Employability in 3-D

Survey emailed out to a sample of students provided by UCAS and promoted via the guardian students network, careers advisers via the guardian professional

networks and to recruiters from the AGR and the guardian’s own database

Survey conducted between 14th May and 20th June 2013

Total sample: 533 students, 98 employers, 129 careers advisers

Objectives: To find out what employability means to students, employers and careers advisers and how prepared students are for the world of work

Methodology

Employability in the news…

What is Employability?

Employability /ɪmˌplɔɪəˈbɪləti/ noun

The skills and abilities that allow you to be employed: There will no longer be jobs

for life, but employability for life. Cambridge English Dictionary

Source: Cambridge English Dictionary, Wikipedia

Employability is a set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes –

that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen

occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy. ESECT based on Yorke 2006

Employability is not just about getting a job. Conversely, just because a student is on a

vocational course does not mean that somehow employability is automatic. Employability is

more than about developing attributes, techniques or experience just to enable a student to

get a job, or to progress within a current career. It is about learning and the emphasis is less

on ‘employ’ and more on ‘ability’. In essence, the emphasis is on developing critical, reflective

abilities, with a view to empowering and enhancing the learner. Harvey 2003

What does employability mean to students?

“The qualities that employers look for in terms of skills, experience and personality - work ethic and cooperation”

“How employable someone is - measured by a certain set of skills of a high level, including social, verbal, written, analytical, numerical, and problem solving. Ideally they would also have some further education and relevant

experience”

“To me it means having the qualifications required to be employed”

…but do employers agree?

“Understanding yourself, the sector and the role you are applying for and making your case lucidly”

“Someone that may still need training, but has the necessary understanding of how businesses work, how to conduct themselves in the work place, a

willingness to get stuck in , learn and grow”

"Soft skills" are often lacking in new graduates. Graduates have often not had enough experience outside the academic world to be immediately useful

to us as an employer. Graduates who have come to us from European universities normally have much more to offer then their UK equivalents”

What skills make you more employable?

Key differences in opinion…

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

students

employers

careers advisers

Discussion Point 1…

“What are the key skills that need developing to ultimately improve

success amongst graduates, and how can they be developed?”

Employability advice & training

51% of students have used their university careers advice

service and 3% were not aware that their university offered

this service

of employers think that careers advisers aren’t doing

enough to help get students ready for employment

of students said that their careers advisory service

has been useful in supporting employability training

29%

69%

Discussion Point 2…

“The role of the Careers Advisory Service –

how can the universities improve the employability of their students by working

both with the students themselves, and employers?”

42% of students think that the responsibility for developing

employability lies with them

of employers think that the responsibility for developing

employability lies with students

of careers advisers think that the responsibility for

developing employability lies with careers advisers.

38% of them think it’s the students’ responsibility

60%

42%

Who is ultimately responsible for improving employability?

Final Discussion Point

“What can be done by each group to improve students’ understanding of

employability and ultimately to improve employment success rates?”