Interviews were digitally recorded for analysis with the informed consent of participants.
Outcome
A series of 18 in-depth interviews was conducted with graduate employer representatives, gathering feedback on their experiences of graduate recruitment, perceptions of the University of Warwick, perceptions and experience of Employer Connect, and the future development of Employer Connect.
All feedback was analysed by Enventure Research, and detailed in a report which outlined the key themes arising from the interviews. Anonymised verbatim comments were included to illuminate the research findings and bring the report to life. Insight gathered via the qualitative interviews was used by the University of Warwick and Employer Connect to help inform the development of its graduate recruitment service provision.
“Enventure Research has delivered several pieces of research on behalf of the University of Warwick and the team is always a pleasure to work with. Conducting in-depth interviews with such a range of graduate employers allowed us to provide the university with a real understanding of the graduate careers landscape, particularly as the research was conducted before Brexit.”
Insightful research. Expertly delivered.
