BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ECSS 2022 Volume 19 (2022) 544 Investigation of Perspective Between Human Resource Manager and College Student for Employment Chuhui Yang School of Accounting and Finance, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK mn20677@bristol.ac.uk Abstract. Human resource department is the core of any organization, it has the responsibilities of recruiting and evaluating employees for the business to maximizing profitability. This study provides the current advantages and disadvantages for human resource department when considering student employment and internships through qualitative research. This study also studies the factors that student need to consider when applying for employment and internships. Keywords: HR management; College students; Employment and internship. 1. Introduction The job market of recent years is full of contradictions. Companies are hiring at record levels, but complaints about the skills gap of recent graduates are also common. 'We often hear from employers that there is a huge skills gap between what college graduates can do and what employers are looking for', observed Breanne Harris, a regional manager at Cubiks, a Chicago-based talent management and evaluation firm. According to the newest social media data, most companies’ human resource departments nowadays are unwilling to consider recruiting candidates who are currently in college or fresh graduates. In this assignment, the question I will investigate is whether the human resource department of a business should consider recruiting students who are still studying in college and consider fresh graduates as employees. Furthermore, I will identify the advantages and disadvantages from the company’s perspective when evaluating candidates, such as the benefits it will gain upon recruiting them. I will also identify the advantages and disadvantages from the candidates’ perspectives, such as finding employment during studying and what fresh graduates will benefit from the company during the internship. In conclusion, I will evaluate the benefits for the human resource department when providing candidates with internships as well as to the solutions the company can utilise to balance any negative impacts on it. In addition, I will analyse the advantages that students may receive from internships and consider the solutions to overcome the negative impacts on themselves, thus ensuring a win–win for them and the company. 2. Role of HR department Human resource departments play an essential position in any business, whatever the size of the organisation. They are responsible for finding potential workers and recruiting and screening candidates, as well as providing the right training programmes to candidates. Human resource departments are tasked with maximising employees’ productivity and increasing the levels of innovation and motivation. This requires organising and managing employees effectively, which increases the flexibility and competitiveness within the workforce. Human resource departments ensure good connections between the employees and the company; they have the responsibility of ensuring clear aims and objectives for the employees to help them achieve their goals within the business through a professional standard of communication. Human resource departments also address any work-related issues individual employees may have. BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ECSS 2022 Volume 19 (2022) 545 2.1 Advantages for human resource departments and companies 2.1.1 Low labour costs When human resource departments consider recruiting candidates still studying at universities and fresh graduates for internships, one of the advantages they consider is low labour costs. According to Arup Varma, the professor of Human Resource Management at Loyola university Chicago’s Quinlan School of business, the job market in developing countries such as India and China have become highly competitive, partly because of the growing youth population and skills shortages caused by problems in the education system. For the human resource department, there are a large number of college students who only have theoretical knowledge, and the company only has a few opportunities of places to train them. Therefore, college students represent cheap labour for companies because demand exceeds supply. In addition, interns are unlikely to be paid as much as the workers in the industry who are more experienced and professional. Recruiting college students allows the company to maintain the average level of labour cost input, which increases the level of productivity and the level of service. Consequently, human resource departments are more likely to hire college students or fresh graduates for the company when considering the cost-effective factor. 2.1.2 Fresh ideas, creativity and innovation If they are hired, then fresh graduates and young generation workers will influence the level of motivation in the company environment as well as offering unique ideas and thinking outside of the box, all of which improves productivity levels and encourages the surrounding to be more positive. By communicating with internship students, who represent the young generation’s perspective, the company can find out more about their needs and wants in the student customer market. This will improve the quality of services to the targeted consumers as the company will understand what products are more suitable for them, thus increasing customer satisfaction in their purchases and potentially making them repeat customers. This is one of the reasons why human resource departments are willing to recruit college students in order to motivate and encourage the workforce environment. 2.1.3 Rapid learning and flexibility Another common reason for hiring college or graduate students is that employers often believe they are particularly willing to receive training and can absorb new knowledge faster and multitask complex jobs. Some employers see a direct correlation between the skills required to learn and pass exams and the skills needed to absorb new knowledge in the workplace. One employer stated that "we need strong academic skills, they are college-trained so they know how to do research properly and can apply all these research skills to the problems the company is working on. That's why we really need college students.”. In addition, the younger generation is more willing to accept flexible working methods and multi-tasking, which can reduce the workload of other sectors. 2.1.4 Increasing the size of the business Furthermore, providing candidates with professional training and knowledge in the form of an internship will benefit the business in the long run because the positive impression of the company will be more likely to attract the candidates to become full time workers after internship or graduation; this allows the business to employ sustainable workers which will increase the size of the business as well as the market. Consequently, the business’s reputation will be promoted and the company’s strategies enhanced, which increases the awareness of the company in local society awareness as well as increasing future recruitment. 2.2 Disadvantages and potential impacts on the HR department/company 2.2.1 Lack of skills and experience Talent Works research data, show that 61% of the 95,000 full time jobs in American companies require their applicants to have at least 3 years or more working experience based on their position BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ECSS 2022 Volume 19 (2022) 546 upon application. This potentially reduces the risks of the employees being unable to complete workloads and maintains productivity. One of the disadvantages of recruiting students and fresh graduates for the company is their lack of skills and experience which impedes the progress of certain tasks and requires the company to spend more effort monitoring candidates and providing them with intensive training programmes for a longer period. The potential impact of this is poor productivity, decreased motivation and poor customer services, which cause the business reputation to decrease because consumers are unlikely to be satisfied. 2.2.2 Unrealistic expectations College students and fresh graduates also have a serious issue when applying for employment and internship, which is their unrealistic expectations regarding salaries; they are unlikely to be satisfied with their wages because of their social influences which make them feel they are not sufficiently well-paid in their current position. Reddy (2016) suggests that they have very high expectations regarding their job and salary; they expect the employer to give them the wages they expect. This has a potential negative impact on the business because of difficulties in retaining staff, which suggests that more interviews will be necessary for the human resource department. 2.2.3 Waste of money, energy and time The main negative impact of the human resource department recruiting college students and fresh graduates is the waste of money, energy and time caused by providing candidates with professional training and knowledge when the candidates are then unwilling to become full-time workers after their internships. Most of the new graduates are millennials, and millennials like to change job to seek the best employers, at least according to human resources solutions firm Randstad Sdn Bhd (Randstad Malaysia). This is because the young generation is extremely ambitious and thus looking for satisfaction as well as continuous development in their career. 2.2.4 Impact on internal promotion for the company One of the potential negative impacts for an human resource department to consider when recruiting college students is causing current employees to lose confidence in their own working position because of the internships. New candidates will always be more competitive when it comes to promotions within the company, and this may cause the other employees to feel depressed and pressured, and unable to progress as much as before because of the feeling of insecurity that their position might be taken by the new generation. To summarise, human resource departments are not willing to recruit candidates still studying in college or fresh graduates who are not sufficiently competent at the job due to either their qualifications or work experiences. This is because the company itself will have to deal with low- quality workers and high staff turnover rates, which reduces the level of productivity and service as well as affecting business reputation. 2.3 Advantages for college students 2.3.1 Professional training and knowledge In today’s society, the young generation is still studying in college and fresh graduates are seeking internships at companies. The benefits for the candidates of doing so is that internships enable them to gain more working experience as well as professional training and knowledge. This is an important factor for a candidate in their future career path because there is a tremendous difference between studying and actual working according to Ryan Coon, an entrepreneur and former College Works intern. Having better working experience at this stage of their life allows candidates to benefit in the long run by gaining more confidence and become more mature in their workplace thinking as well as developing personal skills that they will not find at college. Consequently, experiencing internships allows college students to learn and gain the soft skills needed in the workplace and in leadership positions. In a LinkedIn Skills Report (2018), 57% of respondents rated soft skills as more important than technical skills. Skills such as communication, leadership, problem-solving and teamwork can https://learning.linkedin.com/blog/top-skills/the-skills-companies-need-most-in-2018--and-the-courses-to-get-t BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ECSS 2022 Volume 19 (2022) 547 all be learned through the progress of internship and utilised beyond that experience. Although college degrees and grades are important for personal statements, which is a requirement when applying for jobs in their future career, personal experience in internships will be even better at showing how specific projects have been successfully completed as well as their ability to serve company goals. 2.3.2 Networking The data show that there is a 1 in 16 chance of securing a job by connecting with people. It is critical for candidates to know more people in society, which will enable them to have more useful networking connections during their future career. It also provides the candidates with a professional environment which allows them to intern with people who have similar interests or those with unique abilities who can help each other. 2.3.3 Personal internal promotion College students or fresh graduates who apply to a company for an internship may be able to transition to become a full-time worker straight after the graduation or internship. This is a huge advantage for the students because of knowing the function of the business sufficiently well during the internship, which allows them to become more confident in what they should be doing during work by using the valuable experience and professional training provided, thus achieving a win–win with them and the business. 2.3.4 Monitoring and feedback Candidates who undergo internships will gain professional feedback and learn from others. Having professors and work instructors monitoring their daily progress in tasks gives them the opportunity to learn more about themselves. For example, instructors are able to pause the progress when mistakes are identified. This is an important factor for the candidate in their long-term career because by learning from others and their own mistakes, this will prevent the same thing happening twice and avoids bigger mistakes occurring. This will also allow the candidates to observe what to do when the situation repeats, which is the purpose of such valuable learning. 2.4 Disadvantages for college students 2.4.1 Difficulty of time management From a students’ perspective, candidates when applying for internships need carefully consider the impact on their work. One of the disadvantages for students applying for internships will be falling behind in their learning progress due to the high frequency of workload that they need to handle, which will potentially cause difficulties in scheduling their college work properly, drawing their attention away from it and thus affecting their learning progress. In addition, internship working hours for candidates may not be in normal business hours; there is a high possibility that candidates will have to work late at night to complete certain tasks or help other company staff in order to maximise the firm’s profitability. This has a negative impact for candidates because, as mentioned above, it causes them difficulties in scheduling their daily work sufficiently. This may have the effect on the candidate of stopping them from completing their college work or achieving their predicted grades, or even failing their courses altogether, which will affect their life career. 2.4.2 Financial difficulties Many companies may take advantage of candidates by giving them grunt work, paying them low salaries or even not paying them at all; this may cause college students to face a financial burden for themselves if the salary is too low while they are also coping with student bills. In addition, college students may also need to pay extra fees such as rent, transport fees, meals fees, salaries income isn’t enough to overcome the daily cost. This suggests that if college students have cash flow problems, it is important for them to consider carefully and weigh up the pros and cons first. BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ECSS 2022 Volume 19 (2022) 548 3. Conclusion In conclusion, after considering both the advantages and disadvantages of this topic, I believe that by providing candidates an opportunity of internship, this will benefit companies overall. This is because internships allow a business to increase its level of productivity and service but maintain the same level of turnover, resulting in low labour costs. They also promote the company’s reputation in local society by offering professional training and knowledge for candidates, which improves the market size and benefits future recruitment. Consequently, human resource departments will need to balance the disadvantages of internships by sufficiently mentoring candidates and ensuring they are progressing correctly, and immediately intervening when things head in the wrong direction, thus preventing any negative impacts. Meanwhile, human resource departments can also evaluate the candidates through monitoring to consider whether they can become full-time workers for the company in the future, which will maximise the benefits for the business, thus achieving a win–win for both sides. In addition, I believe that a human resource department when interviewing should consider providing more internship opportunities for candidates who are still studying in college or fresh graduates, in order to expand the size of the company. I also believe it is very important for candidates to take advantage of internships because of the professional training and work experience they will receive, which will benefit them in their future careers, as these are skills which cannot be gained in college through textbooks. By having more experience in work, this allows candidates to become more confident in their work as well as complete tasks more efficiently due to their improved personal abilities. However, to prevent negative impacts, candidates will need to schedule their daily time sufficiently to complete their college work as well as business work, and end the internship immediately if these two factors come into conflict. It is very important for candidates to identify what should be done first before starting the next thing; in other words, complete their college work first before considering traditional work. References [1] Hirsch, A. and Hirsch, A. (2019). Why Hiring Managers’ Expectations for New College Graduates May Be Unrealistic. [online] SHRM. Available at: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent- acquisition/pages/managing-hiring-managers-high-expectations-for-new-college-graduates.aspx. [2] Choi, J.W., Lee, S.K. and Kim, S.-D. (2021). The Influence of HR Department’s Strategic Role on Organizational Effectiveness through Education and Training Satisfaction: Focusing on the Manufacturing Industry. Journal of Digital Convergence, [online] 19(6), pp.175–184. doi:10.14400/JDC.2021.19.6.175. [3] Ulrich. D. (1997). Human Resource Champions. The next agenda for adding value and delivering results. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. [4] . Budhwar, P.S. and Varma, A. (2011). Emerging HR management trends in India and the way forward. Organizational Dynamics, 40(4), pp.317–325. doi: 10.1016/j.orgdyn.2011.07.009. [5] Pollard, E., Hirsh, W. and Willians, M. (2015). Understanding Employers’ Graduate Recruitment and Selection Practices: Main report. [online] Available at: https: // publications.aston.ac.uk / id / eprint / 29398 / 1/Employers_graduate_recruitment_and_selection_practices.pdf#page60. [6] Maurer, R. (2018). Entry-Level-Experience Requirements Could Be Hurting Your Hiring. [online] SHRM. Available at: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/entry-level- experience-requirements-hurting-hiring.aspx. [7] Reddy, C. (2016). Hiring Fresh Graduates Advantages and Disadvantages. [online] WiseStep. Available at: https://content.wisestep.com/hiring-fresh-graduates/. [8] www.hrinasia.com. (2019). Millennials Change Jobs Constantly to Seek the Best Employers - HR in ASIA. [online] Available at: https://www.hrinasia.com/press-release/millennials-change-jobs-constantly- to-seek-the-best-employers/. BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ECSS 2022 Volume 19 (2022) 549 [9] Reinicke, C. (2018). The best summer internships will teach you these important career skills. [online] CNBC. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/27/the-best-summer-internships-will-teach-you- these-skills.html [Accessed 23 Jul. 2022]. [10] Maio, J. (2018). 10 Reasons Why an Internship is Important to All Students. [online] Big Ideas Blog. Available at: https://blog.suny.edu/2018/06/10-reasons-why-an-internship-is-important-to-all-students/. [11] Petrone, P. (2018). The Skills Companies Need Most in 2018 – And The Courses to Get Them. [online] www.linkedin.com. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/business/learning/blog/top-skills-and- courses/the-skills-companies-need-most-in-2018-and-the-courses-to-get. [12] Martinez, A. (2017). Disadvantages of an Internship - AIE. [online] AIE. Available at: https: // www.aie.org / life-after-college/continue-your-education/considering-an-internship/disadvantages-of-an- internship/. 1. Introduction 2. Role of HR department 2.1 Advantages for human resource departments and companies 2.1.1 Low labour costs 2.1.2 Fresh ideas, creativity and innovation 2.1.3 Rapid learning and flexibility 2.1.4 Increasing the size of the business 2.2 Disadvantages and potential impacts on the HR department/company 2.2.1 Lack of skills and experience 2.2.2 Unrealistic expectations 2.2.3 Waste of money, energy and time 2.2.4 Impact on internal promotion for the company 2.3 Advantages for college students 2.3.1 Professional training and knowledge 2.3.2 Networking 2.3.3 Personal internal promotion 2.3.4 Monitoring and feedback 2.4 Disadvantages for college students 2.4.1 Difficulty of time management 2.4.2 Financial difficulties 3. Conclusion References