Graduate

Employment
Trends Trends
Head of Careers Service
Julian Rhys-Williams
Aims of the session
To review
Key features of the labour market
Employability and graduate skills Employability and graduate skills
Key sources of data on graduate outcomes
Recent outcomes and impact of recession
Graduate and non Graduate jobs
Further data and outlook
Key features of market for
graduates(1)
60% of graduate jobs dont specify subject discipline
About 60% of 1
st
degree graduates go into labour market within 6
months
Formal graduate training schemes make up only 1015% of
opportunities
Reliance by some employers on pre university grades as well as
degree
Some emphasis on 2:1 (potential or actual) result in selection
procedure
Use of tests on line
Key features of market
for graduates (2)
Degree/academic results not enough - need to demonstrate range
of skills and some work experience.
Extra curricular achievements expected especially for fast track Extra curricular achievements expected especially for fast track
schemes
Significant number of formal placements lead to jobs. Internships
growing.
Issue of type of jobs entered into by graduates
Key features of market
for graduates (3)
Relevant vocational degrees required in some areas eg
engineering, science, medicine, nursing , social work , art and
design and others.
Very high graduate employment in many of these
More mixed in others especially art and design
Art and design has highest numbers going into self employment
Significant numbers of first degree graduates go on to PG or other
further study - 15% plus
For some areas a requirement eg legal professions , teacher
training, psychology
Funding issues
Underlying trends for
graduates (1)
Increasing demand for higher level skills in knowledge based
economy
Decline in UK manufacturing and increase in service and
professional skills
Importance of business innovation and small and medium
business growth with graduates
Smaller proportion of graduates in traditional graduate jobs and
wider range of jobs graduates do
Underlying trends for
graduates (2)
Higher earning potential than non graduates and less likely to be
unemployed in the long run
Increase in time to get a meaningful job and need to adapt and
commit to lifelong learning
Need for career management skills
Graduate Employability
Skills
CBI report ( 2009) Future Fit
Self management
Teamworking
Application of numeracy
Application of IT
Business and customer
awareness
Problem solving and analysis
Communication and literacy
POSITIVE ATTITUDE
Enterprise /creativity
To be employed is to be at
risk, to be employable is to be risk, to be employable is to be
secure
Dr. Peter Hawkins, 1999
author The Art of Building Windmills and co-founder of windmills
programme
Data/statistics/research
Annual & Longitudinal DLHE (Destinations of Leavers from Higher
Education) surveys ( 6 months and 3 years)
What Do Graduates Do www.prospects.ac.uk including detailed
profiles by subject area.
Unistats website and destination data on university websites Unistats website and destination data on university websites
League Tables eg Times, Sunday Times , Guardian, based on
various measures of graduate jobs/ further study and
unemployment
Employment Performance Indicator (EPI) via HESA:
www.hesa.ac.uk , with benchmarks allowing for entry quals and
ethnicity
( an important measure for HEI like Mdx)
Data/statistics/research
Warwick Institute for Employment Research: Researching the
Graduate Labour Market ~ Class of 99, Future Track, Moving On,
Seven Years On www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ier/research/glmf
HECSU LMI & Graduate Employment Trends www.hecsu.ac.uk HECSU LMI & Graduate Employment Trends www.hecsu.ac.uk
AGCAS www.agcas.org.uk
AGR www.agr.org.uk
Some statistics :DLHE 2009
cohort
UK Ist degree
274,385 graduates
224,895 responded to DLHE survey
59.2% employment
8.0% work & study 8.0% work & study
15.4% further study/training
8.9% unemployed
8.4% other activity ( not available , time out etc)
62.4% were in graduate jobs
Average salary was 19,695
Locations nearly 40 % in London and south East
Further analyses and
impact of recession
For the 2009 graduating cohort recession had significant impact
Continuing decline in employment and continuing increase in
unemployment
Slight increases in full time further study and taking time out
Many areas of employment affected : building /architecture/civil Many areas of employment affected : building /architecture/civil
engineering, financial services ( esp banking), manufacturing,
marketing /advertising, IT , also journalism and design
Energy and health, social and welfare and education sectors
more or less steady levels of employment. Also sport and fitness
Increase in numbers going into non graduate jobs. Though less
decline in recruitment for major graduate schemes
Continued importance of internships for graduates in 2009
sometimes unpaid.
Types of Graduate Job
Measure devised by Elias and Purcell of IER, authors of major
longitudinal studies and fitting into SOC classifications
Traditional eg solicitor, doctor, architect, research scientist
Modern eg IT programmer, journalist, primary school teacher
New eg marketing, management accountant, therapists ,
social workers , engineers
Niche eg nursing, retail managers, graphic designers
Non graduate eg admin assistant, secretary, sales assistant,
some technician and craft level jobs
Graduate and non Graduate jobs %
six months after graduation
(all Unis)
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Traditional 11.2 11.5 11.7 12.4
Modern 12.3 12.6 13.8 13.7
New 15.5 16.0 17.2 16.6
Niche 23.3 23.7 23.8 23.0
Non 37.5 35.6 33.5 34.3 37.6
Total grad level: 62.5 64.4 66.5 65.7 62.4
Further data
Evidence from most recent longitudinal survey of 2005 graduates 3 years
on showed : 81 % in graduate level occupations ie clear increase on
figures 6 months after graduation. Also decline in unemployment.
Recent detailed longitudinal survey of art and design graduates called
Creative Futures showed similar increases in those in higher level work Creative Futures showed similar increases in those in higher level work
often using their creative skills. Also 40% had experienced self
employment /freelancing in 3 yrs plus since graduating
However wide range of salary levels for graduates both starting out and
in long term with eg overall accountancy , computing , engineering and
medicine grads doing much better than arts graduates.( though some v
high achieving arts grads will certainly do v well in business sector). Gap
between grads and those with A levels or equivalent lifelong earnings
likely to narrow.
Graduate preferences
Top 10 employers
Civil Service
Accenture
changing
91% good work/life balance
was important
67% had to be happy with the
PriceWaterhouseCoopers
Army
KPMG
HSBC
BBC
Proctor & Gamble
NHS
Deloitte & Touche
67% had to be happy with the
ethical record of a prospective
employer
successful career and good
salary came further down the
list of things graduates most
wanted
Generation X & Y?
Outlook
Possible steadying of unemployment rate
Increase in non graduate employment and some further study
Some increases in private sector graduate recruitment
Still highly competitive entry Still highly competitive entry
Decline in many areas of public sector recruitment
Continuing importance of opportunities for graduates to gain
experience and some specialist skills
Long term positive outlook but graduates need to be realistic and
well prepared to secure opportunities suited to them