New graduates from the region’s five universities are facing a daunting task this summer as they enter the crowded jobs market and try to get a foot on the career ladder. Karen Dent finds out about some of the schemes trying to help young talent.
GRADUATES with little or no experience of the workplace can expect a tough task finding employment this summer.
The recession has forced many companies to slash their graduate recruitment programmes and those entering the jobs market will also find themselves competing against people who have been made redundant.
Crucially, many of those competitors will have just as many qualifications plus the relevant work experience employers are looking for.
This year’s crop of graduates – nationally, 300,000 people will graduate from the UK’s 168 higher education institutions – can no longer rely on stunning exam results and a good interview technique.
“It is extremely hard for graduates,” said Jo Lennon from business development company Entrust – the trading name of the Tyne & Wear Enterprise Trust – which works with smaller firms and graduates.
“There are a lot more people graduating now. They should prepare with work experience as it gives added value. They should ideally show they have been doing something like voluntary or charity work, which helps with team work and planning projects.
“Motivated graduates are what employers want to see.”
Entrust runs the Graduates for Business service, which aims to encourage people to look at opportunities within small and medium-sized companies rather than automatically plumping for the multinationals.
The scheme has signed up more than 1,000 graduates in the last six months and currently has more than 80 graduate-level vacancies on its books.
Graduates for Business helps firms through the recruitment process by offering guidance on shortlisting, interviews, mentoring and, in some cases, it can provide financial support to qualifying businesses.
This Friday, Entrust is also running the Get Hired 09 recruitment event at the Centre for Life in Newcastle, which will be addressed by former Apprentice candidate Claire Young, who appeared on the BBC TV show last year.
Ms Lennon said: “A lot of the blue chips aren’t doing their graduate recruitment or are scaling it down.
“We have already contacted small businesses in the North East and more than 500 have said recruitment is on hold.
“A lot of graduates don’t know what to expect. We have had a few who have started work and then been made redundant so we are trying to get them back into employment.”
Work experience of any kind is absolutely crucial, even if it is not the calibre of employment graduates expected while they were studying, Ms Lennon believes.
“A lot are leaving [university] with huge debts as well,” she said.
“Many are picking up bits and pieces and are ‘under employed’ in waitressing and weekend work in retail.
“I don’t think graduates can sit and wait for their dream job to come to them.
“Doing any kind of work will give them that extra bit on their CV. It will show time management, team working and leadership skills.”
While many businesses are putting recruitment on the back burner, Ms Lennon believes those that continue to take on graduates will be in a better position to take advantage once the green shoots of recovery begin to show.
“Those that are not inward looking, they will be the ones that accelerate out of the recession and hit the ground running,” she said.
FACTFILE
300,000 students will graduate from 168 higher education institutions across the UK this summer.
More than 500 of the region’s SMEs have put their recruitment plans on hold.
190 have made redundancies.
Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) suggests a third of firms have cut graduate recruitment in 2009.
CLAIRE Maskey left Sunderland University last summer with a degree in accountancy and computing, but struggled to find a job that would utilise her skills.
Although she still had the same job she had held down while a student, she was unable to secure a ‘career’ post relevant to her degree.
On advice from a friend, she registered with Entrust’s Graduates for Business Scheme and within a month, she had her first interview for what is now her permanent role at Ellmac in Newcastle.
She said: “I started looking for jobs but couldn’t find anything that suited me. My friend recommended Graduates for Business because she’d got her job through them.
“I registered and got an initial telephone interview to see what sort of jobs I was looking for.
“They then sent through jobs they thought would suit me.”
Her post as office co-ordinator at Ellmac, an organisational development and training company specialising in the growth of small to medium enterprises, was advertised through the scheme.
Ms Maskey said: “They’ll help you do your CV and give feedback. I’ve been recommending it to my friends who are graduating this year.”
And she is delighted with her role in the small company.
“It’s excellent,” she said. “I get to use my accountancy skills every day and I’m starting to use the computing side of my degree by taking over development of the website.”
CASE STUDY: THE GRADUATE
