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
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
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