The academic year has finished, the weather is good, half the department is on holiday, and the next academic year seems an age away. But the summer is a deceptively important period, both for recruiters on the one hand, and candidates on the other.

While many students have a job or university course lined up for September, others do not, and are frantically seeking an opening for a master’s program, MBA program, bachelor’s program, or even a PhD opportunity. For many graduates, the race is on to avoid a return back to their parent’s spare room, and they are actively looking for a postgraduate job, traineeship or internship.

On the other side of the equation, student recruiters may still be sweating about whether they can fill all the seats for their university programs.

And employers face a unique opportunity to recruit fresh graduates. Given the pressure, real or perceived, for graduates to land a job quickly, the summer offers recruiters a pool of highly motivated and qualified, yet unusually flexible candidates who are anxious to find meaningful employment after years of study.

How this “scramble” between candidates and recruiters plays out can vary, depending on whether the opportunities in question are undergraduate (bachelor) programs, postgraduate (master’s or PhD) positions. In online platforms like INOMICS, we notice a surge of interest in graduate positions over the summer, as well as extended campaigns from recruiters for those study programs that still have capacity.

In some countries there are even structures in place to handle the need to urgently place candidates. An example is the “Clearing” process for school leavers, i.e. prospective undergraduate students, who have not yet secured a place in the UK university system. 

Clearing - A Case-Study in last-minute recruitment

Between July and early October, universities and colleges across the UK (and increasingly across Europe) engage in UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) Clearing - a critical second wave of student decision-making. Typically over 30,000 courses still have places to fill at the start of July each year, and hundreds of thousands of students will be looking for the right fit.

But this isn’t just a student-facing phenomenon—it’s a key recruitment window for academic institutions, departments, and program managers.

What Is Clearing, and Why Should Recruiters Care?
Clearing is how universities and colleges in the UK fill any remaining places on their courses. Students use it when:
- They apply after 30 June
- They didn't receive or accept any offers
- They didn’t meet their offer conditions
- They changed their mind and released themselves from a firm place
This means: many of the students entering Clearing are high-intent, active decision-makers, still looking for quality academic opportunities, and fast.

For Recruiters: A Strategic Recruitment Window and a Time-Sensitive Audience
If you’re a recruiter, department head, or admissions manager looking to fill last-minute roles, program spots, or academic opportunities, this is your moment:
- Students are scanning job boards, university websites, and academic platforms like INOMICS.
- Timing matters: As students receive school or university results, typically in August, there is a spike in traffic. In other European countries, results for school leavers or university graduates are often known already in July.
- Visibility is everything: Students need to discover your opportunity, understand its benefits, and act quickly.

How INOMICS Can Help Recruiters during Student Clearing, and last-minute Summer Recruitment

INOMICS supports universities, research institutions, and graduate programs across Europe and beyond. We help connect motivated students with relevant academic and professional opportunities—especially when time is short and visibility is critical.

Here’s how we can help you during the Summer:
- Last-minute job or program listings – Get your offer in front of a global, high-intent student audience
- Social media promotion – Boost your visibility exactly when students are searching, on the platforms they spend their time on
- Reposting, reminders & urgency banners – Use countdowns and time-sensitive framing to speak to the sense of urgency for your audience, and so increase click-throughs
- Data insights – Understand which student regions or fields are seeing the highest activity

The summer recruitment window may be late in the academic cycle—but for recruiters, it’s a golden opportunity to connect with active, motivated students looking for their next step.

Let INOMICS help you make the most of it. Contact our team for advice, or publish your job openings, traineeships, internships or study programs online today.