Who’s really to blame for UK graduate unemployment?

For what feels like the nth year running, the ratio of graduate applicants to jobs has yet again increased. BBC news commented that every graduate job now has around 52 applicants and the number of applications to leading employers has increased by 25% since 2009. The odds seem like they are very unfairly stacked against this year’s graduates but it is public knowledge that many top companies are increasing their intake to offset this.

So why are many grads still finding it tough to get a job? Are graduates getting lazy when it comes to finding their dream job? Are graduates not trying hard enough to get the grade, or the extracurricular activities, that will help them against the competition? Are graduates picking the wrong degrees?

Bottom line – maybe it is the graduates themselves who are the reason for their own unemployment. Whilst many may feel this is harsh on the many graduates who try hard to find jobs and are still unlucky, I sympathise with them and realise it is sometimes not their fault – there are many other factors that influence employment. All I am saying is there are several points which are worth highlighting that can severely hinder a graduate’s ability to find a top job.

There are many graduates and undergrads who I personally know that do not understand the time and effort required to get onto the career ladder. Most either wait until they have graduated until they start looking or they realise what they need to do but choose to avoid this reality until a later date. Problem is, by the time these people start looking for jobs, the ones they wanted have already been taken by the more proactive grads. What can be done to counter this? Start looking for jobs at the start of the final year of studies. From my own experience, it doesn’t take much time out of your life, you can still have the quintessential university social life and you can still do your day-to-day studies.

Getting a 2:1 is obviously a great achievement and something to be really proud of, but is this enough to get ahead? Whilst most jobs advertise that the minimum needed is a 2:1 to be considered, I feel that many grads seem to think this alone is enough to get them through the door. Putting in a bit of extra work to get a 1st can give you that extra edge to be considered instantly by employers. But the grade on its own is not enough. Taking part in extra-curricular activities such as charity work, a role on a sports/societies committee or smaller activities such as a business challenge can really make the difference between yourself and other graduates. On top of this, doing these activities can be rewarding and fun in their own right.

My final point, and for me, I feel this is key to the reason a lot of graduates cannot get a job; picking the wrong degree. Degrees in areas such as media and art, whilst rewarding and interesting to many, are not ideal for getting jobs at top employers. Jobs in these areas require much more than a degree and it also does not bode well that jobs in these areas are hard to come by. To give you the best chance possible, degrees in science, finance, maths and other wanted skills are on the top of employers ‘wanted’ lists and fill some of the current skill shortages in this country so it makes sense to leverage this. I don’t see why media, art, history and other related subjects cannot just be hobbies which you do in your spare time. I always wanted to learn history but knew this would not get me the job I wanted so I stick to learning more about this interesting area in my spare time.

Do I think that employers or the government can do more to help graduates in their search for a career? This may sound surprising, but I too agree that there is much more they can do to educate, inspire and help graduates but I won’t be campaigning against these bodies until I am 100% sure that graduates are doing everything they can do in the first instance.

Source: Mark Cooksley, Periscopepost.com, Tuesday 10th July 2012