Aquent has launched a unique programme called “Step Up” in response to the lack of available, quality recruiters in the industry.

Starting in March 2005 and involving up to 15 graduates with one year’s experience, the goal of the “Step Up” programme is to develop and train a group of graduates over a period of 47 weeks across the Asia Pacific region to be the top quality recruiters who are imbued with the Aquent culture and ethos. They will be trained in all aspects of the business and be mobile enough to relocate either temporarily or permanently to any Aquent office in the Asia Pacific region, as and when there is a need.

“We feel that this Aquent initiative is a great way of developing industry talent and is certainly worth the investment in young professionals across the region,” explains Greg Savage, Asia Pacific CEO for Aquent. “By having an available group of mobile recruiters, it provides Aquent with recruiter strength prior to us actually having specific needs for them. This means that we will become less reliant on knee-jerk hiring which may sometimes lead to a drop of standards.

Each graduate will be assigned a mentor and a weekly programme including a combination of theoretical and practical training. Some of the training will require them to travel to other Aquent offices in the Asia Pacific region and they will learn all aspects of Aquent’s business and services, which means that they will be able to cross-sell our services more effectively.”

Applications are still open for the “Step Up” Graduate traineeship programme.