Two-thirds of Employers Plan to Hire University Graduates in 2012

As the university year draws to a close, a promising new survey, from CareerBuilder.co.uk, shows university graduates can expect up to 20% higher starting salaries than they did in 2011. Finding that dream role could be less demanding too with 17% of employers saying they are planning to recruit more graduates this year than last.

Six in ten employers are planning to hire new graduates this year and more than half (53% ) plan to hire up to 10 graduates while 29% are planning on taking on 11 to 50.

“It is encouraging to see that the majority of employers plan to add recent university graduates to their companies this year,” said Tony Roy, President of CareerBuilder EMEA.

“Employers across the UK are placing a strong emphasis on recruiting fresh talent for positions designed to drive revenue – and in certain areas — they’re willing to pay more for high-skill, educated labour.”

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The online job site surveyed 100 employers across the UK and companies that are particularly keen to recruit recent university graduates include Information Technology (37%), Sales (28%), Business Development (27%) and Marketing (25%).

Employers are looking for a variety of skills from recent university graduates but strong written and verbal communications top the list with 65% of employers looking for these followed by technical skills (42%) and Math skills(40%).

Tony Roy has some top tips to share with new graduates:

• You may have more experience than you realise – While recent university grads are likely to highlight internships and part-time jobs on their CVs, they may not know that many employers will consider course work (43 %), managing activities in university clubs and societies (42%), volunteer work (40%) and part-time work in another area or field (40%) as relevant experience.

• Make social media your friend, not foe – One in ten employers (13%) would also consider social media (personal or school-related blogs, social networking pages) to qualify as relevant experience. However, before you start to apply for positions, remove any photos, content and links that can work against you in an employer’s eyes.

• Be respectful of the interviewer’s time – More than half of employers (57%) reported that the recent university graduate acted bored during the interview while nearly half (48%) said the graduate came to the interview with no questions about the company. Forty-two per cent of employers reported a recent university graduate did not turn his/her mobile phone off during a job interview. It’s important to show enthusiasm for the job, arrive prepared and leave the mobile phone at home.