You can often tell a lot about a company within the first few interactions you have with it. Namely, your first impression stems from its communication style, values, and quality of work, amongst other things. However, it's up to the people you choose to employ to convey this image to the broader world in these everyday interactions. Delta Capita's core values are Innovation, Excellence, Trust, and Partnership, which we strive to demonstrate consistently through our people and work.
To learn more, we spoke with Delta Capita Analyst April Dickinson on how a company culture that incorporates people-first values reinvents graduate recruitment and the workplace.
I first got a feel for Delta Capita and its values when I applied for their graduate opportunity in 2020.
After completing the final year of my degree in a pandemic, the last thing I needed was more stress. But after being flung out into the real world after virtual graduation, it was time to get a job.
In the summer of 2020, after furlough numbers peaked at 8.9 million people and unemployment was also rising towards 5%, the job market was the most competitive since the fallout of the global financial market crash in 2008.
Stranded in a sea of posts on LinkedIn about desperation at the state of the jobs market and sudden redundancies were a tiny list of job openings. Each of which seemed to show near 2000+ applicants within a few days of being advertised.
During those months, I probably applied for upwards of 70 jobs. During this process, I completed personalised CVs, cover letters, essay questions that required upwards of 1000 words each, psychometric tests, reaction speed tests, trading challenges, presentations, and computer literacy tests. This meant that, often, applying to one job could take over a day in total – which, along with maintaining a full-time summer job, felt overwhelming.
And to rub salt in the wound, the majority of employers wouldn't even contact you to say they had chosen someone else, never mind give any useful feedback to help you move forward.
Luckily for me, I had personal mentors that could help me along the way. A few years prior, a cousin who had been through the graduate recruitment process could give me helpful tips, and many of my friends going through the exact same troubles as me could send openings my way that they thought I would be suited to.
So, after all of this, applying to Delta Capita felt somewhat like a breath of fresh air. There were a few main reasons it felt so different.
A short recruitment cycle
Firstly, I was first contacted by the Delta Capita recruitment team just three days after applying for the job. I was offered the position within three weeks of first applying, whilst some major firms took upwards of 4 months to get a reply back.
No demanding projects, or tests
There were no extensive demanding essays or hour-long tests, just a 1-minute video introducing myself, a short report that I was allowed two days to complete, and a first and second interview.
Being treated as a person rather than a statistic
Rather than being a test score on a page of how many quick-fire questions I can answer in 30 minutes, Delta Capita treated me like a person. They used the interviews to learn about me, my hobbies and interests, and teach me more about the company and Delta Capita's workplace culture.
A graduate program, not a scheme
Delta Capita's graduate opportunities are also not a graduate scheme that lasts one or two years, with the cloud of trepidation hanging over your head the whole time until you find out whether you will be offered a long-term job or not. Instead, with Delta Capita's Graduate Program, once you have successfully passed the three-month probation period, the position you are offered is a full-time permanent position. And you are treated as such. Not a junior member. Not a short-term contractor. Just another member of the Delta Capita team.
This process highlights how reinventing graduate recruitment and incorporating values into your workplace can help companies retain employees longer. For example, if your policies show how you care about your employees' and candidates' wellbeing, this will reflect positively in their minds.
When people feel like they can bring their whole self to work, they tend to be more comfortable, making it easier to share ideas, be productive, and feel like a part of the team.
When you communicate and demonstrate your values as an organisation, it allows you to attract those who also reflect the same values. Because if you don't have values as a whole, what ties you together, and what makes you stand out from any other firm.
If you are ready to reinvent the workplace and join our dynamic team, you can review our current vacancies here.
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