Going global: setting up a graduate scheme for a world-leading International Investment company

Our client is an international investor with offices across the world. With close to £13bn of assets under management, they focus on private equity, infrastructure and debt management. Freshminds was brought in to overhaul their graduate recruitment strategy and introduce their first graduate scheme. This would pave the way to making a move away from hiring ex-investment bankers to graduates with great potential.

We were tasked with finding 5 top graduates with a flair for investment, an entrepreneurial and collaborative approach and who ideally spoke another European language, to undergo our client’s first ever graduate training programme.

Who they needed:

• 5 highly analytical and strategic graduates

• Collaborative candidates who would be able to deal credibly with senior stakeholders

• Ideally these graduates would not only make great analysts but would ultimately become the future leaders of the company

• The client wanted to 'mould their own' to make sure the new hires were well-rounded investors who breathe the personality and culture of the company

Key Challenges:

• The brand wasn't recognisable to the student population, and to make matters worse they’d be competing with large, very well known banks and investment organisations.

• The graduate scheme wouldn’t be a typical path for someone looking to get into investment- typically the route is via accountancy, consulting or banking.

• They had a number of important internal stakeholders involved which slowed down decision making. Given that this was the first time that they’d run a graduate programme, it was important that everyone involved was extremely bought in for the programme to run smoothly. It was also key that they set their standards high by only hiring the most impressive candidates after a rigorous recruitment process.  

What Freshminds did

• Took a detailed brief to fully understand the roles, company and fit. This meant that we thoroughly understood the personality of the business so could assess based on this rather than simply academics and general calibre.  

• Extensive marketing, networking and head-hunting campaign, across the UK and Europe

• Used our brand and university relationships to promote our client's offering which was otherwise barely known in the graduate arena.

• Conducted a rigorous screening process to ensure that only extremely high calibre graduates made it through to the assessment centre

 Results

• Organised and ran 7 events in the UK and across Europe, inviting a select group of individuals with impressive academics. This gave our client an excellent opportunity to meet the candidates and introduce them to undergraduates in a way that would cut through the noise in the graduate market.

• This means that they now have more presence at top universities across Europe which will promote their future graduate recruitment.

• Sent over 19 number of graduates to assessment centre

• 5 offers made to candidates that have the potential to be excellent leaders in the business

If this reflects outcomes that your business may require now or in the future, then get in touch for further information.