Recruiters in the charity and public sectors could benefit from the growing number of graduates who have missed out on their top job, it has been claimed.
Chris Morrall, managing director at Talent Transitions, many university students who finish in 2010 will find their favoured jobs in training schemes have already been taken.
He said the graduate market is almost 45 per cent down with the larger enterprises.
“Recruitment for graduates in the public sector and charities is down but still buoyant,” he added.
Mr Morrall also stated that recruiters are leaning towards people with more interests outside of work. He claimed students are working harder to get firsts or a 2.1, but “they are not developing personal skills”.
“I’ve assessed some great people with a great degree, but with limited personal skills,” he explained.
His comments come after the Association of Graduate Recruiters’ latest confidence snapshot survey found HR workers are predicting a 5.4 per cent fall in the number of graduate jobs for 2009.
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Chris makes a great point. Now is definitely the time for the 3rd Sector to be recruiting from a far richer pool of new graduates than ever before!
But two points, perhaps?
First, I wouldn’t want to be too dismissive of new graduates’ ‘people skills’. Having been involved in graduate recruitment and talent management in the private sector for the last 30 years, I personally find more recent graduates’ inter-personal skills vastly improved in recent times.
Secondly, with two recently-graduated daughters hunting for employment right now, I am very conscious that the prime concern for many in their position is not so much ‘useful experience’ in such a competitive job market (for which many read as ‘Jam tomorrow, never today’), but rather first, an immediate, survivable income.
Can I possibly ask all responsible recruiters to keep this in mind?
I am well aware that great work-experience can be invaluable for any young person, but at the moment I find many just need to be able to pay their way and don’t always have the luxury of picking a job that ‘only’ offers experience with no income.
Sincerely
Jeremy