Graduate Employment. Head of Careers Service Julian Rhys-Williams

Transcription

1 Graduate Employment Trends Head of Careers Service Julian Rhys-Williams

2 Aims of the session To review Key features of the labour market 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

3 Key features of market for graduates(1) 60% of graduate jobs don t specify subject discipline About 60% of 1 st degree graduates go into labour market within 6 months Formal graduate training schemes make up only 10 15% 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

4 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 schemes Significant number of formal placements lead to jobs. Internships growing. Issue of type of jobs entered into by graduates

5 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

6 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

7 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

8 Graduate Employability Skills CBI report ( 2009) Future Fit Self management Teamworking Business and customer awareness Problem solving and analysis Application of numeracy Application of IT POSITIVE ATTITUDE Enterprise /creativity Communication and literacy

9 To be employed is to be at risk, to be employable is to be secure Dr. Peter Hawkins, 1999 author The Art of Building Windmills and co-founder of windmills programme

10 Data/statistics/research Annual & Longitudinal DLHE (Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education) surveys ( 6 months and 3 years) What Do Graduates Do including detailed profiles by subject area. 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: with benchmarks allowing for entry quals and ethnicity ( an important measure for HEI like Mdx)

11 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 AGCAS AGR

12 Some statistics :DLHE 2009 cohort UK Ist degree 274,385 graduates 224,895 responded to DLHE survey 59.2% employment 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

13 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 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.

14 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

15 Graduate and non Graduate jobs % six months after graduation (all Unis) Traditional Modern New Niche Non Total grad level:

16 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 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.

17 Graduate preferences Top 10 employers Civil Service Accenture PriceWaterhouseCoopers Army KPMG HSBC BBC Proctor & Gamble NHS Deloitte & Touche changing 91% good work/life balance was important 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?

18 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 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