Global Employability Survey 2012
Results Analysis
4th July 2012
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Global Study on an Employer Brand’s Perception (for a global company in the
aerospace industry)
 What? Quantitative survey to optimise an employer’s image globally : awareness,
attractiveness, criteria in choosing an employer, communication and perception.
 Who? Business and engineering students as well as young professionals (over 3,000 responses)
 Where? Brazil, China, Germany, France, Great Britain, India, Middle East, Russia, Spain, USA
 When? Winter 2010/11
Global Market Research Project to Assess EVP Claims (for a leading
telecommunications company)
 What? Testing of potential global Employer Value Proposition claims in terms of functionality,
association and effect.
 Who? Students and professionals (4,000 responses)
 Where? Brazil, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, USA and 13 European countries.
 When? Summer 2010
Over 500.000 people take part in a trendence survey each year!
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Agenda
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Presentation of the Global Employability Survey
The level of graduates‘ skills
Areas of improvement for better graduates
The necessary qualities for long term employability
Integration programmes: compensating and
complementing universities
The role of universities to improve long term
employability
Criteria to judge the quality of universities
Countries with the best graduates
Key findings
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Survey Background
The Global Employability Survey is an online survey conducted amongst recruiters
in 20 countries worldwide with the objective of determining what makes the ideal
graduate on a longer term.
The survey focuses on the following
subjects:
 What qualities should the ideal graduate
have?
 What qualities make a graduate more
employable in the long run?
 Which universities produce the best
graduates in the world?
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Survey Methodology
The field phase took place from May 18th to June 7th 2012.
Over 2,500 respondents from 20 countries participated in the online survey.
The survey covered the following countries:
Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France,
Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia,
Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore,
South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and
the USA.
Selected participants matched the following
criteria:
 Experience in the recruitment and
selection of Bachelor/Masters graduates
and young professionals
 Recruiting primarily corporate/business
profiles
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Global Employability Survey 2012 - countries
»
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How skilled are today‘s graduates?
Well trained
10
Question: Generally speaking, do you think graduates in
your country are well-trained (1: badly trained, 10: well
trained)?
9
8
7.20
7
6.20
5.60
6
5
4
3
2
1
Badly trained
Knowledge (theoretical
knowledge/ expertise)
Know-how (hands-on
skills)
Personality
(interpersonal skills,
attitude)
According to recruiters around the world, the know-how and
personality skills of graduates are barely above average…
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How skilled are today‘s graduates?
10
Well
trained
Questions:
-Generally speaking, do you think
graduates in your country are welltrained (1: badly trained, 10: well
trained)?
-In your experience, would you say
that graduates entering the world
of work today are better or worse
than in the past?
9
8
Knowledge
7
Personality
Know-how
6
5
4
3
2
Badly
trained
-2.0
Not as good
as in the past
-1.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
Better than
in the past
…and have not improved much in the last five years.
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Areas of improvement: Recruiters confirm the need for better
professional experience
Professional experience, practical know-how
30.5%
Social skills/ communication/ team work abilities
26.1%
Maturity/ self-confidence/ ability to take criticism
23.6%
Common sense/ practical thinking
21.0%
Adaptability to working environment
20.8%
Motivation/ positive attitude
19.7%
Written and verbal skills
19.6%
Willingness and ability to learn
Question: What are, in your
opinion, the biggest areas of
improvement for graduates
from your country? (3 max.)
17.8%
Foreign language skills
17.2%
Flexibility/ open-mindedness
16.9%
Organisation/ management/ self-management
16.1%
Business awareness/ market knowledge
15.8%
General culture knowledge
12.4%
Clear career goals
10.2%
Theoretical/ technical knowledge
9.0%
Experience abroad
8.4%
Extra-curricular activities during studies
5.6%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Professional experience and interpersonal skills are the
biggest areas of improvement for graduates.
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Adaptability and communication skills and the most important
qualities for a graduate‘s long term employability
Adaptability
1.40
Communication skills
1.40
Ability to work in a team
1.30
Flexibility
1.30
Motivation
1.30
1.20
Ability to work under pressure
Leadership qualities
-2
I do not agree
Question: In my view, it is
important for the long term
employability of graduates
that they have the following
qualities (-2: I do not agree,
+2: I agree)
0.90
+2
I agree
The ability to work in a team is considered more important on
the long run than leadership qualities.
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Integration programmes: a transition into working life
More than half (56.6%) of recruiters agree that university graduates can and must immediately be operational in a
company, but “certain things can only be learned through practice”.
Question: Does your
company have an
integration
programme for
graduates?
No 44.1%
Question: Which skills of the graduates is your
integration programme meant to improve?
Yes 55.9%
70%
63.3%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
18.5%
18.3%
10%
0%
Knowledge
(theoretical
knowledge/ expertise)
Know-how (hands-on
skills)
Personality
(interpersonal skills,
attitude)
Recruiters use integration programmes to compensate
graduates‘ lack of professional experience.
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Interpersonal qualities to improve with integration programmes
70%
66.0%
64.9%
60%
Question: Which
interpersonal qualities is
your integration
programme meant to
improve?
50%
49.4%
47.5%
46.3%
42.5%
40%
37.5%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Personality
18.3%
Communication and teamwork ability skills
are the main interpersonal skills objectives of
integration programmes.
Knowledge
18.5%
Know-how
63.3%
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Universities can help students improve their skills on the long run
Internships in companies during studies
1.30
Practical work and simulation exercises
1.20
Short/ long work experience as part of education
1.20
Teaching relevant work-connected learning
Question: How can universities
in your view help students
improve and adapt their skills
throughout their career? (-2: I
do not agree, +2: I agree)
1.10
Group projects/ team work
1.00
Project-based work/ case studies
1.00
Workshops on soft skill topics
1.00
Career advice
0.80
Focus on new media and IT skills
0.80
Exchange programs
0.70
Giving credit points for work etc.
0.70
Group coaching
0.70
Individual coaching
0.70
Offer language courses
0.70
Theoretical courses on behavioural codes in companies
0.70
-2
I do not agree
+2
I agree
Recruiters: Most of all, measures to increase graduates‘ work
experience are the best to improve their skills on the long run.
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On the basis of your past experience in
recruitment
1.50
Quality of teaching staff and research
1.50
University's image/ reputation
International exposure
Question: On the basis of
which criteria do you judge the
quality of a university? (-3: less
important, +3: very important)
Rankings
-3
Less important
1.10
0.80
STAFF AND RESEARCH
1.50
PAST EXPERIENCE
Links with companies/ practical dimension of
the teaching
LINKS WITH COMPANIES
What makes up the quality of a university?
0.80
+3
Very important
Recruiters: Connection with the world of business, past
experience with graduates and the quality of the staff are the
three pillars for judging the quality of a university.
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Where do the best graduates come from?
40%
35%
30%
34.9%
31.5%
29.0%
25%
20%
15%
18.5%
Question: Based on your
experience, which of these
countries (apart from your
own) produce the best
graduates? (3 max.)
13.3%
13.2%
12.8%
12.5%
11.3%
8.9%
10%
Under 8.9%: Singapore, Sweden, The
Netherlands, Spain, South Korea, Brazil,
Russia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico.
5%
0%
2012 2012
Global
2011 2010
Global
The UK has passed the USA as the countries producing the
best graduates, according the recruiters.
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Key findings
Graduates
 Theoretical knowledge has increased among graduates but interpersonal
skills and professional experience are barely above average: professional
experience and interpersonal skills (social skills, communication, team work
abilities) are the biggest areas of improvement.
Recruiters place value in adaptability and communication skills to determine
a graduate’s long term employability. Moreover, team work ability is preferred
to leadership qualities.
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Key findings
Recruiters
 Integration programmes help most recruiters compensate the graduates’
lack of professional experience.
In terms of interpersonal skills, the improvement of key qualities such as
communication skills and the ability to work in a team are the main objectives
of integration programmes.
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Key findings
Universities
 Universities have their role in guaranteeing the long term employability of
their graduates: Giving their graduates professional experience through
internships and practical exercises for instance is the priority according to
recruiters.
For recruiters, connection with the world of business, past experience with
graduates and the quality of the staff are the three pillars for judging the
quality of a university. However, prestige still plays a role in determining
university rankings.
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Key findings
Country specifics
 Brazilian recruiters are the most satisfied with the interpersonal skills of
their country’s graduates, but the Japanese are the least satisfied (they
consider their graduates’ level under average and worse than 5 years ago).
 Professional experience is the graduates’ biggest area of improvement for
German and Swiss recruiters. Interpersonal skills (social skills/
communication/ team work abilities) need to be improved the most in China.
 Spanish recruiters are the most demanding in terms of internationality:
Spain is the country where foreign language skills and experience abroad are
the biggest areas of improvement compared to other countries.
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Contact:
Maxence Faas
Account Manager
maxence.faas@trendence.com
+49 30 2592988 202
trendence Institut GmbH
Markgrafenstrasse 62
10969 Berlin