A great article in the Times on 12th october – ‘Forget number crunching. Realise the dream’ written by Roger Mavity CEO of Conran Holdings – caught my attention last week. He makes the point that we as a nation have become obsessed with analysis and numbers to support any and all our decisions, we do everything we can to avoid risk so much so that we stifle imagination and creativity. Yet we also know that the greatest achievements have come from ‘wild’ ideas and a belief in them from an individual with real belief in them. He cites the designer of the iPod, Jonathan Eve, and that Steve Jobs at Apple just recognised something great and ran with it rather than measure it to death before he did anything with it.  We are too lead by control-obsessed people (you only have to look at our current Prime Minister) lacking in big ideas and vision to see this – to grow, to develop, to innovate (and to get out of this recession fast!) we need dreamers, we need visionaries, we need risk takers and we need companies to give their people the space, freedom and trust to do exactly that.

At a recent event I attended hosted by TMP we were told,quire rightly, that companies need to give students the opportunities to experience the skills they need for the world of work and the values of an organisation “in action”, so they can really understand what is required.

For the really forward looking companies, who genuinely want to win the competition for talent, they need to find ways to see students demonstrating their skills and values far earlier than at assessment days. So we need to take this one step forward and give students the opportunity to demonstrate those skills so, as employers, we can see them. The obvious route is through internships and placements but that will never give companies exposure to enough students, hence the rise of on campus competitions and challenges, such as L’Oreals Brandstorm; Npower’s  Energy Challenge or the UBS Challenge (for 1st Years). But these are just one way, others include working with Society Committees; involvement in the curriculum, the list goes on..

And for students the message is, get involved in activities where employers can actually ’see’ your skills in action, like those mentioned above, do this and you will stand out far ahead of and in advance of the hordes of unaware students!

Two new universities have topped what is essentially the ‘employability league table’ – RGU (Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen) and Edinburgh Napier - with only 2.1% & 3.2% respectively of last year’s graduates out of work six months after qualifying - ”Employability is not a dirty word here,” says Jenny Rees, Napier’s vice-principal for customer services - whereas the more traditional Universities  have suffered. The UK average of  5.8% being  unemployed 6 months after leaving University in 2007 has risen to 8.4% in 2008. 

Skills matter, broad experience makes a difference and knowing how to sell yourself counts!

Just look at what this graduate did!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1210698/Square-deal-Unemployed-graduate-offered-job-displaying-giant-CV-4th-plinth.html

A recent article in the AGR Magazine ‘The Graduate Recruiter’ written by Tom Freeman of The Sanctuary Group discussed the issue of peer2peer networking. It works, he states, as it reaches beyond those accessed by traditional media – getting to the 90% who don’t go to careers fairs and presentations – it is ‘unthreatening’ to students, and the information circulated (this has to be clearly communicated by the employer to these network influencers) has credibility as it comes from students peers.

He goes onto say that the key to harnessing this tool is ‘campus networks’ as the success of peer2peer networking is driven by the size of the network, the extent of it’s connections, it’s talent and it’s proactivity. So the advice is – and I agree with it – develop such networks. But this will take time and be expensive so my extra advice would be, to make life easier, tap into those already in place (like Bright Futures, well I had to plug it a bit!)

A recent article I was sent from the Australian Press through www.hrdaily.com.au included an interview with training specialist Josh Mackenzie  who said: “Today’s graduates face different pressures to those of previous years, with business restructuring removing their ability to manage or predict their career paths – they no longer know if their job will exist in three years, or even if they’ll be offered a permanent role at the end of their program and the new challenge of working with managers who are also under pressure. ”

He suggests that to help grads and their managers through uncertain times, HR should set up focused mentoring sessions with older people in the organisation, “who have been through two or three major downturns in their working life and have come out on top”.
This strikes me as a great, simple idea, that is easy to do and shows graduates that companies can be honest with them, recognise the challenges ahead and want to help their graduates come out on top – which is good for the graduates and of course for the organisation   & a great way to retain them once the upturn comes. 
He says: “I haven’t seen a lot of that happening, but I think it’s particularly important.”  That sounds like an opportunity to me….!

Alan Milburn’s much reported recent study on widening access to high-status jobs does not make enough of a key point (aspiration) and picks on well worn paths such as further widening access into HE. But withoutthe aspirational influencers within HE (of which there is a huge lack) there is a risk of creating more disappointed graduates. So it is what happens to them once in HE that needs more focus.

My experience is that what students need is more encouragement and inspiration – they know what high status jobs are available and out there. Today’s generation, more than ever, have huge levels of confidence, what they need to be be told is that you can do whatever you really set your mind to and then show them what they need to to i.e. how to make their dreams and aspirations happen. We as a nation are too guilty of setting aspirations too low for fear of failure – our traditional attitude as a nation is better to have not failed than to try at all.

But we will miss a huge opportunity as a country if we do not take today’s generation of young people’s confidence and say to them ‘yes you can’ and show them how to get there; hook them into networks that can support them and bring them into contact with the right people, like the Bright Futures Society that I run,  because like it or not who you know will always matter.

I heard a great expression from a Head of Careers this week at a ‘less prestigious’ University who sees her role for her students as being a ‘pushy parent’ and I think that is a great attitude to take. The aspirations are there in our students – it’s why they go to University – they just need more people, within and outside HE,  fighting their corner and critically with real ambition.

Listening to alot of the media at the moment on how tough it is for graduates to get a job, I feel alot of sympathy for them. But something else strikes me about this whole debate which is the implication that being a graduate makes getting a good job a ‘given’ or indeed easy. This may have been the case decades ago and in the crazy boom times but it is just not realistic.

The boom times have made us forget a simple truth about life which is there is no easy route to success and the more you put in the more you get out. Getting a degree is just the start of the journey to success not the final step to it. 

Listening to some graduates being interviewed who have just make half a dozen applications, not got a job and got down about it – sums up my point. Or thinking that doing a post graduate qualification will walk them into a great job – is just folly & an expensive one at that!

Getting a graduate job today and for the future will require a degree yes, but also real tenacity when applying i.e. getting loads of rejections,plus one other key element…

The way to truly maximise graduates job chances lies in doing lots of ‘foundation building ‘ work in the early years at University before graduation by which time, if little has been done,  it is often too late. That ‘foundation building’ involves getting broad ranges of work experience, from the very menial to highly relevant;  getting actively involved in student Societies (i.e. not just being a member and never taking part) & volunteering; building a network of contacts in the world of work; taking the time to find out & learn what you want to do as a career; in other words developing yourself to be much more than ‘just a graduate’.

The world gives to those who give. You reap what you sow. And to continue the analogy in the increasingly competitive world where the world has been so heavily ‘farmed’, the seeds that where sown in the past to yield fruit no longer do; you have to sow more and better seed.  

Put the ‘foundation work’ in during the University years and successful job hunting may well appear easy to others but you will know better.

Two big events have happened in the last 10 days from either end of the political divide, that will affect HE dramatically.

Firstly, The National Union of Students have recognised, & verbalised what many have known for some time, that students are going to have to pay for their studies – although they suggest, not through the current fee structure but rather they are recommending  a ‘graduate tax’, payable at once you start earning a certain amount & rising as you earn more. Making the point that you only pay for your higher education if you then go into the world of work, otherwise it is free!   

And at the other end of the debate the Government have put Universities and Colleges into Mandelson’s new super Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.  The point here being that Universities feed business and are about innvotaion & skills (no longer education itself). Will this end the debate once and for all that education is no longer an end unto itself, but a stepping stone into the world of work? Follow this logic through and Universities will have to work much faster on their agendas for giving students the skills they need for the world of work.

In general I am in favour of this but we must not allow life at University to be all about preparing for work – University is an environment where individuals learn about themselves, and learn how to learn, I would hate to see ‘targets for skills’ becoming key drivers at University as we have done in schools - yes, students need skills but life after Univesrity is increasingly tough and competitive so let them have their fun too!

I have just read a survey funded by HEFCE that states: “Only 32% of UK students undertook an internship or work placement, compared with 87% of students in the Netherlands and 84% in France.” And yet a recent CBI report showed that “78% of businesses thought employability skills were ‘amongst the most important factors to consider when recruiting graduates’.
Everyone knows work experience is becoming more and more of a differentiator for graduates when job hunting. Yes it tough to find work in the curent climate, but Universities who are making industrial placements optional, to give both the Institution and students an easier time, are in the long run letting the student down.
Higher Education needs to send out a clear and consistent message that work experience adds to learning and helps students acheive their ambitions on leaving University faster.

There has been much talk about the Government helping this graduating year & the decrease in graduate jobs through an internship programme (including and most recently ‘The Graduate Talent Pool’)  but as so often with Government – big on talk and low on practical ‘make it happenness’. Large numbers of employers are not going to enthusiastically embrace this to go through the pain of recruiting graduate for a 8-10 week placement for two good reasons:

1. Most large recruiters already run internship programmes so have no more 8-10 week roles that would add value to the business

2. Which leaves the small and medium size companies to pick this up. Why should they, when they are under huge pressures already, go through all the pain of recruiting to have the graduates for a short time? I know we will be told that these graduates could do such a great job that you will keep them long term but employers cannot be sure of that from the outset.

So what is the solution as one is clearly needed?

Financial incentives is one – no government can keep relying on the goodwill of employers (as it seems to me that is what they are relying on) to take on these extra graduates and thus make the Government look good – especially in the current climate when Parliament is so poorly thought of.

And second an easy way to quickly and time efficiently recruit these graduates is needed. To do this genuine help / expertise / knowledge needs to be given to employers to help them spot the right talent quickly, so that rather than wading though volumes of CVs and interviews, they can access the right talent fast. And I genuinely beleive the current & all too traditional methods of doing this just will not work. For exmaples University Careers Offices are already too over stretched, online Job boards generate volume which creates the problem outlined already.

A new solution is needed which draws on other groups  and parties (including the students themselves who are all too often left out of coming up with the solution) as well as the smart use of technology. And if David Lammy or any one else from Government (by some tiny chance!!) is reading this then get in touch and I will share my ideas – but as I got the brush off recentlky from DIUS I do not hold out much hope!