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News
David Woods, 06 Apr 2011
Two out of five graduate recruiters (40%) believe university leavers today do not have the work-based skills to attain an entry-level graduate role in their company, according to new research from Totaljobs.
The survey of recent graduate employers outlines two skills sets that graduates are consistently failing to demonstrate in their interviews. Two in five graduate recruiters (40%) cited business acumen as lacking in today's university leavers, with 22% stating that communication skills were below par. A similar view is held by graduates themselves, with only half believing that their university experience is providing them with the right skills for a post graduation job.
This lack of confidence has lead to almost a quarter (22%) expecting to be unemployed twelve months after leaving university and one-in-ten not recommending Higher Education at all.
Mike Fetters, graduate director at Totaljobs, said: "Much has been made of the lack of graduate jobs available today. However with a 72% increase in jobs available over the past six months, it seems that the real problem is the skills gap for graduates today that seems to be emerging - one that the introduction of student fees could further exacerbate." Overwhelmingly, 83% of graduate recruiters believe a closer collaboration between businesses and universities is needed to fill the skills gap for university leavers today. Interestingly though, they ultimately believe that it is the universities (82%) and graduate themselves (72%) whose responsibility it is to better equip graduates with skills to use in the world of work.
Fetters added: "We have a real chance to champion a collaboration between universities and employers which I believe can really make a difference. With just over half of graduates utilising their careers service and only 34% of those finding it useful, there is an opportunity for employers to work with careers services to better the offering to final-year students." Many graduate recruiters believe that the introduction of student fees will make a considerable difference, with 71% stating this will affect the range and quality of university leavers employers have to choose from. Over half (52%) stated that the UK PLC will suffer in the future due to a decreased pipeline of graduates.
However, the group is split in terms of whether they will offer alternative employment routes, with 48% seeing this as a viable option and 52% keeping to their current graduate employment model. For those that are considering other routes, 61% would take on school leavers and 48% providing vocational training.
1 comment on this article |
Jon Parker 02 Jun 2011
Some very interesting points raised here & also some surprising results from the survey. eg Having graduated nearly 2 years ago, I can vouch for the fact that there is a much greater emphasis within Higher Ed today on the development of vocational & employability skills - I completed a couple of voluntary mentoring schemes and also specific employability modules within my degree which should significantly increase my employment opportunities. And yet still employers are reporting that these skills are not sufficiently developed. I think the problem here is that there is a mismatch between the traditional goals of university (ie academic development) and the specific vocational & business skills demanded by employers. The sad truth is that these are not synonymous and require significantly different skill sets. I think this mismatch has always been present but the current market & trading conditions which employers are now facing, such as the requirement to compete globally, have significantly exacerbated the university/employer divide. Graduate training schemes, for example, are now frequently requiring a couple of years experience relevant to the entry grade (eg 2 years equivalent managerial experience for management training schemes) - even if a graduate completed a 4 year sandwich course with a year in industry, this would not equip them with the level of experience required. The result of this is that a significant divide between the skills and experiences which a graduate is able to offer and those which employers need to remain competitive exists - which harms the long term prospects of both. I do not think its feasible for employers to hand over responsibility for the vocational and business skills development to the universities - because it needs to be remembered that a university degree course is, primarily, an academic development course whose primary goal is the furthering of academic knowledge, it is not designed to be any kind of vocational apprenticeship which delivers work related skills specific to the employer. To bridge this gap requires a much closer working relationship between academia and industry with perhaps some rethinking of the strategies which are practicable - eg is it realistic for employers to expect the same skill set & breadth of experience from a new business graduate as they can expect from an experienced manager with 2 years experience?
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