Batch planning is the part of campus strategy most often done by default. Getting it explicit is cheap and changes the yield materially.
Live from our candidate database
Counted at render time and refreshed every six hours. This is a supply-side view of one platform, not a national labour-market statistic.
2026 — converting, not sourcing
This batch is at or past its placement peak. The work here is closing candidates you already engaged, not opening new sourcing. Fresh sourcing into this batch late in the cycle samples from what is left.
2027 — the active pipeline
This is where campus and university-relations effort should concentrate. Internship offers made now are next year's conversions, and the pool is at its widest.
2028 — brand, not offers
Pre-final-year engagement with no immediate hiring intent. The return is a candidate preference that survives to placement season, and it is measured by re-engagement rate rather than by offers.
Run all three simultaneously
Programmes that treat batch planning as a single-year exercise oscillate: a good year followed by a scramble. Running conversion, pipeline and brand tracks concurrently is what smooths it.
Key takeaways
- 2026 is a conversion exercise; late sourcing into it samples the residue.
- 2027 is where pipeline effort belongs — widest pool, highest leverage.
- 2028 is brand work, measured by re-engagement rather than offers.
- Run all three tracks concurrently to avoid the good-year/scramble-year oscillation.
Questions
Is it worth engaging 2028 at all?+
If you have a continuous programme, yes — it is the cheapest engagement you will ever do. If you are running a single annual event, the effort is better spent on 2027.
How do we filter candidates by batch?+
Graduating year is a filter in the Talent Desk, and every talent-pool page shows the batch split of that pool.