Employers refuse to take risks on graduates, claims leading recruiter

Employers have unrealistic expectations when it comes to recruiting graduates and “can’t break away from stereotypical moulds”, said a leading recruiter.
Tue, 22 Jul 2014 | By Nicola Sullivan
Employers have unrealistic expectations when it comes to recruiting graduates and “can’t break away from stereotypical moulds”, said a leading recruiter.

This criticism came from Rob Saltrese, a director at Streamline Connections, ahead of today’s [22 July] figures from the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), which revealed that while graduate vacancies were expected to rise by 17% this year, 23% of employers still had unfilled vacancies at the end of 2013 – a trend set to continue in 2014.

Saltrese told Recruiter: “A lot of [employers] will say that they will take on grads or those fresh out of uni, but actually when push comes to shove they don’t and they can’t.”

Employers, he said, are not prepared to take risks and many only consider graduates that have achieved a first or a 2:1 from a top university.

He said: “They [employers] are so black and white and say ‘we won’t interview [graduates] and we won’t speak to them – if they do not come with this background don’t bother sending them’.”

He added: “What’s the point of asking for market information if they think they are doing everything right. Don’t go and ask – carry on struggling and say that there’s a dearth of good people out there.”  

But technology graduates, said Saltrese, are employable, especially if they are proficient in the programming languages PHP and JavaScript.

In addition, the AGR’s bi-annual survey showed that the banking sector had the largest predicted increase (54%) for graduate vacancies. And employers from 11 of the 134 sectors featured in the research are expecting to take on more graduates this year. These include transport/logistics (29%), accountancy/professional services (24%), IT/telecommunications 24% and the public sector (19%). Only the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and energy, water and utility sectors anticipate a decrease, of 13% and 9% respectively.

Graduate jobs in the public sector would be particularly welcome, as Kate Kavanagh, public sector manager at Totaljobs, told Recruiter “87% of graduates would consider a job in the public sector”.

Kavanagh explained that since austerity measures introduced in the public sector by the coalition government, the sector has undergone a “massive transformation” and whereas before it had never had to sell itself, now the “benefits of working in the public sector” is appealing to graduates.

In a statement, Stephen Isherwood, chief executive of the AGR, said: “The rise in vacancies and salaries shown in our summer report is fantastic news for graduates, and it is encouraging to see that employers are able to invest in graduate talent in this way.

“However this doesn’t mean the job market is easy. There are still unfilled graduate vacancies as employers are not always able to find the right people, with the right knowledge, skills and attitudes, for the job. Graduates must ensure they really do their research, target their applications and ensure their CVs do them justice if they want to be in with a good chance of securing a place on a graduate scheme following university.”

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