AGR’S ANTIPODEAN ADVENTURE
AGR Chief Executive, Carl Gilleard, and Chairman, Terence Perrin have recently returned from the other side of the world representing AGR at the New Zealand Association of Graduate Employers’ (NZAGE) first annual conference, and The International Graduate Recruitment and Development Association (INGRADA) summit, both held in Auckland. En route they also attended the Australian Association of Graduate Employers Ltd’s (AAGE) annual conference in Melbourne. Carl Gilleard reports back…
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Carl Gilleard Chief Executive, AGR
8 GRADUATE RECRUITER O
ver the past decade graduate recruitment has gone global and it’s logical therefore that AGR should build links with similar associations wherever they exist. Benefits of global networking include sharing best practice and trends in graduate recruitment and development, working in collaboration on global projects and supporting fledgling associations as and when they spring up. The vehicle through which global collaboration takes place is INGRADA (
www.ingrada.org). Best described as an informal association of associations, INGRADA was founded several years ago following a meeting at a NACE conference in the USA. The founding members consisted of NACE (USA), CACEE (Canada), AAGE and NAGCAS (Australia) and AGCAS and AGR (UK). Three more countries are now represented – SAGRA (South Africa), HKAGR (Hong Kong) and most recently NZAGE (New Zealand).
Each of the new associations have been encouraged and supported by the more established associations, some of whom have been around for several decades. It is deeply satisfying to see the expansion of the global network and to observe the pace at which the new associations have established themselves. NZAGE are a case in point. In their first year they have attracted more than 50 members, and in November 2012 they held their own annual conference in Auckland. Linked to the
conference they also hosted an INGRADA summit. The main agenda item at the summit was a review of what INGRADA has achieved to date. While there has been progress in producing global graduate survey reports for the past few years, as well as joint collaboration between associations to deliver a successful global conference (in London in May last year), members felt that there was a need for greater efforts if collaboration and joint working was to really benefit our respective memberships. Best intentions are not enough to secure results and so it was agreed that each association should consider contributing a modest sum of money (between US$1000 and US$2000) to fund a part-time co-ordinator who would take responsibility for progressing the projects which INGRADA members sign up to. Everyone agreed that the INGRADA network does
provide the potential to gain valuable insights and comparisons in market conditions globally. In the world we operate in today, this is an invaluable resource that we would miss if the network folded. Terence and I, together with the other international visitors, were made welcome in Auckland where our presence (and support) was much appreciated. They felt that we added an extra dimension to their event - several of us took part in a lively panel debate (see photograph). En route to the summit, we attended and presented at
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