GRADUATE HOPE AND PROSPERITY –
Making it Happen
Carl Gilleard
Chief Executive
AGR
THE JOURNEY
From school to university
From university to work…
A FAST CHANGING WORLD
GRADUATE IN 2012 – RETIRE IN 2062
50 YEARS AGO
• No computers in the workplace
• Mobiles were unheard of
• Social networking took place in pubs and clubs
• Only explorers worked remotely
• Very few women had a career
• A career was onwards and upwards
• A job was for life
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR TODAY’S GRADUATES?
• An uncertain journey
• Constant change
• A career is like crazy paving and you lay it yourself
• Global careers will be common place
• Skills will constantly become redundant and be
replaced by new skills
TODAY – COMPLEX RANGE OF CHOICES AT 18
 Apprenticeship, job, university, year out
 If university – which and which course?
Decisions influenced by:
 Socio/economic factors
 Mass of data – KIS, NSS, league tables
 Advice and information from
 peers
 family
 teachers
 universities
 careers advisers
 employers
 social media
MAXIMISING THE RETURNS - SCHOOLS
 Financial management skills
 Independent living
 Self-directed learning
 Time management
 Reflective learning
 Employability skills
MAXIMISING THE RETURNS - STUDENTS
Avoid the “If Only I’d Known” syndrome:
 Plan and prepare for exit from day one
 Make the best use of the resources available including careers
services
 Complain if resources are inadequate
 Engage in activities to develop skills
 Build your offering
 Links to employers:
• Careers fairs and presentations
• Skills sessions
• Linked In communities
• Work placements – internships etc
Take control of your own future
MAXIMISING THE RETURNS - UNIVERSITIES
 Employability skills into the curriculum
 Well resourced careers provision
 Engage academics in supporting students
 Placement services (student and post graduation jobs)
 Links with schools and employers
 Develop enterprise culture
 Exploit the global dimension of HE
 Adopt and use the HEAR
WHAT DO GRADUATES DO? 2011/12
Degree
Retail, Catering, Waiting
and Bar Work (%)
Unemployed (%)
Environment
23.7*
8.7
Sports Science
18.2
6.8
Geography
19.0*
6.4
Law
22.1*
7.5
Sociology
24.5*
8.9
Art & Design
25.1
11.6
English
23.6*
9.0
History
23.7*
9.1
Media Studies
28.6*
12.3
Languages
19.9*
8.8
Accounting
12.1
11.5
Business & Management
14.0
10.1
HECSU
OTHER STATISTICS
 61.8% entered employment
 13.1% entered further study/training
 8.4% were working and studying
 8.6% were unemployed
 8.2% were doing other things
What do graduates do (HECSU)
PROSPECTS FOR GRADUATES
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Its tough but its been worse
73 applications chasing each graduate level job – AGR Survey 2012
Graduate employment is holding firm
Many graduates start in jobs, not careers
Debt, pressures, uncertainty
Regional variations:
 1 in 5 work in London
 1 in 3 work in London and South East
Yet – graduates are fare better in the workforce than non-graduates
GRADUATES CAN ADD REAL VALUE
 Speed to value*
 Creative destruction*
 Energy, enthusiasm*
 Able to innovate and cope with the changes innovation brings*
 Technologically savvy
 Digital natives
* “Adding value beyond measure” – Dr Anthony Hesketh (2004)
REFLECTIONS ON CAREERS PROVISIONS
 Why are some services better resourced than others?
 Is the divide between guidance and placement false?
 How do you engage the disaffected?
 When’s the best time for interventions to take place?
 Who is in charge of employability?
 Can services do more for schools?
 Guidance and social mobility?
 Guidance post graduation – is it false hope?
THE STAKES ARE HIGH
If student expectations are not met then disillusioned
graduates will negatively influence future generations who will
vote with their feet.
Neither UK plc or universities can afford for that to happen
CAREER SERVICES MUST ASSERT THEMSELVES –
THEIR TIME HAS COME
www.agr.org.uk