Hobsons helps nuclear authority launch graduate programme

Hobsonsí graduate recruitment services business has just completed a project to recruit graduates onto the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority two-year Nuclear Graduate Programme.

The graduates ñ who have taken up positions in mechanical, civil and electrical engineering, project management, environmental science and finance - started work in mid April.

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Carl Dawson from NDA comments: ëWith this being the NDAís first graduate scheme, we wanted to get it right from the start and we knew the graduates we were hoping to target would be in high demand. Hobsons shone through during the competitive tendering process by demonstrating they could use their 40 years of graduate expertise to find us the right candidates in an often challenging sector to recruit in.í

After securing the contract in November 2007, Hobsons was given two months to recruit ten graduates onto the Programme. Strict guidelines as to who the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is able to employ made the screening process especially stringent.

Student response to the Programmeís marketing was fantastic, with over 1,250 applications generated in under five weeks ñ one student even applied on Christmas Day!

Umang Panchal, Business Development Director at Hobsons, comments: ëWith most good engineering and science graduates being snapped up by oil, gas and even financial companies, we knew the NDA recruitment campaign was going to be a challenge. However, by working closely with the NDA, understanding the benefits of working in the nuclear industry and drawing on our many years of working in the graduate market, we were able to turn around a successful recruitment campaign in a short timescale.í

Following four assessment centres, the Nuclear Decommission Authority was so impressed with the quality of candidates that 13 graduates were hired ñ three more than the Authorityís original target.

The Nuclear Decommission Authority is also pleased that nearly 40% of the intake are female ñ higher than the industry average of just 18%

Carl Dawson summed up the results: ëRecruiting 13 graduates onto the Programme is a great result for the NDA and our stakeholders, which we could not have achieved without Hobsonsí help. We look forward to hearing how the graduates develop and progress in their roles and continuing to raise the profile of the nuclear industry to graduates.í

1 http://www.cogent-ssc.com/research/Publications/factsheets/Nuclear_Facts...