A LEADING Hampshire employer is changing its graduate hiring process to cater for “generation Covid” after lockdown put paid to many people’s chance of work experience.

Zurich UK, which has around 600 staff based at Whiteley, says the lack of internships and placements has left graduates with less real-world experience than previous generations.

Around three quarters feel they have been unable to gain the right employability skills during their studies, research suggests.

Zurich, whose graduate hiring round runs until October 30, says it has adapted its hiring process to ensure that these applicants are not penalised for having fewer life events to draw on in the assessment process.

Competency-based interviews have been scrapped in favour of “strength-based assessments” to ensure candidates from diverse backgrounds are not at a disadvantage.

The insurer will help to identify candidates who may not match criteria for one role but may be more suitable for another area of the business.

Zurich says it will ensure every applicant who takes part in the assessment process receives detailed feedback to help them on their journey.

It has also announced steps to support neurodiverse applicants, with group interviews scrapped.

Michelle Ransome, Zurich’s head of talent acquisition, said: “We really want to create a level playing field for all graduates to ensure we genuinely attract the best person for every role. Candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as recent graduates hit by lockdown, may not have had the same opportunities and life experiences as others.

“We also know that people with neurodiverse conditions can bring a range of valuable skills to the workplace, and by adapting our recruitment process we can tap into a much wider source of talent.” Zurich’s actuarial team is also launching an industrial placement programme for 2023. Five graduates will complete a year in industry at Zurich in pricing and reserving. The conversion rate from the internship to the graduate scheme stands at 82 per cent.

Zurich is recruiting for 31 graduate roles and 21 internships across six areas: business management; change and technology management; actuarial finance; data and analytics; and sustainability.