Graduate jobs rush has 83 chasing every vacancy at top firms

Graduates face an unprecedented scramble for jobs this summer with the number of applications having almost trebled in three years.

Leading companies received a record number of applications this year – an average of 83 for every vacancy.

This is almost double the number of two years ago – 49 – and nearly treble compared with three years ago when there were 31 applications for each job.

In total, a staggering 777,457 applications have been made to the top 144 companies this year – equivalent to more than 5,000 for every company.

One sixth of companies received more than 10,000 applications, according to a survey.

And candidates leaving university without a 2:1 are likely to miss out on a job, with three quarters of firms saying this is a minimum requirement.

The record level of applications shows tens of thousands of recent graduates will fail to find a graduate level job, fuelling soaring unemployment.

With tuition fees due to rise to £9,000 at most universities next year, more than one in three recent graduates is on the unemployment scrapheap or in a dead-end job.

The biannual Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) survey questioned 144 member firms about their graduate vacancies, including Barclays, Nestle, Tesco, Accenture and Microsoft.

The findings also show that the number of graduate vacancies is predicted to increase by 2.6 per cent this year, compared with year-end figures for 2009/10.

Accountancy or professional services firms are offering the largest number of graduate level jobs – a fifth of predicted vacancies among the surveyed companies.

But competition is most tough for investment banking, with 232 applications for every opening.

A tenth of firms said they had received more than 150 applications for every job. And one in eight is receiving between 101 and 150 applications per job, up from one in ten last year. There has also been a shift in recruitment practices, with a fifth of companies saying they now use online tests to screen candidates.

They also use ‘psychometric’ assessments – which include personality questionnaires and aptitude tests – and telephone interviews at preliminary stages.

The poll also asked about graduate pay, and found that the average starting salary has increased slightly to £25,500 – the first rise since 2008.

Stephen Isherwood, of accountancy firm Ernst & Young, said applications for graduate jobs at the company are up 30 per cent and undergraduate applications are up by 96 per cent.

He added: ‘We’ve seen record demand for our graduate vacancies this year.

‘It’s clearly a very competitive jobs market but, for candidates who are prepared to be flexible, there are still vacancies available for September.

‘However, graduates will need to get on their bikes for work and look beyond the UK’s major cities.’

AGR chief executive Carl Gilleard said students must prepare themselves for the competitive jobs market.

‘My advice for graduates is to make sure you reflect on what you have learned – both at university and in an extra-curricular capacity – and be able to articulate it in your applications and at interviews.’

Despite the stiff competition for jobs, universities said the employment climate was improving.

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of vice-chancellors’ umbrella group Universities UK, said: ‘While the recession has been very hard for the whole jobs market, there are signs that things are improving for graduates.

‘The predicted rise in the number of graduate vacancies is positive. It’s also good to see that average starting salaries have increased slightly during these turbulent few years.

‘UK graduates are still highly valued by employers.'

Source: Kate Loveys, Dailymail.co.uk, Tuesday 28th June 2011

London and South East offer more than half of all graduate jobs

London and the South East once again dominated the graduate recruitment market, collectively offering more than half of all graduate jobs in 2010-11, a new survey shows.

The annual research by the Association for Graduate Recruiters, out on Tuesday, found 44.2pc of all graduate vacancies were in the capital. Just under 10pc were in the South East, while the rest of the UK carried the remaining jobs.

Wales and Northern Ireland were the worst places for graduate jobs, with 2.2pc and 0.9pc of the total vacancies, the analysis showed. The North East, North West and Yorkshire only generated 12pc of all graduate vacancies collectively last year, raising fears that the North-South divide over jobs is alive and kicking.

In brighter news, graduate vacancies have increased slightly over the past year and starting salaries have edged upwards. The survey showed that for the first time in two years, employers were set to bump up starting wages by 2pc to £25,500 in 2010-11. The AGR said the recruitment market was beginning to "overcome" the recession.

However, with the bulk of jobs clustered in and around London, graduates living in regional areas or unable to commute to the capital will face the greatest problems. A record 83 graduates chased every job available, the AGR survey showed, highlighting how difficult it is to get a position.

Elsewhere, the survey found graduate vacancies were split across several key sectors, including retail, investment banking, law and consulting. Accountancy topped the table, with 20.6pc of all jobs.

Sectors that had fewer graduate jobs included energy, construction, insurance and transport.

Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the AGR, said: “I am cautiously optimistic about today’s findings, which provides a welcome indication that the graduate recruitment market is beginning to overcome the impact of the recession."

The survey, based on 202 employers, showed organisations had received 777,457 applications since the start of the 2011 recruitment campaign.

Mr Gilleard added: "It is challenging and time-consuming for recruiters to sift through these applications, especially as the survey shows that the overall quality has increased. Recruiters have developed a variety of methods for dealing with all the applications, such as online testing and assessment centres.

“My advice for graduates is to make sure you reflect on what you have learnt – both at university and in an extra-curricular capacity – and be able to articulate it in your applications and at interviews; think about what transferrable skills you might’ve gained and how you’d apply your knowledge and experience to different situations.

"If you are able to get into that mode of thinking, you will be immediately more attractive to employers.”

Source: Louisa Peacock, Telegraph.co.uk, Monday 28th June 2011

Fight for graduate jobs 'hits record high' in the UK

Graduates in the UK are facing record competition for jobs - with an average of 83 applying for every vacancy - but the market is continuing to improve, a survey suggests.

Average applications per vacancy have risen from 69 in 2010, 49 in 2009 and 31 in 2008, the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) said.

Its bi-annual survey of 200 employers predicted a 2.6% rise in job numbers.

Starting salaries had also risen for the first time in three years, it said.

The report shows a continuing upward trend in job opportunities for graduates, after a steep decline in the immediate wake of the financial crisis.

However, growth is slower than the 8.9% increase AGR recorded in its January 2011 survey.

The average starting salary for a graduate has increased by 2% to £25,500, the report said.

Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the AGR, said the showed "very encouraging signs" for graduates, despite the rise in competition.

"I am cautiously optimistic about today's findings, which provides a welcome indication that the graduate recruitment market is beginning to overcome the impact of the recession," he said.

But he added that the overall quality of applications had improved, and advised graduates to stress their transferable skills when applying for jobs.

Universities Minister David Willetts said despite tough competition for graduate jobs, university remained a worthwhile investment.

"All the evidence I've seen has been that going to university by and large improves your job prospects," he told BBC Breakfast.

"Graduate rates of employment are higher than for non-graduates and of course they're more likely to be in better paid jobs," he said.

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of vice-chancellors' umbrella group Universities UK, said the survey findings were "encouraging news".

"Competition for some graduate positions remains intense, but the predicted rise in the number of graduate vacancies is positive," she said.

"UK graduates are still highly valued by employers. The UK is only going to compete globally on high-level skills," she said.

"Let's not forget that China, it's predicted, will be producing more graduates than Europe and the US combined by 2020."

Source: BBC.co.uk, Tuesday 28th June 2011

Graduate sues Edinburgh Napier University over degree mark

Glen Dickson, 23, wants to take Edinburgh Napier to court because he was given a 2:2 rather than the 2:1 he says he deserved.

Mr Dickson has instructed lawyers to act against Edinburgh Napier University to get his BSc in Architectural Technology changed from a 2:2 to the 2:1 he says he deserves.

He said that the lower mark has left him struggling to get a job and he is prepared to take the battle to court.

Mr Dickson said he was in a car crash and had serious health problems in his final year. He wants the university to take these factors into consideration.

His overall grade was 59.41% - just 0.09% lower than the 60% needed for an automatic 2:1. He is particularly angry that other students with lower marks between 58% and 59.4% were given a discretional 2:1.

He also claims a "disastrous" module, which about a third of the 60 students failed, pushed his final degree mark down by a further 6%.

The university acknowledged his complaint regarding the module but said the rules dictated that his grievance should have been lodged while he was still a student.

Mr Dickson has instructed law firm Beveridge and Kellas to fight for a change to his degree classification and is applying for civil legal aid to help him challenge the grading.

He told the Evening News: "I'm really disappointed, I worked really hard throughout my whole degree and I had a 67.9% average at the start of the year. Then this nightmare module made me drop six per cent.

"My average after all my exams was 60.26%, but a weighing is applied to the final exams so I ended up at 59.41%.

"In the university rules it says that people who score between 58 and 59.4% should be considered for a 2:1. It says people with 59.5% or over are automatically a 2:1 but in between those scores there isn't any guidance.

"I'm not aware of anyone who has scored like this before but it's left me in a sort of purgatory. All I'd like is my 2:1 score. So far I've made informal and formal complaints to the university but I want to take this as far as it will go."

A spokeswoman for the university said: "We have been liaising with Glen but will not comment publicly on cases like this.

"We have rigorous procedures to ensure the correct degree classification is awarded. Where cases are borderline, we examine the student's best marks from final year modules to establish what degree they should have.

"For complaints to be formally investigated they should be raised while the student is still matriculated with us. If the complainant is no longer a student we advise them of other ways that they can raise issues such as through the ombudsman."

Source: Stv.tv, Friday 24th June 2011

Employers express dissatisfaction at the quality of graduate recruits

Employers are finding that a significant proportion of their graduate recruits lack basic workplace skills. According to a new report, graduate recruiters are becoming frustrated by university courses that do not address this.

The research was commissioned by the educational charity Edge, and conducted by the Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE) at the University of Glasgow. It found that, while the majority of recruiters were satisfied with the skills of their graduate recruits, a small minority had some significant complaints.

One of the most prominent complaints was that course content was not structured with the graduate employer in mind. This was even the case when the employers were part of the course advisory boards. In those cases they appeared to have a token presence on the panels, and were told what course content would be, with little regard for their own input.

The research suggested that academics were concerned about the integrity of their courses being compromised by employability content. One director of careers services even said: ‘This university is an academic university focusing on teaching and research. It’s not a training ground.’

However, without a foundation in the workplace, some degrees have little relevance in the real world. A Royal Navy recruiting officer complained of people coming in with inappropriate and unaccredited degrees. He said: ‘Universities need to be realistic about the qualifications they’re sending people out with.’

The report found that links between the academics and employers were weak at best. What is more, they were the result of the outreach work of a single lecturer or careers officer, rather than being structured around organisational links.

However, it also suggested that the employers weren’t doing enough to maintain a dialogue. A national construction employer said: ‘I lay the blame as much at employers’ doors because they’re only looking for what they need for that moment in time, not five or ten years down the road.’

For now though, building up a skills base through experience is still important for most graduate jobseekers.

A graduate in the banking sector told the report that he had learnt more in the first six months of his graduate job than he did in three years at university. He said: ‘The degree is just a tick in a box and it gets you that initial stage and you can say “yes, I’ve got one”, but that’s as far as it goes.’

Source: Targetjobs.co.uk, Thursday 21st June 2011

Over Half of Jobs to Require Graduates By 2017

Recent research into the changing face of the UK jobs market by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has revealed that over half of all jobs will be for require graduate level by 2017.

The UK is expected to see an acceleration of the shift towards higher-level occupations over the next few years. By 2017, 56% more jobs will require people to hold graduate-level qualifications, while demand for people with no qualifications will fall by 12%.

The growing demand for graduates will undoubtedly see an increase in graduate job vacancies in many industries, including engineering graduate jobs and marketing graduate jobs to name just a few.

“The boom years before the recession masked the extent of deep-rooted problems in parts of the labour market, including long-term unemployment and an unhealthy dependency on the public sector,” commented John Cridland, CBI Director-General.

“These problems will not disappear with the economic recovery and left unchecked will have grave social and economic consequences. Only private sector growth can create the jobs we need and we must ensure the fruits of recovery are felt in every region.”

The CBI research also shows some interesting figures about where future jobs for graduates are likely to be located. The traditional North-South divide looks likely to continue to grow in the coming years, with highly-skilled jobs expected to be most in demand in London and the South East, compared with the North East and West Midlands.As the economic recovery stumbles along, it looks like SMEs are leading the way in offering graduate jobs. The recent Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, which asks over 2,000 employers for their hiring plans over the coming quarter, has revealed that smaller firms expect to create eight per cent more jobs in the third quarter.

"SMEs were among the first to shed jobs during the recession, but we're now seeing them build their workforce again and becoming an increasingly important source of job creation in the UK," commented Mark Cahill, the UK managing director of Manpower.

Source: Gradplus.com, Friday 24th June 2011

Graduates want responsibility, but don’t expect high pay

The current crop of graduates – sometimes referred to as Generation Y or the Millennials – might just be the hardest-working ever, eager to take on responsibility while expecting relatively modest pay in return.

A recent survey carried out by recruitment specialists Work Group revealed the strength of graduates’ work ethic, finding that salary expectations have been lowered by competition in the job market. However, graduates still crave early responsibility and opportunities to lead.

According to the Work Group survey, which was presented at a TARGETjobs Breakfast News event in London this week, half of graduates expect to earn under £25,000 a year, even though half of the top graduate schemes pay £30,000 or more.

The survey also found that graduates are still highly ambitious about their career development and progression. If anything, while their expectations in terms of pay have fallen, their desire to take on responsibility has grown. More than three-quarters expect to manage people within two years of graduating, and 84% expect to manage projects and work autonomously.

Steve James, head of editorial at targetjobs.co.uk, pointed out that this provided an opportunity for graduate recruiters, as they could potentially attract talent by offering early responsibility. He said, ‘Students’ ambitions for their personal development are undiminished by economic circumstances – although not so their salary expectations.’

Generation Y has not always been kindly treated by the media, with some commentators sniping about diva-like behaviour, and implying that graduates are not prepared to put the work in to achieve career success. Perhaps, in the light of these findings, it’s time for a general recognition of how driven and motivated graduates really are.

They are certainly faced with an infinitely more competitive graduate job market than their recruiters ever experienced. Delegates at the TARGETjobs Breakfast News event also heard that when many senior recruiters were students, only 35% of graduates got a first class degree or 2.1. That has now risen to more than 65%, and the number of graduates each year is six times greater.

Source: Targetjobs.co.uk, Thursday 23rd June 2011

Hard work doesn’t always pay

Does it ever make sense to contribute your labour free of charge? Matthew Lewis, then an out-of-work masters graduate, decided it did. Sadly, the introductions to employers promised in lieu of a salary never materialised. Instead, he spent six months interning at a business development consultancy making sales calls without pay or commission. “I did the same job as the guys who hired me – but they were salaried and I wasn’t,” he says.

His is not an isolated case. Reports abound of unfair practices. In February, a BBC documentary, Who Gets the Best Jobs, highlighted the prevalence of unpaid internships in the world of fashion PR. More recently, HSBC’s legal division was accused of nepotism and bolstering social inequality when a senior employee implied that his department limited work experience to the offspring of its own executives. In April, Nick Clegg, the UK deputy prime minister, said Whitehall would ban informal internships as part of a drive to improve social mobility.

Now the controversy has been stoked further by former intern Ross Perlin. In an exposé of questionable practices, Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy, he estimates there are 500,000 unpaid interns in the US, subsidising corporate America to the tune of $2bn a year.

However, stories of employers in fashion, politics, advertising and the media giving a leg-up to sons and daughters of acquaintances, or taking advantage of jobless graduates desperate for an inside track, paint a partial picture. For every alleged abuse there are also companies using internships to spot outstanding potential and beat competitors in the annual scramble for the best students. “For us, internships are an investment,” says François de Wazières, international recruitment director at L’Oréal, which recruits 3,400 interns worldwide – and pays them. He says they receive an average of about £1,500 ($2,400) in the UK and €1,400 ($2,000) in France.

Some interns at other companies receive non-financial rewards such as a phone after working on a campaign for a mobile phone brand. More important perhaps, practical experience can be a crucial springboard into employment as employers often see it as vital way to spot talent. The creative industries have a tradition of doing this. Like many agencies, marketing group Iris Worldwide hosts unpaid students and encourages them to brainstorm and work up ideas. “The thing [students] need most is experience and access to people in the industry,” says Ian Millner, the chief executive.

The counter-argument is that giving employers a free ride with un­paid labour props up companies that would otherwise go out of business, depresses wages and limits the career options for students who cannot afford to work free. Mr Perlin also argues that internships take away opportunities from regular workers.

When does give and take tip over into exploitation? In the UK, it boils down to whether an individual falls within one of four exemptions to the National Minimum Wage Act: volunteers; voluntary workers; work-shadowing/work experience; and students on course placements. Simply labelling someone an intern is not a get-out, says Alison Clements of Lewis Silkin, the law firm. What matters is whether “they are performing real work” and are obliged to work fixed hours.

Adam Foreman, a partner at Littler Mendelson, the law firm, says US law that guarantees interns a minimum wage is often ignored. Because “the interns are hoping to turn their internships into full-time jobs”, he says, transgressors are rarely hauled before the courts.

In Intern Nation, Mr Perlin dissects the employment practices of some of the world’s biggest corporations, inc­luding Disney, which he accuses of replacing “well-trained, decently compensated full-timers” with an army of low-paid interns. But for employers that approach recruitment strategically, internships are typically a cost – albeit one they hope will pay off in better, happier recruits.

By September this year, the UK division of PwC, the professional services firm, will have recruited about a third of its 2012 graduate intake from its summer vacation interns. Over the coming weeks, the group – selected through open competition – will be paid a graduate starting salary, meet clients, receive training and tackle a project. “Our recruitment tools can tell us whether a candidate is right for us,” says Richard Irwin, head of student recruitment. But without this kind of hands-on experience, “what the candidate might not know is whether we are right for them”.

All too often, says Rajeeb Dey, founder of Enternships, which arranges work placements in smaller businesses, employers fail to think through “what it means to have another person inside the company” and interns end up “running random errands”. They leave with a negative perception of the business that they may pass on to fellow students, including via websites such as Interns Anonymous.

Allowing interns “quality time away from their desks” so they can explore the organisation is important, says Jennifer Cook, a graduate rec­ruitment adviser at Linklaters, the law firm. For John Cordrey, a 2010 PwC tax intern, networking with other functions led to a change in his career plans. He is now set to join PwC’s corporate finance team instead of the tax division of a rival, whose internship was “less flexible”, he says.

As the expectations of students change, so must internships. Mr de Wazières says L’Oréal “sells” its international careers to graduates. Until 2009, all interns did their placements in their home country, which for internationally minded high-fliers was frustrating. “For the current generation of students, early international experience has a much bigger appeal.”

Do’s and don’ts for interns

● Check out your chances. Ask how many interns are made permanent. If the answer is very few, this may indicate that interns are seen as a cheap expedient, rather than as future employees.

● Establish the ratio of interns to staff. A high ratio can be a sign that the employer’s business model is unsustainable.

● Check the work will be relevant. Also check what training you will receive and who will manage you.

● Decide if the internship will develop your skills. Is it merely a job someone else would have to do? Ben Lyons, co-director of campaigners Intern Aware, says he has come across advertisements for “intern receptionists and cooks”.

● Don’t be lured into working set hours without pay. Working flat-out can leave you no time to search for salaried employment.

● Don’t be afraid to look at other options. Becky Heath, co-founder of campaign group Internocracy, says that volunteering may teach you more than a business that treats interns as free labour.

Source: Alicia Clegg, FT.com, Thursday 23rd June 2011

Six top skills for a graduate career in finance

Whether you want a graduate career in banking, accountancy or financial management, you'll need to focus on developing the skills graduate recruiters are looking for. The rewards are potentially very high in this sector – the average starting salary for graduates joining investment banks or fund managers is now £38,250, according to the most recent membership survey carried out by the Association of Graduate Recruiters.

Numeracy is important, though you rarely need a maths or science degree to demonstrate this. Here are some of the other key skills finance employers value:

• Teamwork. Establishing a rapport with co-workers is important for success in finance because you’ll be working on projects that require the people with a different skills and strengths.
• Ability to communicate. Effective communication skills are essential in the financial sector as you’ll be working with both finance professionals and people with limited financial knowledge.
• Employability. Evaluate your skills and experience and match these to employers and roles to ensure that the job is right for you.
• Can-do attitude. Not all projects in the workplace are exciting, even if they are necessary in order to learn the business or simply get things done, so enthusiasm is a great asset.
• Motivation and drive. Research the firm you’re applying to, and have a grasp of facts and figures and even insights from people working there. You’ll also need a genuine interest in finance, so familiarise yourself with business and markets news.
• Problem solving. Problems in the financial world can be complex so be prepared to think creatively.

You'll need to demonstrate all of these skills when looking for a graduate finance role, so prepare for success while you're still at university. Improve your teamworking skills, for example, by taking on extra-curricular activities that involve working with others. Work on your communication skills by asking for feedback from professors and fellow students. Keep track of jobs which you've held and skills you've gained so you've got a record of them when it comes to application time.

Source: Targetjobs.co.uk, Wednesday 22nd June 2011

Employers are taking fewer risks on unskilled graduates despite high unemployment

Companies which are still recovering from the recession are less inclined to take on graduates through graduate recruitment schemes because of the risk of having an unskilled workforce.

Companies are finding it harder to find technical skills, and any current employed graduates are staying put in their current roles to have job security. The survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) surveyed 626 employers, and found that one third of employers admitted they have lost potential recruiters because of their lengthy hiring process.

Employers are currently being picky about who they take and with demand the best job applicants and ignore those who just need experience and training because it is too risky.

The graduates provided are unskilled and do not provide what the industry needs, there are major skills gaps in technical roles which weren’t noticed during the recession but now the job market is improving the skills gaps are becoming more apparent.

Half of the respondents also stated that Britain’s graduates are stereotyped, believing that they are often late, or don’t turn up at all. They also fail to communicate properly and are often dressed inappropriately. The results of the survey are bleak for graduates, when many more students are set to graduate in July, there will be an influx of further graduates that will be unemployed and won’t get the experience to gain the necessary work skills that many employers are looking for in their graduate jobs.

Source: Pareto.co.uk, Tuesday 21st June 2011

Graduate employer Deloitte move into construction industry

In what could be good news for graduates seeking quantity surveying or risk management jobs, professional services firm Deloitte is moving into the construction industry by opening a cost consultancy business within its real estate practice.

The business will provide cost planning, cost management, value management and risk management for their clients (who typically will be organisations looking to initiate a building project, most commonly property developers and the public sector). Deloitte has also stated that they will look to call on the sustainability and tax expertise of other divisions within their business to augment their advice.

Claire Faulkner, partner and head of the Deloitte real estate practice, said: ‘This adds to our unique position allowing us to provide an integrated and independent offer combining real estate knowledge, tax, finance and structuring advice to UK and international clients.’

Neill Morrison, who will be heading up the cost consultancy team at Deloitte, said: ‘As part of the Deloitte family, we enjoy a much closer relationship with our clients and we can help shape their real estate strategies by demonstrating the life-cycle costs of a property portfolio, not just construction spend.’

Thus, it seems clear that Deloitte hopes to offer an all-in-one service to recruiters, building upon the client relationships they already have and stressing the efficiency of such an arrangement. If clients go for it, it could be a real threat to those surveying firms which are already struggling for a competitive edge in a squeezed market.

Deloitte’s cost consultancy team is at present staffed by a team of ten experienced professionals. However, the firm has a strong history of graduate recruitment so, if this business takes off, there could well be job opportunities for graduates.

Source: Targetjobs.co.uk, Monday 20th June 2011

SMEs set to offer more graduate jobs this summer

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK are set to offer more graduate jobs this summer, according to a new report.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, which asks over 2,000 employers for their hiring plans over the coming quarter, has revealed that smaller firms expect to create eight per cent more jobs in the third quarter.

Mark Cahill, the UK managing director of Manpower, claimed that "small is beautiful" when it comes to job vacancies this summer.

He said: "Candidates sometimes assume that bigger is better when it comes to employers, but these statistics clearly point to the opposite.

"SMEs were among the first to shed jobs during the recession, but we're now seeing them build their workforce again and becoming an increasingly important source of job creation in the UK."

Overall, UK firms plan to create a further three per cent more jobs in the third quarter.

Source: Gradplus.com, Tuesday 14th June 2011

Young entrepreneurs shun jobs market

On the surface, Dave Kelly is just like any other 24-year old lad. He likes going to the pub with his mates and playing sport and computer games.

But Dave has promised his parents that he will be a millionaire by the time he is 30. Now they're starting to think he might just do it.

When he was about to graduate from Bath University, he decided it wasn't worth his while to apply for jobs. Instead, he and two friends set up their own company.

"I took one look at the rather poor job market, saw a number of my very talented friends unable to get jobs, and thought that there had to be an opportunity to do something entrepreneurial," he says.

"So myself and a couple of friends set up Storm, a business designing and building websites. Now we're two years in and employ seven people. We've grown 200% year-on-year."

Dave wants to hire more young staff now. But he might be in the minority. New research from Ethical Skills and Training suggests almost half of all businesses aren't employing school leavers or graduates this year.

"There is evidence of growing interest in entrepreneurship among young people. One reason is that there are fewer jobs available, so starting a business is becoming an increasingly viable career choice," he explains.

Phil McCabe speaks for the Forum of Private Business and thinks this could explain why it is seeing more people like Dave.

Dave thinks he made the right decision starting out on his own. He's built up a number of respected clients, including local businessman Peter Gradwell.

He is using Storm to create his new website, and says he picked the agency partly because the standard of work is so high, but also because he likes to support other young entrepreneurs.

He understands all the challenges Dave is facing, because he did the same thing. He started his business with a £2,000 loan from his parents when he was at university. Now he employs 45 people and has a £5m turnover.

His advice for anyone else who wants to set up their own company is threefold.

"First, you've got to get the right people, trust them, let them get on with it."

"Second, you've got to learn to delegate really quickly. And third, I think everyone just needs to do it, take the risk. It's not very expensive to start a company, and it's really worth while taking that risk."

Source: Catherine Burns, BBC.co.uk, Saturday 18th June 2011

Top level jobs for Newcastle University graduates

More Newcastle University students are finding top level jobs, despite the economic downturn, according to new Government statistics.

The employment rate among Newcastle University graduates from last summer, 2010, has risen to over 94%, up 2.7% on the previous year, says the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

And the jobs they get are overwhelmingly graduate level, at 77.7%, showing the benefit of a Newcastle University degree.

The unemployment rate rose during the period covered by the new figures, although figures this week showed the number of jobless in the region fell by 8,000 to 9.5% last month.

Director of the university’s careers service Nick Keeley said: “There is a very false perception that there are very few graduate jobs available and even less in the North East.

“Almost 50% of our graduates who go into employment do so in the North East and the vast majority of these are in graduate level jobs.

“As a careers service and as a university, we have created a range of innovative and exciting schemes and programmes to bring our students and local graduate employers together. The result is that lots of our graduates don’t have to move away from the region to get a top graduate job, which is good for them and good for the region.”

Vanessa Lawrence, 22, from Gosforth, who graduated last summer with a 2:1 degree in marketing and management, got a business development job in Washington after doing 100 hours’ work experience. She said: “Any students who are thinking of doing a degree should be confident that going to the right university and putting the work in can put you on the path to the right career.”

Source: Nebusiness.co.uk, Friday 17th June 2011

Graduates have to work in jobs they dislike to get a foot in the door

Many graduates leave university and have to gain work experience in jobs they dislike in order to be considered for graduate jobs

Graduates usually find themselves ‘making tea’ in roles they use to climb the ladder for career progression. Kevin Friery, clinical director at the service said that graduates often find it hard to find a job they like because they have no previous experience and so must work from the bottom.

This news comes after BMW have announced an investment of £500 million in its manufacturing operations with a focus on its MINI brand which should create new graduate opportunities. There are graduate opportunities out there for graduates, however with the amount of graduates unemployed the applications per scheme far exceed the vacancies.

Graduates must therefore use these jobs to increase their skills, which means for their first couple of jobs they will have to work in jobs that they would previously have ignored.

Source: Pareto.co.uk, Tuesday 14th June 2011

Tunisia readies funds to create jobs for youth

Tunisia’s interim government is readying two new financial investment vehicles to channel the billions of dollars in funding it hopes to garner from governments and institutions to boost young people’s chances of finding work.

Jalloul Ayed, a former Citibank banker who has been finance minister since January, says the first vehicle will fund public sector infrastructure projects that are central to attracting job-generating projects to Tunisia’s regions.

“Without infrastructure, you’re not going to have real economic development and access to remote regions of the country,” he says. Complementing this, a “generational fund”, with sectorial sub-funds, will enable multi­lateral investors and government agencies to take equity stakes in ventures of various sizes.

The idea is that the investors can then exit a few years later, ideally after the growing companies have listed on the Tunis bourse, Mr Ayed says.

Since a nationwide revolt ousted Zein al-Abidine Ben Ali on January 14, generating jobs for Tunisia’s relatively highly educated young people has been at the top of the agenda for the interim government.

Meeting In France last month, members of the G8 said multilateral institutions would free $20bn to support economic reforms efforts in Egypt and Tunisia until 2013.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, said the rest of a $40bn package of support for the “Arab spring” would consist of $10bn of bilateral support from G8 governments and $10bn from Gulf Arab governments.

Another G8 meeting is due in Brussels on July 12, which may produce harder commitments and a split of the funding between Tunisia and Egypt, which are currently identitifed as the main beneficiaries. In the meantime, Mr Ayed is liaising with World Bank advisers.

“From the G8 it was a very strong declaration of support” and the next step is for the International Monetary Fund to validate the broad macroeconomic framework proposed by Tunisia, he says. The country’s existing debt burden of $21bn is judged to be not excessive by analysts.

In the wake of the ousting of Mr Ben Ali, Moody’s downgraded Tunisia’s sovereign debt to Baa3 – still investment grade – while S&P has the foreign currency debt at BBB-. But the Tunis stock market is still down by a fifth in the year to date.

The infrastructure investment fund, modelled on Morocco’s Caisse de Depot et de Gestion, is designed not to weigh heavily on the government’s budget and to allow multilateral institutions and government agencies to monitor easily how resources are being deployed, Mr Ayed says.

The Moroccan fund is in turn modelled on a French institution established in 1816 to restore order to public finances after Napoleonic rule; while parallels with Tunisia after Mr Ben Ali’s authoritarian regime are not something Mr Ayed dwells on, the list of individuals associated with the old regime whose assets are subject to confiscation by the government was last week expanded to 155.

Bank lending to Mr Ben Ali, his extended family and associates totalled about TD2.5bn ($1.82bn), Mr Ayed says. “But they are not bad loans necessarily because a lot of those companies continue to work normally” under government supervision,” he says.

“These people set up businesses in some very good and productive sectors of the economy. They were everywhere. And most of the lending was in fact supported by strong guarantees, whether land, shares, real estate and so on.”

Mr Ayed is to be chairman of a commission supervising confiscated assets as the process of determining claims proceeds, always under the fierce glare of public opinion.

Last week, Tunisia’s interim cabinet in effect had its mandate extended after the country’s first election since the revolution was rescheduled from July to October 23. Some parties are now suggesting that this cabinet might continue beyond October as the elected constituent assembly debates a constitution.

If so, Mr Ayed will jealously guard his apolitical status. Having worked outside Tunisia since 1988, “I’m really not politically connected”, he says. “I’m too busy doing what I have to do. Serving a party, or parties, would be a different ball game.”

His focus is rather on areas such as banking sector reform “because sooner or later the size of investments will increase in this country, and we need to have strong banks. We have too many small banks.”

He also wants to boost public sector wages, which he believes are too low. In what he admits is a short-term “palliative” measure, a monthly payment equivalent to $145 has been introduced for graduate job seekers, subject to various conditions. It will soon be extended, at a lower rate, to certain non-graduate job seekers.

In the longer term, his hope is that other Tunisians will follow his example of returning from abroad, not least to contribute some of the financial expertise needed for the management of the two proposed funds.

Source: Eileen Byrne, FT.com, Monday 13th June 2011

Why small is beautiful for the graduate job hunter

If you’re hunting for a graduate job, looking for a role with a small business could be your best bet. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) expect to create 8% more jobs over the summer and will take the lead in boosting employment in the UK, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey published this week. Mark Cahill, the UK managing director of Manpower, commented, ‘It seems when it comes to job vacancies, small is beautiful.’

The survey is based on responses from more than 2,100 UK employers who were asked whether they planned to take on new workers in the coming economic quarter. Overall, the national outlook is now more positive than it has been since 2008. The greatest demand is for candidates with skills in areas where there is a national shortage of expertise, such as engineers and IT specialists.

Mr Cahill commented, ‘Candidates sometimes assume that bigger is better when it comes to employers, but these statistics clearly point to the opposite. SMEs were among the first to shed jobs during the recession, but we’re now seeing them build their workforce again and becoming an increasingly important source of job creation in the UK.’

Finance, banking and business services was the career sector with the most strongly positive outlook, leading the way by intending to create 10% more jobs. Agriculture, transport, utilities and manufacturing also all intended to take on additional staff.

The public sector employers surveyed anticipated reducing the overall number of jobs available by 2%, a less dramatic cutback than has been suggested in previous surveys. Hiring intentions among larger businesses have been falling over recent months and now remain flat.

Source: Targetjobs.co.uk, Tuesday 14th June 2011

Graduate straps on rollerblades in Canary Wharf job hunting stunt

A young graduate put a fresh spin on job hunting last week, donning a pair of rollerblades to hand out his CV out in Canary Wharf.

Business graduate Peter Hoang, 23, bladed around Canary Wharf DLR Station on Friday lunchtime in an imaginative bid to attract potential employers.

Peter, who graduated from Westminster University in 2009, handed out business cards describing himself as an Administrative Genius, with a link to his online CV.

The Isle of Dogs resident, who currently works part-time as a project manager for youth charity Leaders in Community, said he was ideally looking for work as an online administrator.

He added: “I just felt so anonymous applying to places online. People only get to see a bunch of words in bullet points, without ever getting to see the real me. I wanted to be out there seeing and talking to real people.

“I went up to people and said: ‘I made this card especially for you.’ The women really seemed to like it but I don’t think the men would have taken much more notice if I just walked up to them.”

Peter handed out cards for an hour and a half before they ran out. He is yet to hear back from employers but is hoping a short film taken of his stunt will help him land that dream interview.

To see Peter’s CV, visit: www.thisismycv.posterous.com

Source: Sheena McKenzie, Docklands24.co.uk, Monday 13th June 2011

FDM's Taster Sessions

FDM Group, a prolific provider of graduate IT jobs in London and other UK cities, has started a series of free taster sessions so that students can decide if the career is right for them.

In total there will be 8 sessions in London and Manchester covering topics such as data modelling, software testing, IT consultancy and relational databases. The IT sessions take place on various days with the final one in Manchester on 6th July.

These free seminars and workshops will definitely give IT hopefuls a boost in the job market as the experience provided and contacts made will be invaluable. Attendees will get a real feel for what working as a graduate in the IT sector will be like but without actually committing to a job in the industry.

You can apply for just one of the IT taster sessions or attend on multiple days to gain a broader knowledge of what a career with FDM Group or other graduate IT employers might be like.

The FDM Group expects to have offered around 1,000 graduate jobs throughout 2011, which will take the total number of graduates it has placed into careers in the IT industry to over 3,500.

Source: Employment4Students.co.uk, Saturday 11th June 2011

Those in early graduate roles find they have to 'tread through mud'

Those in graduate roles - and younger workers generally - often find themselves "having to tread through mud" in the early stages of their career, according to Right Corecare.

Kevin Friery, clinical director at the service, said that under-30s often find life challenging - in part because they are required by necessity to work a job they dislike.

"The trouble that people in that age group have to cope with is that they may be working in a situation that isn't their ideal jobs, isn't the best job in the world, but is a job they have to do to get themselves going or get a foot on the ladder," he explained.

"As you get older, you are more likely to be doing something that you want to be doing, but when you're younger you're sort of doing the things you need to do."

According to research by the Institute for Employment Studies and Newsbeat, under-30s saw real wages fall faster in recent months than any other age group.

Source: Gradplus.com, Friday 10th June 2011

Graduate fashion week: knitwear, zips and chainmail scoop £20,000 prize

BA student Rory Longdon impresses panel of designers and fashion writers with wearably 'bold yet simple idea'.

A collection that included ribbed knitwear, zips and a modern take on chain mail has scooped the top prize at Graduate fashion week. Rory Longdon, a BA student from Nottingham Trent University, won the George gold award and £20,000 to further his career.

The event, now in its 20th year, is a nationwide celebration of the new stars of British fashion. The gold award was judged by a panel of experts, including the designer Amanda Wakeley, Patrick Grant, the menswear design star behind the much lauded Savile Row label E Tautz, and Lucy Yeomans, editor of glossy magazine Harper's Bazaar.

They praised Longdon's "bold yet simple idea" which translated into a wearable collection. "It was cohesive and immaculately constructed with outstanding craftsmanship," they said.

Other big winners at Earls Court included Marissa Owen of the University of Central Lancashire, who won the womenswear award, and Felix Chabluk Smith of Edinburgh College of Art, who took home the menswear accolade.

Organisers at this year's event were keen to highlight to graduates that there is more to the fashion industry than the high glamour of being a catwalk designer. The sponsor George emphasised the diversity of career choices available in an industry that directly employs around 816,000 people. Scouts for the brand were actively recruiting at the four-day event – searching for the fashion savvy and pragmatic among the 5,000 new graduates joining the job market this summer. They were looking for students who might become successful buyers or marketing executives, rather than simply hunting down the next Alexander McQueen.

Cressida Pye, director of fashion recruitment consultancy Smith & Pye, also on the look out for new talent said: "It's very good to sign up graduates early – it's a bit like gardening, you have to nurture them. There are very, very few people who go on and are backed to do their own labels. But the majority of the designers go on to become the backbone of huge design teams at the likes of Burberry."

Source: Guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 8th June 2011

Graduate lands dream part-time job - as official beer taster

He has just celebrated watching his club climb into the Premier League.

Now Swansea City fan James Clee has another reason to raise a pint glass – he’s won a dream job as an official beer taster.

And the post, at Budweiser, comes with a hefty £10,000 pay packet for just six days work.

Mr Clee, 21, from Bishopston, Swansea, was chosen from over 5,000 applicants across the UK to be an official taster for Budweiser’s new brew, Bud 66, this summer.

The job involves visiting summer festivals which Bud 66 is sponsoring and sampling several to make sure the new beer is being served crisp and cold.

Mr Clee spotted the job on Facebook. A law graduate from University College London, he says he plans to start looking for a full-time job after completing his “beer tasting summer”.

And he wants to spend much of his pay packet on a holiday “somewhere hot” before embarking on a career.

Mr Clee, whose official title is Beer Executive Officer (BEO), has successfully completed his first festival, Run to the Sun in Newquay, Cornwall, and is looking forward to being chauffeured to the next, Creamfields in Cheshire, for a VIP weekend.

He tested the beer’s aroma, appearance, temperature and taste before it was served to bands and DJs at Run to the Sun and will do the same at Creamfields where he’ll be mixing it up backstage with the likes of Calvin Harris and the Chemical Brothers.

Budweiser’s Iain Newell said: “For many the job spec read like a dream position – sociable hours, excellent day rate, the opportunity to meet lots of interesting people – with the simple objective to deliver great times to as many people as possible.”

Source: Robin Turner, Walesonline.co.uk, Wednesday 8th June 2011

London-based New College of the Humanities (NCH) will charge students £18,000 in fees each year

Professor AC Grayling, who will become president of the college, was heckled as he talked about arts funding cuts at Foyles bookshop on Charing Cross Road.

As the discussion was drawing to a close, a red smoke flare was set off in the crowd of about 100 people.

Sion Hamilton, manager of Foyles Charing Cross Road, said Prof Grayling had been booked "some months ago" for a discussion about the arts in the UK.

He had offered to answer students' questions for 20 minutes after the event but the company said it regretted "that one individual decided to curtail this opportunity for further discussion by letting off a smoke bomb at the end".

The people attending the debate were evacuated from the top floor of the central London shop and many were seen coughing as they walked away after the incident.

When the philosopher started to talk, someone from the crowd shouted: "You have no right to speak" and another called out "venture capitalist".

One protester said: "You should be defending public education not deserting it."'Gifted' undergraduates

NCH will be based in Bloomsbury, central London, and will open in October 2012.

The college says it will teach "gifted" undergraduates and prepare them for degrees from the University of London.

The 14 professors involved include biologist Richard Dawkins and historian Sir David Cannadine.

The college will offer eight undergraduate courses in the humanities taught by some of the world's most prominent academics.

Degrees cover five subject areas - law, economics, history, English literature and philosophy.

Students will also take three "intellectual skills" modules in science literacy, logic and critical thinking and applied ethics.

Prof Grayling, the philosopher who will be the college's first Master, secured millions of pounds of funding from investors to set up the institution.

He said: "Our priorities at the college will be excellent teaching quality, excellent ratios of teachers to students, and a strongly supportive and responsive learning environment.

"Our students will be challenged to develop as skilled, informed and reflective thinkers, and will receive an education to match that aspiration."

The government has set fees in England's public universities at a maximum of £9,000 from September next year.

Source: BBC.co.uk, Tuesday 7th June 2011

Graduate gap years 'help boost achievements'

University leavers may be tempted to start planning a gap year abroad after one expert warned of the urgent need for graduates to gain work experience and compile a CV bursting at the seams with achievements.

Speaking at the National Graduate Recruitment Exhibition, at the Birmingham NEC this weekend, Chris Davies from Graduate Coach shared with graduates his top tips for job hunting success.

Mr Davies said that the starting point for post-university jobseekers was to work out exactly what it is they want to do. Planning a gap year allows young people time out to think about their future career options.

Graduates also need to think about how much work experience they have and how they might be able to flesh out their CV with some meaningful activities and achievements.

"Work achievements, charity achievements, sports achievements – That’s the type of thing that you’ll be asked about in an interview," the expert added.

By planning a gap year overseas, graduates can gain relevant experience through voluntary work or an internship, allowing them to broaden their CV and increase their chances of success at the interview stage.

Source: Yearoutgroup.org, Monday 6th June 2011

Johnson and Johnson rolls out global compensation strategy

Johnson and Johnson’s newly implemented global compensation strategy is allowing it to develop single career models across its businesses, improve succession planning, integrate newly acquired companies more easily, and present a more uniform face at graduate recruitment fairs.

The rollout of the global strategy to its 250 businesses across 70 countries entered the planning phase in 2007 and was completed in spring 2010, although work still continues.

The multinational company wanted a standardised global approach to compensation, which would increase eligibility and opportunities to move talent internationally. It also wanted to improve its alignment with local market practices.

Speaking at WorldatWork’s Total Rewards 2011 conference in San Diego in May, Dave Berwick, compensation director at Johnson and Johnson, said: “Our end goal was to create a more consistent employee experience throughout their career at Johnson and Johnson.”

The US-headquartered multinational employs more than 115,000 staff in three divisions: pharmaceutical, consumer and medical devices.

It used Mercer’s international position evaluation (IPE) tool to establish job frameworks, but with varying levels of rigour at different levels. Therefore, global compensation and executive teams were responsible for mapping job evaluations for its 500 top executives, with local HR and regional compensation teams mapping jobs for 22,000 managers and 98,000 other staff. Berwick added: “The fundamental compensation strategy is not changing, but how we get there is changing significantly.”

Keren Maldonado, regional director total rewards Latin America at Johnson and Johnson, who was based in Europe during the project, said each business leader had autonomy on how to organise their own company. “So this presented us with a challenge,” she said.

Also, Johnson and Johnson’s three divisions are very different. For instance, a sales representative in the consumer sector is very different from one in the pharmaceutical sector. “What may seem a very similar job can be very different when you look into it,” said Maldonado.

The exercise showed that 5% of the group’s staff were below the correct pay range for their job role. Berwick said: “We did not decrease anyone’s pay. We gave businesses two years to move everyone into the pay range.”
Johnson and Johnson designed its overall strategy centrally in the US because there were differing levels of compensation expertise locally. However, it had expertise based around the world, with meaningful local representation on project teams to improve its ability to understand regional complexities and craft appropriate solutions.

For example, businesses in Venezuela and Argentina require frequent salary reviews to keep up with hyper-inflation, while those in China and Indonesia are less transparent about salary levels because of national sensitivities.

Source: Debi O'Donovan, Employeebenefits.co.uk, Monday 6th June 2011

Graduate Fashion Week celebrates its 20th anniversary

Graduate Fashion Week celebrates its 20th anniversary this year at Earls Court with shows and exhibitions from over 1,000 British and international design students.

Starting on Sunday 5th June, there will be 19 catwalk shows for the public to take in before the best collections are selected for the gala shows on Wednesday. An impressive panel of judges, including Amanda Wakeley, Mark Eley of the brand Eley Kishimoto and Lucy Yeomans, editor of Harper's Bazaar , will then pick the winner of the Gold Award, who will receive the prize of £20,000. Meanwhile, the Telegraph's Hilary Alexander will present the winner of the First Word Journalism Award.

Terry Mansfield, chairman of GFW, said: "Graduate Fashion Week is the starting point for the future of British Fashion. It is an event that has an impact on not just our home-grown style, but that of the world. Our Graduates are the future of fashion, whether it is on the high street or the catwalk. This is the chance for the industry and public to see them first and understand why supporting our British fashion education system is so important. We are delighted that George at Asda has agreed to support us in 2011. At this increasingly difficult time for students, it is more than ever essential that the industry pulls together to help educate the next generation."

There will also opportunities to find out about other careers in the industry. With around 5,000 fashion graduates joining the job market this summer, Graduate Fashion Week and George at Asda, which replaces River Island as sponsor, is keen to promote the "business of fashion". From marketing to buying and product development, advisors will be on hand to guide graduates on jobs outside of the design studio.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk, Friday 3rd June 2011

Graduate careers: In calmer waters, but it's not all plain sailing

Things are picking up in the jobs market and salaries are even rising. But you still have to fight … and fight hard.

Shaun Ransom does his best to make it sound less attractive – "it doesn't feel glamorous when you're having to drag yourself out of bed to meet a 6am order" – but the fact that his job as a sales and marketing executive with Yorkshire-based Superyacht Supplies has already seen him jetting off to St Martin in the Caribbean and, currently, Antibes in the south of France, is unlikely to win him much sympathy.

The Hull University media, society and culture graduate may have fallen on his feet since graduating last year but he agrees this year's university leavers, much like last year's, will have to fight extremely hard in what will still be a fiercely competitive jobs market.

"It is really tough. I applied for lots of different places and across many sectors. You've just got to be willing, if necessary, to make some sacrifices – I even applied for an internship with a pharmaceutical company in Germany – and be proactive," says Ransom, 23.

The good news for 2011 graduates is that, according to the latest slew of statistics, things do appear to be picking up. According to recruitment company Reed, jobs in May were up about a quarter year on year, with those on its Graduate Job Index up 62% from when it began in December 2009.

What's more, Reed says that, in stark contrast to much of the rest of the economy, starting salaries have been rising, and, it estimates, are now up 24% on 18 months ago.

This tallies with research last month by graduate recruitment researcher High Fliers which argued that, for the first time in three years, graduates expected starting salaries to increase, with top students reckoning on commanding £25,000 or more.

The danger, however, is reading too much into such headline statistics, warns Martin Edmondson, chief executive of recruitment firm Graduates Yorkshire. Or worse, assuming they can just walk into this sort of high-paying role.

Its own statistics have suggested that, after stripping out the "London effect", which can see salaries being skewed by the higher-than-average wages often paid in London or the City, the reality is more like £15,000 to £18,000. "If graduates are getting a message that the average is, say, £25,000 to £30,000, there will be a mindset that they need to be landing a job in that sort of salary bracket and, possibly, discount jobs that pay less, or become disheartened," cautions Edmondson.

One thing the researchers do agree on, however, is that there is still a scarily high number of applications for every job. Reed argues that more jobs will be offset by 20-plus applications per job this summer and autumn. Equally, High Fliers has said that finalists began applying earlier, with applications up by a third.

It will therefore be even more important to demonstrate that not only do you have the right skills but the right attitude and "fit", argues Reed chairman James Reed, who this week published a co-authored book entitled Put Your Mindset to Work. "What we have been finding is that, for employers, mindset will often trump skills. That's not to say skills are not important, they are. But if employers have to choose between someone who has all the right skills but not the right mindset, versus someone who is the other way around but who can then be taught the skills, 97% say they will choose mindset," he explains.

Bristol University civil engineering graduate Edward Newton, 25, agrees.

After graduating last summer he has, since February, been working as an analyst for Twickenham-based consultancy Pragma, which employs about 20 people. "It's not really about your degree. It's often as much down to how you present yourself, and how you are going to fit into the company," he explains. "Like a lot of people, I was originally looking at all the big companies. But I've found working for a smaller organisation suits me better. There is more variety, and you get more responsibility. Right from the start, I've had loads of client contact."

Source: Nic Paton, Guardian.co.uk, Saturday 4th June 2011

Unemployed man sells himself on Dublin billboard

Tens of thousands of Irish people are leaving their debt-shattered land because they can't find work. But one frustrated job hunter, 26-year-old Feilim Mac An Iomaire, has refused - and captured the nation's imagination with an inventive PR stunt that highlights his plight.

"SAVE ME FROM EMIGRATION," reads Mac An Iomaire's billboard in the heart of Dublin, the focal point for a novel social media-driven campaign that advertises his 10-month search for work and desire to stay in Ireland.

The effort has cost him about C2,000 (C$2,800) -- and given him a priceless global spotlight for his skills as a marketer and deal-maker.

Barely two days after rebranding himself as an Irish everyman named Jobless Paddy, Mac An Iomaire appears certain to have achieved his goal of landing a good job, most likely in Dublin, by the end of the month.

Between seemingly endless calls, tweets and Facebook posts from well-wishers and tipsters, the commerce and marketing graduate of National University of Ireland at Galway put on his best jacket Thursday for the first of potentially dozens of job interviews in the coming few weeks. He declined to identify any of his sudden suitors but said he hoped to be in a position to pick and choose.

"I couldn't have imagined the effect my campaign has had. I expected to get maybe 10 offers and, hopefully, someone would really want me. But I'm just overwhelmed now," Mac An Iomaire said before his first job interview.

Mac An Iomaire returned to Ireland in August 2010, full of optimism, after working for a year in Australia as a travel agent and events co-ordinator in a Sydney hostel. He had a few thousand euros (dollars) set aside as he started a conventional job search in marketing.

More than 100 applications yielded only two inconclusive job interviews last year, a typical experience in a country suffering nearly 15 per cent unemployment and experiencing its biggest wave of emigration since the 1980s. More than 50,000 people, mostly 20-something university graduates like Mac An Iomaire, are forecast to leave this nation of 4.5 million by the end of the year.

But while staying in his parents' home and living off state welfare of C188 ($269) a week, Mac An Iomaire's frustration turned to inspiration: If he couldn't land a job as a marketer, he'd showcase his marketing skills to land a job.

"I felt I needed to use a billboard to get my cause out there. Then I wanted to drive interest through the power of social media, so I was quick to set up Twitter and Facebook pages, and got tweeting my friends and posting right away," Mac An Iomaire said.

In early April he got to work. He purchased stock photos from an Indonesian company, persuaded freelance graphic designers and photographers to offer him cut-rate creative help, and negotiated a bargain deal from a major ad agency for a lone billboard slot.

The result is an advertising icon for Ireland's economic freefall from Celtic Tiger boomland to the brink of national bankruptcy.

It pictures Mac An Iomaire - his back to the camera, a suitcase in one hand and a Gaelic hurling stick in the other - staring across the ocean at a vista of the Statue of Liberty, British Houses of Parliament, Sydney Opera House and Toronto's CN Tower.

Beneath the slogan seeking salvation from emigration, the viewer is implored to request more information and a resume from Jobless Paddy's email account.

The billboard, placed strategically on Merrion Road - Dublin's answer to Beverly Hills - piqued Irish media interest and set the Internet alight.

Mac An Iomaire has appeared on Ireland's national TV and top radio stations and received more than 100 requests from Irish companies seeking Jobless Paddy's credentials. More than a dozen job-hunting threads on Ireland's biggest Internet chat room, boards.ie, are debating the merits of his media-savvy gambit.

Evening commuters slow down to catch the ad that everyone's talking about.

"That's a work of genius. Exactly the kind of brains we need to keep in Ireland. There's an army of out-of-work Paddies, but only one Jobless Paddy," said accountant David Daly, 39, one of scores of passing motorists who stopped to photograph the billboard.

"It's so professional, it makes you want to find out who's behind it," said Maire Quinn, 32, a Dublin secretary who recently suffered a pay cut and reduced hours, snapping a photo of the billboard on her cellphone. "And then when you hear his back story, it just screams out for him to get hired somewhere quick. He's got guts."

Mac An Iomaire admits his pitch was calculated, in part, to appeal to Ireland's hurt pride as a nation. He included the Gaelic hurling stick because it's an obvious symbol of nationalism for any Irishman; he personally hasn't played hurling since he was around 12.

"I do not adhere to the almost universal consensus that any young unemployed person must leave the country to have any hope of prospering," reads his Facebook manifesto. "Experience overseas has led me to a greater appreciation of our country, culture, and way of life. I would like to stay and be part of this country's recovery, so please spread the word."

They are. Within two days of its launch, his Facebook campaign account has jumped from a dozen followers to more than 5,600. The Twitter feed proved less popular but particularly useful in chatting directly to potential employers.

Mac An Iomaire marvels at the rapid reach and response to his social-media effort, with messages of support pouring in from Cork to Rio de Janeiro. So have job tips and offers, raising the question of whether he might ultimately choose to emigrate anyway because he gets an offer he can't refuse.

"I just love this country. Being away for a year in Australia really brought home to me how special Ireland is, what a massive village it is," he said. "This is my home. If I had to leave again, it would be with a heavy heart."

Source: m.ctv.ca, Thursday 2nd June 2011

Graduates hail SMEs for job satisfaction and creativity

Three quarters of UK graduates believe SMEs have a better work ethic than corporations, according to a survey.

The poll of 200 UK graduates by specialist SME graduate recruiter Give A Grad A Go also revealed that 82% expected greater job satisfaction working for a smaller firm and 92% felt they also foster greater creativity among their workforce.

However, 91% believe corporations pay better, 79% think they offer better job security and 74% believe they offer better career progression than SMEs.

Smaller businesses beat large companies on work-life balance, with 62% rating SMEs as superior.

Cary Curtis, Give A Grad A Go founder and MD, said: “SMEs make up the backbone of British industry and will need to take advantage of the abundance of highly skilled graduates leaving university looking for work. Graduates that approach us are often unaware of the fantastic career opportunities that exist in SME organisations and certainly have no idea how to take advantage of them.

“The result is that smaller employers tend to struggle to source the best grads. We find those we place, excel in smaller companies, quickly progressing their careers as a consequence."

The results also revealed that 54% of graduates thought public sector pay was either 'low' or 'very low', in contrast to recent findings from centre-right think tank the Policy Exchange, which suggested that public sector workers earned over 30% more than their private-sector equivalents.

Curtis adds: "GAGAGO encourages all SMEs to treat graduates on work placements as real employees and offer a wage with any position. The highest tuition fees on record mean many graduates can't afford to work for free, and those that do are often demotivated due a lack of remuneration. Paid placements offer an affordable way to secure talented candidates and get the most out of them."

Source: David Pottingham, Businesswings.co.uk, Tuesday 31st May 2011

Three in ten candidates to miss out on university place

More than 200,000 university candidates might lose out on a place this year as applications look set to hit a record high, it has been revealed.

Applications are already up 1.4 per cent on this time last year as undergraduates rush to land spots on courses before tuition fees rise to £9,000 in 2012.

If the current demand is maintained, 707,000 students will submit applications for 479,000 places – meaning 31 per cent will miss out.

Universities have received 647,008 forms so far – up 9,235 from last year, according to figures from Ucas.

Some 698,000 were hopeful of making it on to a course in 2010, however 27 per cent were left disappointed.

Student leaders said the government’s failure to act on last year’s figures by adding more places was unacceptable.

Aaron Porter, of the National Union of Students, said: ‘Last year hundreds of thousands of qualified and ambitious people missed out on a deserved degree place.

'Any decision to reduce the number of places in order to cover the huge black hole in funding left by the government’s rushed and incoherent policy-making would spell disaster for young people, universities and the economy.’

Applications from Britons are up 0.8 per cent to 550,147, but those from other European countries have risen by 5.8 per cent to 45,727 and by 4.9 per cent from non-EU nations to 51,134.

However, universities minister David Willetts believes students should start to consider apprenticeships instead of fighting for a degree spot.

He said: ‘We understand how frustrating it is for young people who wish to go to university and are unable to find a place.

‘Our reforms will make part-time university study more accessible and at least 250,000 more apprenticeships will be available over the next four years.’

Source: John Higginson, Metro.co.uk, Tuesday 31st May 2011