Skills, employability and the graduate employment scene

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Skills, employability and the graduate
employment scene

• Steve Hind
• Senior Careers Adviser

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This session.

• Overview of what is happening with graduates
• 3 years on
• Your views on support you would like to help you
  prepare
• Your preferred delivery style and promotion of
  activities
• What is currently available through the Career
  Development Centre

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Destination of Leaversfrom Higher Education
Institutions

• Longitudinal survey of 2003 leavers
• Aim of survey to collect information on the
  activities of graduates approximately three and a
  half years after leaving Higher Education
• Responses were received from 24,825
• Most graduates in employment (80) were working
  in occupations that were classified as graduate
  occupations

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• 85 satisfied with their career
• 25 would, with hindsight, chose a different
  degree
• ( rising to 41 of those in non graduate
  occupations )
• 27 found job through newspaper/mag/website
• 24 through personal contacts
• Other sources recruitment agencies, university
  careers services

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How much .and for what?

• The median salary of graduates in full time work
  was 23,000.
• 50 of graduates in employment were working in
  the same region as their HE institution.
• 32, of graduates had achieved a further
  qualification since 2002/03.
• Evidence of skills and competencies and relevant
  work experience from previous employment was
  rated as being important, or a formal requirement
  

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The East Midlands Labour Market

• High of low skilled jobs
• Most of our graduates shop here
• 57 of workforce work for SMEs (gt250)
• Only 12 of SMEs have lt5 workers
• Fewer graduates in work force

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Being a graduate is not enough

• the number of graduate vacancies within
  'traditional graduate recruiters' i.e. large
  companies operating annual intakes of graduates,
  has remained stable
• the number of graduates has grown rapidly
• there has been a shift in the characteristics
  employers explicitly seek from graduates

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Being a graduate is not enough (2)

• SMEs value graduates with some work experience
  and with strong evidence of the skills needed to
  be successful at work.
• SMEs will generally be offering shorter training
  periods and looking for quicker returns
• SMEs struggle to recruit enterprising staff
• Employers are looking for softer skills
• Large graduate recruiters have also become much
  more focussed on the skills offered by graduates

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Are you getting there?

• Employability - a definition
• Employability is something you develop for
  yourself - it doesnt happen automatically.
• A set of achievements - skills, understandings,
  personal attributes - that make graduates more
  likely to gain employment and be successful in
  their chosen occupations.

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Can you evidence these?

• Employability
• Academic Skills
• Analysis, synthesis, critique, problem solving,
  research, knowledge
• Transferable skills and attributes
• Self-management, team working,
• initiative, communication, I.T.

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Are you getting enough?

• Work Experience
• The message to students is loud and clear get
  some relevant work experience under your belt and
  youll have a definite head start when you look
  for that all important first job (Mike Hill CSU
  Graduate Market Trends)
• When I started I assumed my degree had been
  helpful as it was partially relevant... but it
  was my work experience that had given me the edge

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What support would you like?

• Prepare a list of things you would like support
  with (on the left hand side of paper provided)
• Include all the things relating to your
  employability/career

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How would this best be delivered?

• Some options include
• Individual support at your request (IS)
• Central programme of university wide sessions
  (lunchtime or early evening) (CP)
• Built into your study programme (BI)
• Online resources eg written materials/podcasts
  (OR)
• Do it yourself (DIY)

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How would you advertise it?
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Getting experience

• Key issue
• You have to be flexible and creative
• Job shadowing
• Summer placements
• Mentoring
• Derby Award
• Volunteering
• Student Employment Agency
• Networking
• Programme rep!

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• Themed weeks
• Online psychometric testing
• Sector specific careers fairs
• Web delivery of most services
• Career management modules
• Curriculum design consultancy
• Individual advice tailored to you