Graduate Employability
Despite the increasing numbers of graduates looking for employment, companies are still finding it tough to find the right ones for their business. Employers are becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of “employability skills” evident in the so-called graduate talent that is flooding the marketplace, so what can businesses do to alleviate this problem?
Successful communication with prospective graduate employees should really begin long before graduation. Some kind of contact with students, either directly within university or through student and graduate focused media, provides the platform to educate them about what sort of skills are required within a business and help them to find ways of developing those skills.
The University of Plymouth has enlisted the help of local businesses in order to introduce a new course, whereby students go on work experience and work on real-life projects throughout each year and create a skills portfolio to show prospective employers. Some businesses also provide work placements for those students who have a year in industry as part of their degree, which gives them the opportunity to develop skills in a working environment.
In order to access those students who are unable to take a placement year it can be beneficial to offer part time work experience that can be fitted around study or alternatively summer placements, both of which enable students to learn from your employees and gain a real insight into your business as well as a general understanding of the world outside of academia.
Giving students more information about a particular business or industry can help them to understand the ways in which they need to develop, so the sooner they get this information the better.
- Do you offer work experience opportunities for undergraduates?
- Can you see a difference between the graduates you employ who have got some formal work experience and those who haven't?
Tell us what you think now!