Next yearís graduates face an uncertain future, according to research published by IRS Employment Review. Turbulence in the labour market means that graduate recruitment plans are being increasingly redrawn or scrapped.
The message from employers is mixed; three in 10 (29.6%) had to reduce their planned recruitment targets during the 2002/03 recruitment round compared to one in five the year before. One in four (23.1%), however, are able to increase their vacancy levels.
Difficulties for employers in finding suitable graduates are also reducing; just one in five believe that the quality of graduates has fallen during the past few years. And just three in 10 recruiters (31.7%) encountered difficulties in finding suitable graduates during the most recent recruitment round, 2002/03 compared to almost half the year before.
The results are published in the new issue (788) of IRS Employment Review (www.irsemploymentreview.com), published by LexisNexis IRS.
Other key findings:
-For graduates who will be employed, the median starting salary is forecast to be 19,575 in 2003/04. The average rise is 3.5%.
-In all, three in 10 (31.7%) organisations experienced difficulties in filling all their places for new graduates, and, despite their efforts to combat their recruitment problems, many were left with unfilled vacancies. Private sector services firms were worst hit, with more than three-quarters of those affected being unable to fill their quotas of new graduates.
-Just one in 20 (5.1%) of the employers surveyed agreed with the statement that ìrecruiting graduates does not represent good value for money.î
-The most effective recruitment methods, according to those with experience of using them, are campus visits (participating in the ìmilk roundî), sponsorship, national newspaper advertising and former placement students. These four methods were all chosen by at least one in four of the graduate recruiters.
-Between one in 10 and one in 20 recruiters chose a clutch of six other methods: online recruitment via an external providerís website; advertising in specialist trade or professional publications; using employment agencies; advertising in vacancy directories aimed at undergraduates and new graduates; placing local-newspaper advertisements; and advertising on the employerís own internet site.
-Online recruitment is now employersí most commonly used method of recruiting new graduates, with more than eight in 10 (83.9%) advertising vacancies on their own websites. Just over half (51.7%) conduct online recruitment via an external providerís website - often, using both methods during the same year. To counter this drawback, a few employers (just 6.9%, rising to one in six - 15.4% - among the largest organisations) have incorporated a pre-selection stage on their website. This often takes the form of an initial electronic screening questionnaire.
-Apart from using their own websites, the most prevalent recruitment methods among employers are: the use of university careers services, advertising in vacancy bulletins, accepting speculative applications, word-of-mouth recruitment and, as a separate medium, advertising on external providersí websites. These five methods are all used by more than half of all graduate recruiters.
-Almost half (45.8%) of employers that hire new graduates recruit at least some of them from among the students who had undertaken work experience with their organisation. Work experience placements are widely offered, while there are signs that fewer employers are offering sponsorship schemes. On average, three in 10 employers offer sponsorship. Almost half (47.7%) of all the graduate recruiters in the manufacturing and production sector maintain a sponsorship scheme, against just one in 20 (4.8%) companies in private sector services.
-Three-quarters (75.3%) of assessment centre users reported that this was their single best method. The dominance of assessment centres means that few other selection methods received much favourable feedback from graduate recruiters. Just over three in 10 (36.5%) employers confirmed that selection interviewing represents their most effective selection technique. No other method was cited by 10% or more of its users.
IRS Employment Review Recruitment & Retention editor, Neil Rankin said:
ìThe existence of an over-supply of new graduates alongside recruitment difficulties remains an enduring feature of the graduate recruitment scene. To give a flavour of recruitersí experience; one respondent said ëthe wrong candidates are doing the wrong degrees. Universities are offering more degrees in industries where there is not a skill shortage, and are not offering enough courses where there are shortagesí.
ìAs a rule of thumb, the more demanding and well-paid a vacancy, the more sophisticated and time-consuming will be the selection methods used by an employer to fill it. Some graduates will be lucky in the recruitment rounds of the next few months while others will still be looking for work and employers will still be searching for the right candidates.î
The full survey is published in IRS Employment Review available from customer services on 020- 8662 2000, price 30 or can be found on www.irsemploymentreview.com.
Unpredictable demand for UK graduate recruitment
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