Better Job Prospects for Year 2014 Graduates

Finally, the month of February is showing some love to the graduating class of 2014.  This “love” comes in the form of prospects, job prospects to be exact.  Word had spread that this year’s job prospects have soared a bit higher, taking aim for more graduates.

The poll has been conducted by the Association of Graduate Recruiters or AGR.  Its chief executive, Stephen Isherwood, considered its findings as “welcome news.”  Using an online survey, which covered 200 employers, the following forecast had surfaced:

…an expected 10.2 per cent rise in vacancies for graduates – with 23,000 jobs on offer.

The observed increase in recruitment began with the following industries: consumer goods, retail, business goods, logistics, and the industrial sector.  On the other hand, top recruiters came from the accountancy service (12.2 per cent); banking and finance (15.7 per cent); energy and utility (17.5 per cent); public sector (20.1 per cent); and the IT and telecommunications (40.3 per cent).

The 10.2 per cent rise is, indeed, a giant leap against last year’s 4.3 per cent.

Dynamic workforce

Another encountered trend in the poll is the employers’ increasing proclivity towards a more dynamic workforce.  Proof of this inclination is the addition of school leavers for recruitment candidates.

Employers have become much receptive in carefully looking at other types of available qualifications:

from apprenticeships and higher apprenticeships to school-leaver training to professional qualifications.

Employers who have stepped up to accommodate school-leavers peaked to 54.7 per cent.  Hence, not only were jobs multiplying; so was the number of individuals being considered for any given post.

The skills tip

Isherwood, however, encouraged graduates to remain focused in their job-hunting.  He recalled the difficult recruitment afflicting employers in the midst of recession; these firms had whine over the lack of candidates having the “right mix of skills and attributes.”

Helping address this, Libby Page of The Guardian contributed a list of ten skills students must hone while at uni.  Some of these skills include the following: fostering a “business sense” and a globalised mindset; attempting to become bi- or multilingual; as well as, maintaining a “squeaky clean digital footprint.”

Also, students must start to focus on office etiquette, as even being able to “make a good cuppa” for fellow employees create top brownie points.  Students’ computer savvy skills made it into Libby’s list, as are teamwork, communication, and overt positive attitude.

Hiring talents

Recruiters are also not freed of any duties.  Apart from considering wide-ranging qualifications, Lucy Beaumont of Talent Q implied the necessity of tuning well to the candidate’s potential.  Furthermore, companies must ensure that its hired talents maintain a good working experience (“regardless of the outcome”) to avoid from setting out off-putting feedbacks of which largely impacts the company’s recruitment efforts.

Indeed, this uplifting news is guaranteed to make the funds or loans invested in education and work placement worth it.  Continuing students, on the other hand, must continue to do hard work with their studies and work placements.  Now is not the time to be complacent; it is the age of engagement at all fronts.

What qualifications did you have to collect to be able to stand a chance against other graduate-candidates?