'More top candidates' needed in marketing

The marketing industry should do more to promote itself to graduates to attract high-quality candidates, it has been claimed.

Slowly, companies have been realising that they need to work harder to compete with other sectors which also court graduates, such as financial services, Media Week reports.

Hamish Pringle, director general of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, told the publication that, although marketing firms receive a high volume of interest, "there is plenty of evidence to suggest that … we are actually missing the top-flight people".

One of the issues raised in the article concerns the large amount of administrative responsibilities given to new recruits at a marketing firm, which may not challenge top-flight graduates.

However, it is suggested that companies which introduce graduate schemes and put time and attention into developing talent from an early stage could benefit in the long run.

A recent study by Ernst & Young indicated that the chance to learn and develop in a new job was a top consideration for 44 per cent of graduates.