A staggering fact landed on my desk this morning. In the form of an infographic presented by my colleague, it read “79% of graduates need help in finding employment”. The results of the study, carried out by Expertise in Labour Mobility, shocked me for two reasons: One, because 79% is a fairly large chunk of 100%, and two, it means that a whole load of students are not being given the level of support they require from their university.

Throw on top of this the findings of a recent study from McKinsey which claims that 39% of companies have problems filling vacancies for skilled labour, and you start to understand that something is wrong. Or at least, something is not adding up.

Graduates are leaving university into the big bad world of work and are struggling to connect the dots. Some of these students believe that their qualification with high grade average will land them the job, whilst others rely upon a minimal pass plus a fair amount of charm during the selection process. Whilst those in either camp may well find success, it seems that companies are on the lookout for some combination of both. In other words, graduates should be equipped with not just the qualifications, but also the necessary soft skills to enter the labour market. These soft skills have traditionally been viewed by many in the HE sector as superfluous, but for hiring companies, they round-off the graduate package, and this is where the universities seem to be lacking.

The survey also found that almost half of graduates felt ill-prepared for the world of work, meaning students do not feel employable. Needless to say this is not what they had in mind when starting their degree course. A gap between expectations and reality has emerged, and since expectations are seemingly increasing, in many cases so may the disappointment.

But how can this problem be alleviated? Might more information provision from the university about the labour market ease the transition from student to worker, since 87% of graduates stated that they would like more careers advice? Furthermore, given that 63% of alumni stated that their institution could do better in communicating with them, perhaps improved contact between student and institution post-study is the key. Not only could this benefit the student through continued career support, but it would allow universities to keep tabs on their alumni into the early years of the student’s career.

Archie Pollock – ELM team

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