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Atkins Case Study
Identifying Engineering Potential for Atkins
The Background
Atkins and Amberjack have a long-standing and successful partnership. Since the beginning of our partnership, we have delivered 8 effective graduate and apprentice campaigns, managing over 100,000 candidates and offering roles to around 7,000 of them. In addition to this, Amberjack has helped Atkins establish and manage a virtual work experience programme.
Over this time, we have won 8 industry awards, and continually reviewed processes to improve automation and effectiveness without sacrificing candidate experience.
Our Objective
With evolution at its core, Atkins wanted to create an industry-leading Early Careers programme. Together, we aimed to leverage technology and automation, while maintaining a great candidate experience.
With post-pandemic growth coupled with a buoyant job market, increased attrition rates, and increased competition, it was essential to review the data behind the core processes to understand how automation and technology could be used to improve efficiencies and streamline Atkins’ recruitment process for graduates and apprentices.
With the introduction of Atkins’ virtual work experience programme, additional goals also included educating students about the organisation and helping them learn industry specific skills.
Our Solution
Improving access to our industry means engaging with candidates earlier. The virtual work experience programme for 14-18 year olds provides information on careers in Engineering, and is designed to help inform and inspire the next generation of talent. 731 students participated in this programme, with 75% stating they are likely or very likely to consider a career in Engineering post programme.
For university students, Atkins’ Digital Campus activity engages potential candidates with live events and virtual on-campus presence listings, allowing everyone to access information inside Atkins. Early engagement is prioritised for these populations too, with an increased focus on first-year students to help improve their understanding and awareness of Atkins. This year, an increased presence at non-Russel group universities was achieved, helping to recruit these students onto Atkins schemes.
Streamlining Atkins’ recruitment process itself involved the removal of stages that were an inefficient use of recruiter time and implementing more effective processes. We worked together to remove telephone interviews for apprentices, introduce a new matching process for summer placements and 3 new immersive assessments for grads, apprentices, and placements. We replaced assessment centres with interview days to provide candidates with information about the programme and what’s on offer before joining a business presentation and role-relevant interview, to increase engagement and avoid long wait times.
All candidates that make it to the offer stage are assigned a buddy and get access to a pre-boarding portal with mentors, forums, and preparation modules.
Candidate experience and engagement is a constant priority.
The Journey
Step 1.
Insight and Research
By drawing on insight and feedback and utilising our in-house expertise, Amberjack designed a customised and interactive process, which was industry relevant and reflected the roles candidates are applying for. This increased face validity and the ability to find the best fit.
Step 2.
Technology
We managed Atkins candidates through the process using our revolutionary digital platform. This enabled candidates to access personal accounts and useful information while we provided regular, reassuring communication to keep their interest warm.
Step 3.
New Process
- Stage 1: Degree matcher tool
- Stage 2: Immersive situational judgement text
- Stage 3: Online application form
- Stage 4: Psychometric tests for graduates
- Stage 5: Telephone interview hosted by Atkins employees
- Stage 6: Engaging assessment centres
Stage 1: Degree matcher tool
Stage 2: Immersive situational judgement text
Stage 3: Online application form
Stage 4: Psychometric tests for graduates
Stage 5: Telephone interview hosted by Atkins employees
Stage 6: Engaging assessment centres
Stage 2: Immersive situational judgement text
Stage 3: Online application form
Stage 4: Psychometric tests for graduates
Stage 5: Telephone interview hosted by Atkins employees
Stage 6: Engaging assessment centres
The Impact
These solutions had a significant impact on Atkins’ Early Careers recruitment process. Not only did Atkins and Amberjack work together to improve access to engineering, build an understanding of Atkins, and recruit a diverse cohort of talent… we also achieved much more:
Building a World-Class Candidate Experience for Atkins
27% offers to BAME candidates
Achievements far out-performed industry averages
The newly implemented virtual work experience programme supported 731 students, providing them with support and access to opportunities.
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- 4% of these students were female, 18.6% were on free school meals, and 50.6% identified as BAME.
- The STEM Learning Hub delivered 318 events. Colleagues volunteered 1,700 hours of their time.
- 65% of applications came from students from ethnically diverse backgrounds, 27% converted onto the placement programme of which 54% BAME and 36% female.
The innovation and improved candidate experience implemented in this partnership helped raise NPS Scores from an award-winning +66, to +71, with the assessment centre reaching an outstanding +80.
Transforming recruitment for leading organisations
Frequently Asked Questions
Have any questions about candidate attraction? Here are answers to some of the most common queries.
What is the goal of Candidate Attraction?
The goal of candidate attraction is to build a talent pipeline of qualified candidates in advance of actual job openings, so that when a position needs to be filled, the hiring process is quicker and more efficient.
The candidate attraction process begins with understanding what is required for candidates to be successful both within an organisation and the particular role.
Once this has been determined, candidate attraction strategies can be implemented to attract the best candidates who match the desired profile.
Outreach and engagement can be done through a variety of means, such as social media, email, or career events. Since 2020, there has been a significant rise in virtual events and networking sessions, allowing employers to have increased reach and provide more opportunities for candidates.
The ultimate goal is to start a relationship with potential employees, and provide them with a good understanding of the organisation and role so they are excited and motivated to apply.
What is the difference between candidate attraction and recruiting?
Candidate attraction is a proactive and targeted activity which is focused on engaging candidates, educating and informing them about your opportunities and converting them to application stage.
Recruiting is a more general term which refers to the broader process including assessment, selection, offer management and on-boarding.
What are some popular candidate attraction activities and channels?
There are multiple channels for organisations to use to attract their candidates and we would always suggest carrying out an audit of previous activity to see what is providing the best ROI.
Within the Early Careers social recruiting is becoming a more preferred channel as engaging to candidates in their familiar digital environments drives stronger engagement.
Industry specific platforms such as Bright Network provide a readymade community for employers to engage with and events and networking are still a firm favourite as it offers the opportunity to meet current employees face to face.
The key to candidate attraction is understanding your audience. What motivates them? Where do they look for opportunities? How can you best educate them?
It’s not simple but having a well thought out strategy will mean you can drive higher quality applications.
How can I make my organisation more attractive to candidates?
Again, this is about understanding your audience, however there are some common key themes.
Firstly, be honest and transparent. Whether that be disclosing salary information on the job specification or positioning the diversity of your board members, candidates will understand your challenges if you are clear about how you are addressing them.
ED&I is a huge topic and one that employers most continually focus on engage candidates. Whether it be sharing your ED&I policies from the outset or introducing them to your internal networks or relevant employees, showcase how you support individuals from underrepresented groups and how they can succeed in your business.
Finally, give clear and detailed information on the recruitment process. Provide information on each stage, expected timeframes and consider committing to giving personalised feedback.
