Employers bemoaning graduates and their lack of understanding of the workplace should provide work experience placements for students to help them develop the skills they claim are lacking.
Speaking at the Enhancing Employability, Recognising Diversity conference, run by Universities UK and CSU, the Higher Education Careers Services Unit, Liz Rhodes, director of the National Council for Work Experience said:
It seems crystal clear to me that if businesses want graduates to have all the competencies they say they want, they must come forward in larger numbers to offer placement opportunities and other forms of work experience opportunities.
It is through those opportunities that students begin to gain the skills required for the working world. It is a classic chicken and egg situation and which we must move on from.
The aim of the one-day conference is to highlight the role of higher education, in collaboration with employers, in enhancing graduate employability and to launch the joint Universities UK and CSU report on Employability and Diversity.
NCWE works to promote, encourage and support the development of all forms of quality work experience and work-related learning for the benefit of students and employers. In line with the report> ''> s recommendations, Liz Rhodes outlined the activities currently underway to try and bring about a better understanding between all three sides of the work experience debate - employers, higher education institutions and students.
This includes a comprehensive website
(www.work-experience.org), workshops and a forthcoming campaign to make employers more aware of what students can offer them. In addition a number of initiatives will be introduced to recognise the achievements of employers who do offer quality work experience, including an awards scheme, due to be launched in the autumn.
Said Liz Rhodes: The demand for work experience opportunities is rapidly growing - the supply side is not. Twenty to twenty-five years ago this wasn''t an issue because there were fewer graduates and they went into companies and organisations where there were training courses. We all know this doesn''t happen much now, least of all in SMEs, who need graduates to bring in new ideas and move the business forward.
NCWE recently estimated that over half a million students will descend upon UK businesses looking for work experience this summer alone and employers who don''t make the most of this valuable seasonal resource are really missing a trick.
Liz Rhodes explains: All companies, and small to medium size enterprises in particular, have ideas and projects which fail to mature due to both time and personnel constraints. Summer work experience students provide the perfect resource to tackle such projects, or free up a permanent member of staff to progress them.
Developing IT systems, creating web sites, undertaking market research, writing new software and designing databases are just some of the projects that students can manage. They can also provide access to university resources and bring knowledge of new technologies which might otherwise pass the company by.
In addition, taking on work experience students can save companies both time and money, as Mike Hill, chief executive of CSU, the higher education Careers Services Unit explains:
On many occasions companies go on to offer permanent jobs to work experience students after they graduate. This not only saves on the time and costs associated with recruitment, but also helps retention as having completed the work placement both the employer and employee know what to expect.
For full details on all aspects of work experience, employers should visit the NCWE web site at
HELP GRADUATES PREPARE FOR THE WORKPLACE
Business must put its money where its mouth is and provide work experience for students, says work experience chief.
