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What Employers want and what Students say …on employability

What Employers want and what Students say …on employability. Dr Sheena Murphy, Department of Computing & Mathematics. Background to Future Fit.

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What Employers want and what Students say …on employability

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  1. What Employers want and what Students say …on employability Dr Sheena Murphy, Department of Computing & Mathematics

  2. Background to Future Fit A UUK/CBI partnership established a Task Force to explore what business wants from higher education, how business and universities can best work together and how the sector should be funded to achieve this. The Future Fit report forms part of the work of the Task Force, with a final report due later in 2009. A survey of 581 employers collectively employing over 2.5 million people 8% of the total workforce A survey of 880 students at 20 universities A survey of 80 HEIs Other relevant reports include: Employability Skills Explored published by the LSN 2008, & Pulling Through Employment Trends Survey, CBI 2008

  3. What Employers Want What should universities prioritise in terms of undergraduates? 82% improve their employability skills 60% Work with employers to provide more work experience placements Source: Future Fit, Preparing graduates for the world of work 2009, Exhibit 1, p21.

  4. Graduate Awareness of Business “Most students feel that they are gaining employability skills & feel their course is an effective means to achieve this, there is a strong and often unmet demand for specific programmes to address employability and internships/placements”1 74% of companies who have university links do so to provide work experience placements for graduates (FutureFit 2009) 40% of employers consider the level of business, non-technical & interpersonal skills of new recruits to be below company requirements (Pulling Through Employment Trends Survey 2008) 35% employer dissatisfaction in terms of graduate awareness of business and customer issues (FutureFit 2009) 18% of students believe they fully develop their business and customer awareness skills during their time at university. This is consistent with the message coming from business(FutureFit 2009) 1: Future Fit, Preparing graduates for the world of work 2009,

  5. Learning Opportunities Graduate Talent Pool is the new Government internship matching service Other opportunities available to graduates include: Around 14,000 additional postgraduate places - supported by 30,000 extra Career Development Loans next year 250 short term placements through Mini Knowledge Transfer partnerships, rising to 500 in 2010/11 Volunteering options available through "V", an organisation aimed at young people between 16-25, and other voluntary organisations and 500 teach first opportunities in 2009, up 130 from 2008

  6. What Students Say Proportion of students who had undertaken a programme finding it very useful 78% an internship/placement 66% work experience (1 month or less) Sandwich year as part of my course 63% Source: Future Fit, Preparing graduates for the world of work 2009, Exhibit 7, p24.

  7. Student Voices The importance of real world problem solving “At University you learn how to do things the ‘right way’, the ideal way, the way it should be done, but in the real world, you can’t always apply a ‘text-book’ approach to problem solving” “Real world problems are often difficult to solve, and you need to try a variety of approaches to find the most suitable solution” “It’s great practical experience and you can only get this experience if you go out on placement”

  8. Student Voices What you learn is real world project management “After working 35 hours for 44 weeks on projects I got the best project management training I could have wished for. I went straight into my final year project, knowing how to write a terms of reference, and knowing what was expected in the design and development of my system. “I am now doing a PhD, because I learnt that research was what I wanted to do whilst on placement” “My placement prepared me for my final year and for my research project. My placement has had a great deal to do with my success”

  9. Final Remarks Structured work experience through placements and internships are regarded by both students and employers as one of the best ways to develop business and customer awareness There is student demand for programmes that develop skills for employability In times of economic downturn students need more support in meeting employer demands. Individual support is the most effective but most resource intensive

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