Early talent professionals can step up to the climate emergency by recruiting more sustainably, explains Leora Shlasko from the Sustainable Recruitment Alliance.

The Sustainable Recruitment Alliance aims to reduce the carbon footprint of the early talent sector by engaging an ecosystem of student, university, employer, and supplier stakeholders – all are committed to changing the status quo and making our sector as sustainable as possible.

We have just launched our third annual Impact Report, highlighting the impressive work being done across the Alliance. It shows our work developing partnerships, expanding membership across universities and welcoming a new wave of student members onto our Student Advisory Board.

Sustainable recruitment in practice

In our third year, Alliance members have shared their innovative approaches to recruitment processes, reduced waste, and made meaningful carbon savings.

Whether our members replaced traditional merchandise with a charitable voting system at law fairs or introduced a sustainable workwear initiative to benefit students and the environment, we’re proud to support people and organisations who want to make a positive change.

For more inspiration on what sustainable initiatives you can bring to your role, you can read some of our case studies. Learn how DLA Piper became the first law firm to be accredited as a Carbon Literate Organisation and how Nottingham Trent University is championing sustainability.

How to recruit more sustainably

At the Alliance, we want organisations to avoid ‘cookie cutter’ solutions or initiatives because we believe that truly sustainable initiatives are specific to organisations and feel true to their mission and goals.

The strategies below are general examples of how early talent professionals can significantly reduce their carbon footprint while still effectively engaging with potential candidates.

Before undertaking any initiative, the first step to recruiting sustainably is to review your current practices, and consider the elements of your work that contribute to your carbon footprint.

Contributing factors can include how much merchandise you produce and what type, how far you travel and by what means, online data storage, and much more!

Once you consider the areas that are contributing to your carbon footprint, that’s where the fun and creativity begins!

5 tips to recruit early talent more sustainably

1. Upskill your team and your early careers population
Follow DLA Piper’s example by introducing Carbon Literacy Training to your team and early careers populations.

This can help them understand the impact of their daily actions on climate change, develop an action plan to lower their carbon footprints, and gain confidence in sharing their knowledge.

2. Engage students in sustainability issues
Consider creating sustainability-focused competitions or events, like DLA Piper’s Sustainability Moot, which challenged students to address complex issues related to sustainability and ESG.

Doing this not only tells early talent populations that you’re engaged in sustainability, but also enables them to show off their expertise and engage with your brand in new ways.

3. Rethink promotional materials
Students can be turned off when offered free merchandise by employers. Instead of traditional merchandise, explore innovative alternatives.

Brodies replaced branded merchandise with a charity voting system at law fairs, a decision that reduced merchandise waste whilst further engaging students in meaningful conversations about sustainability.

If eliminating merchandise doesn’t seem feasible, sourcing merchandise from trusted suppliers that prioritise using recycled materials and eliminating textile use is a great place to start. Textiles like canvas used for tote bags were the source of 71% of this year’s merchandise emissions, despite only making up 23% of the total merchandise purchased.

4. Launch a sustainable clothing initiative
Whether you want to collect donations from your workplace to send to an existing project or start one of your own, consider a programme like the Workwear Wardrobe at the University of Warwick which provides students with free pre-loved workwear for interviews and work experiences.

This type of initiative supports early talent populations through a cost-of-living crisis while reducing the amount of clothing sent to landfill.

5. Bespoke is best
To really make a sustainable change that resonates, we find that organisations benefit from a one-to-one approach and getting involved in the Alliance can help you achieve this.

When joining, signatories make a commitment to repeatedly:
i. Review early talent processes and operations to identify opportunities to cut waste and make carbon savings.
ii. Reduce carbon emissions associated with early talent.
iii. Report your activities to the Alliance annually, allowing them to calculate emissions and build a collective Impact Report of all members.

Remember, sustainability in recruitment is not just about reducing environmental impact – it’s also about innovating processes, engaging meaningfully with students, and aligning practices with your organisation’s values.

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