The NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme has been recognised as the best in the public sector for its innovative use of social media.
Last week (Thursday 10th January) the Scheme, which is run by the NHS Leadership Academy, was presented the ‘best use of social media in the public sector’ award at the national Graduate Recruitment Social Media Conference Awards.
Now in their second year, the awards, which are sponsored by graduate careers website Milkround, aim to showcase and celebrate best practice in social media usage by graduate recruiters.
The Scheme beat off stiff competition from other public sector graduate recruiters, such as the Army, Teach First and the Civil Service Fast Stream, to win the award.
Using mainstream platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, the Scheme maintains year-round engagement with potential candidates, providing timely and relevant information on career paths and the application process.
The Scheme recently created the Career Inspiration Facebook pageto enhance its pre and post application experience for candidates. The feature provides useful information about NHS career paths and enables candidates to engage with specially-appointed current trainees to find out what it’s like to work in the NHS.
In less than three months, the Facebook application had more than 20,000 impressions and 2,500 social interactions.
Other social media activity includes live question and answer sessions on Twitter and Facebook, and live tweeting from the Scheme’s events.
The Scheme, which was also voted most popular graduate recruiter in the public sector in 2012 by Target Jobs, was shortlisted after hundreds of votes were cast from prospective trainees during November 2012.
Jan Sobieraj, Managing Director of the NHS Leadership Academy, said: “Our graduate recruitment team works tirelessly to ensure that prospective candidates have the right information, at the right time. The high quality of applications every year is testament to the hard work and innovation that goes into the recruitment process – an important part of which is genuine engagement with candidates via social media.
“The outcome of this hard work is that we’re able to recruit and develop outstanding individuals to lead the NHS to a more effective future.”
The multi award winning Scheme, which has been running for more than 50 years, is a comprehensive training programme that aims to equip graduates with the expertise needed to become successful leaders in the NHS. Challenging work placements and educational components enable graduates to learn about the NHS and develop the competence required to lead the ongoing transformation of the service.
Follow the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme on Twitter at @NHSGradScheme and join the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NHSGraduateScheme.
For general information about the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme, visit www.nhsgraduates.co.uk.