We've talked on the studentswapshop blog about using your spare time smartly to try and get that all important work experience, be it a full gap year or work over the summer and it seems the CBI agrees with us. According to a recent report by the CBI and Universities UK, more than three-quarters of employers consider work employability skills essential when recruiting graduates.
CBI Director-General Richard Lambert claims it is vital students gain employability skills and experience of the workplace while at university so they are better equipped to compete in the increasingly tough jobs market after graduation.
He also said "Of course businesses don’t expect graduates to arrive on day one fully trained, but what they do value in graduates are their people skills, a focus on the customer and a keenness to solve problems."
Richard Lambert goes onto say: "Universities and business must do more to meet the pent up demand that exists among students for doing work placements and internships during a degree, and developing the skills they know will be vital in getting a good job after graduation. There’s no substitute for experience gained directly on the job and offering placements can be a cost effective route to recruitment."
The good news if you're looking for a graduate job is 7 in 10 firms do not specify degree subject for their graduate jobs and a whopping 84 percent do not consider the university attended as being a key influence.
Here at studentswapshop we think companies are starting to behave a bit like banks. Just as the banks are behaving badly by taking government help but not starting to lend again employers through all sectors are claiming that they want graduates to have work experience before taking them but making graduates one of the first areas they cut back on.
Isn't the answer to employers' dilemmas simple? Take on graduates for free. Graduates get work experience and employers don't increase their costs.
So it doesn't answer all the problems for students as they do need to start paying back loans etc. at some point but at least it would be a step in the right direction.
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