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