STUDENT AND GRADUATE CAREER CONFIDENCE SURVEY - JULY 2016 · 2017. 9. 6. · CONFIDENCE SURVEY JULY 2016 5 Graduates are using much the same sources to search for graduate jobs in

STUDENT AND GRADUATE CAREER

CONFIDENCE SURVEY - JULY 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction, Methodology, Executive Summary 3The Respondents 4Anticipating The Future 6Getting A Graduate Job 8Work Experience 13Career Confidence 14The Rise Of Video 17Closing Statement 21Thoughts For The Future 21

STUDENT AND GRADUATE CAREER CONFIDENCE SURVEY JULY 2016 2

INTRODUCTION

For a fifth consecutive year The Milkround Student and Graduate Career Confidence Survey has measured the prospects today’s students and graduates hope for in the future. It delves into subjects like company brand videos and video interviews, volumes of graduate job offers, internships, and influences. It also looks at the year-on-year development of key elements such as confidence, future career concerns, and internships.

By posing these direct and all-encompassing questions straight to the students and graduates across the UK we get a unique view into what tomorrow’s workforce are experiencing today, and can therefore ensure that we are offering the best careers advice and job seeking journey we can.

METHODOLOGYOur 2016 fieldwork was carried out from 21st March until 25th April 2016. Users were asked to complete the survey via email, social media, and a post on our Milkround advice site.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Only 11% believed themselves to have had a very good understanding of university alternatives before making the decision to go to university.

87% feel that employers favour candidates from certain universities based on the university’s reputation.

25% of students and graduates who completed an internship received a job offer - 11% declined.

Work-life balance and flexibility is the most important factor when students and graduates are choosing their future career at 57%.

84% of respondents believe that face-to-face interviews are more beneficial than video interviews. The 16% that preferred video interviews claim the main reasons for this are less time spent travelling and lower costs.

59% feel optimistic about getting a job after university, however 46% are feeling pessimistic about their university debts.

The respondents’ biggest concern about their graduate job prospects is competition from candidates with more work experience (59%), and 63% say that more work experience or an internship would give them more confidence about their future job prospects.


THE RESPONDENTSOur fifth Student and Graduate Career Confidence Survey attracted a record 6,588 respondents.

WHAT IS YOUR GENDER?

WHAT AGE GROUP DO YOU FALL INTO?

The majority at 66% were female while 33% were male.

The most prominent age group at 33% was 20-21 years old at the time of participation.

8% of respondents were business and management students, with 7% studying biology and 6% studying law.

1% 1%

66%

33%FemaleMaleRather not sayOther

33%

25% 24%

18%

1%

20-21 24+ 22-23 18-19 <17

69%

8%

7%

6%5%

5%

Other Business and management studiesBiological sciencesLawPsychologyEnglish

WHAT COURSE AREA ARE YOU STUDYING/HAVE YOU STUDIED?


WHICH SOURCES DO YOU USE TO LOOK FOR GRADUATE JOBS?

59%

66%

51%50% 48%54%

46%50%

34%35% 34%37%

28% 29%25%

30%

Specialis

t gradu

ate job

sites

Generic job

sites

Compan

y webs

ites

Universit

y care

er serv

ice

Social m

edia

(Faceboo

k, Twitte

r, Linked

In, etc)

Graduat

e recru

itment fa

irs/

career

s fairs

Personal c

ontacts

Recruitm

ent agencie

s

2016

2015

25%29%

17%21%

The Times T

op 100

Graduat

e Emplo

yers

Newspa

pers/

newspa

per job

websites

WHICH STAGE ARE YOU AT IN YOUR UNIVERSITY COURSE?

I’ve gr

aduated

Final year

Mid-term

Fresher

Postgrad

uate

I’m on my in

dustrial

placem

ent year

I have

n’t star

ted unive

rsity y

et

I’m on a g

ap year

27%

22%19%

17%

10%

3%1% 1%


Graduates are using much the same sources to search for graduate jobs in 2016 as they did in 2015. While dropping a bit in popularity, specialist graduate job sites still come out on top with 59% of our respondents claiming that they use it. Generic job sites and company websites followed at 51% and 48% respectively.

Newspapers dropped 4% from last year, with only 17% of respondents saying they use them for their graduate job hunt.

DID YOU EVER CONSIDER NOT GOING TO UNIVERSITY?

72%

28%

No, I always intended to go to universityYes, I considered not going to university

BEFORE YOU MADE THE DECISION TO GO TO UNIVERSITY, WHAT LEVEL OF

UNDERSTANDING DID YOU HAVE ABOUT THE ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS TO UNIVERSITY?

The majority (31%) viewed themselves as having a medium level understanding about their options besides university, with an alarming 13% saying they had a very poor understanding of university alternatives at all.

11%

21%

31%

25%

13%

5Very good

understanding of university alternatives

4 3 2 1Very poor

understanding of university alternatives

Entry lev

el job

Apprentic

eship

Gap year /

travel

ling

Vocational o

r train

ing course

Trainees

hip

Internship

Sponsored degr

ee

26%

22%

17%

12% 12%

8%

4%

WHICH OPTION DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD HAVE PURSUED HAD YOU NOT GONE TO UNIVERSITY?


ANTICIPATING THE FUTURE

We wanted to see how the increased popularity of university alternatives is reflected in our audience, and found that they were less popular than expected.

72% of the respondents say that they always intended to go to university, and that if they had not they would have pursued entry level jobs (26%) rather than apprenticeships (22%) or vocational training courses (12%).

WHICH INDUSTRY DO YOU INTEND TO WORK IN/ARE YOU WORKING IN?

Science and research is the most popular industry of employment for our respondents at 11%, with 9% planning to or working in media and publishing.

59%

11%

9%

7%

7%7%

OtherScience & ResearchMedia & PublishingEducation & TrainingAccounting & FinanceMarketing & PR

PLEASE INDICATE HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THE FOLLOWING:

Money appears to be on students’ and graduates’ minds as university debt (46%), university fees (43%) and the economy (44%) taking the top spots on what they are feeling pessimistic towards.

They are optimistic about getting hired after graduation with getting any job scoring 59% and getting a graduate job scoring 38% optimism.

OptimisticNeutralPessimistic

59%

31%

9%

38%

39%

24%

13%

41%

46%

13%

44%

43%

9%

47%

44%

Getting a

ny job

after

universit

y

Getting a

graduate

job after

universit

y

Debt from unive

rsity

Universit

y fees

The economy

HAVE YOU STARTED THINKING ABOUT WHAT TYPE OF JOB YOU WOULD LIKE TO

APPLY FOR AFTER UNIVERSITY?

The student respondents are thinking more about what type of job they will be applying for once they graduate, with 9% more in 2016 compared to 2015.

2015

2016

51%

42%38% 40%

8%13%

2% 3% 1% 2%

A lot Somewhat Not really I’m already in a graduate job

Not at all


When we asked the currently employed graduates what their feelings on waiting times between job interview and job offer were, the general consensus seemed to land on ‘within a month.’

74% waited less than one month for an offer and 61% agreed this was an appropriate amount of time. 14% waited a full month and a whole 30% thought this was acceptable. Only 4% waited more than three months for an offer and 2% thought this was an acceptable amount of time to wait.

How long was the wait between your final interview and the eventual job oer?

How long do you feel is an acceptable amount of time to wait for a graduate job oer after the final interview?

74%

61%

14%

30%

5% 4% 4% 2%

Less than one month

One month Two months Three months More than three months

4% 2%

HOW LONG WAS THE WAIT BETWEEN YOUR FINAL INTERVIEW AND THE EVENTUAL JOB OFFER?

More than half (56%) of our graduate respondents were currently employed, with a sizable chunk at 21% still looking for a job.

14% of respondents were employed in a graduate job or scheme, and just 3% were enrolled in further education.

56%

21%

14%

6%3%

Employed

in a regu

lar job

Looking fo

r a job

Employed

in a grad

uate

job or

schem

e

Not emplo

yed /

working o

n perso

nal proje

cts

Enrolled

in further e

ducatio

n


GETTING A GRADUATE JOB

WHICH OF THESE OPTIONS BEST DESCRIBES YOUR CURRENT STATUS?

PLEASE INDICATE HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THE FOLLOWING:

The graduate talent pool feels much the same as the students, citing current salary (45%), university debt (43%) and the economy (48%) as the options they are most pessimistic about. Their future career prospects (53%) and future salary (44%) are more optimistically viewed. This mirrors last year’s findings and does not show any significant changes.

OptimisticNeutralPessimistic

53%

26%

21%

44%

35%

21%

37%

32%

31%

17%

38%

45%

Future car

eer

prospects

Future sala

ry

Your curre

nt

career

prospects

Your curre

nt salary

15%

42%

43%

9%

43%

48%

Debt from unive

rsity

The economy


WHICH BEST DESCRIBES HOW YOU ARE FEELING ABOUT YOUR CURRENT GRADUATE JOB PROSPECTS?

Despite this, the majority at 54% are feeling positive about their current graduate job prospects.

54%46% Positive

Negative


WHAT ARE YOUR BIGGEST CONCERNS ABOUT YOUR GRADUATE JOB PROSPECTS?

In our 2015 report we revealed that the biggest concern in the minds of students and graduates was competition – and this trend remains true for 2016.

While 56% cite ‘too much competition’ as opposed to last year’s 66%, 59% now see ‘competition from candidates with more work experience’ as the main issue.

59%

50%56%

66%

45% 46%

36%34% 36%33%

36%32% 30% 29%

24% 25%

Compet

ition fro

m candid

ates

with more work

exper

ience

Too much

compet

ition

Not enoug

h jobs

Employer

s expec

tation

s are to

o high

Compet

ition fro

m candid

ates w

ith a

degree

from a p

restigi

ous un

iversit

ies Low pa

y

The crite

ria is t

oo high

Short ter

m internships

replac

ing

long te

rm job

oppor

tunitie

s

2016

2015

22% 23%

7% 6%

People h

appy to

work for

very l

ittle o

r no

pay are

under

mining the jo

bs mark

et

I don’t h

ave an

y concer

ns

about m

y job p

rospec

ts

HOW DO YOU FEEL EMPLOYERS FAVOUR CANDIDATES FROM CERTAIN UNIVERSITIES?

Based on re

putation

of the u

niversit

y

Based on over

all

universit

y rankin

g

Based on unive

rsity r

anking

for a speci

fic subjec

t

Based on th

e recr

uiters b

eing

alumni of th

e unive

rsity

Based on unive

rsity c

ulture

Based on locat

ion

87%

64%

49%

30%

13% 11%

54%

46%

YesNo

DO YOU FEEL THAT EMPLOYERS FAVOUR CANDIDATES FROM CERTAIN UNIVERSITIES OVER OTHERS?

We were interested to see what opinions students and graduates have on university rankings and reputations, and what impact they have on the respondents’ career outlook.

Overall, 83% of respondents felt that employers favour candidates from certain universities over others. 87% thought this was based on the university’s reputation and 64% added that the overall university ranking played a significant role.

Only 11% thought graduate employers put a weight on the location of the university, and 13% thought university culture was important.

These findings reflect the respondents’ concerns over competition hindering them from entering the graduate career they aim for (see page 10).


HOW MANY GRADUATE JOB OFFERS HAVE YOU DECLINED?

HAVE YOU EVER DECLINED ANY GRADUATE JOB OFFERS?

So what about the graduates that receive a job offer – do they always accept the first one?

The answer is no. 18% of our respondents have declined at least one offer. 73% of this group declined only one offer while 18% declined two, and 2% declined as many as five or more!

While 18% is not the majority, it is clear that many graduates are not just accepting the first offer that comes their way, but actually taking time and ensuring that it is the right offer as well.

73%

18%

6% 2% 1%

One Two Three Five or more Four

82%

18%

NoYes

Just not ri

ght role f

or me

Salary

too low

Location wasn

't ideal

Not the r

ight in

dustry f

or me

Career

progressio

n not clea

r

I wasn

't confident in

my skill

s

Benefits not ap

pealing

40%

19%

14% 13%

8%4%

1%

WHAT WAS THE MAIN REASON YOU DECLINED THE JOB(S)?


DID YOU DO AN INTERNSHIP OR WORK EXPERIENCE WHILST AT UNIVERSITY?

Only 45% of our students and graduates had had the opportunity to carry out an internship.

75% of our respondents did not receive a job offer from the company they interned at, and 33% of them claimed that they would not have accepted the offer even if they had received one.

On the other hand, a quarter of the respondents did receive an offer and 14% of them grabbed the opportunity to secure a graduate job and accepted.

55%

45%NoYes

42%

33%

14%11%

No - I w

ould h

ave

accept

ed the o

�er

No - I w

ouldn't h

ave

accept

ed the o

�er

Yes - I a

ccepte

d the o

�er

Yes - I d

eclined

the o�er

DID YOU RECEIVE AN OFFER TO WORK FOR THIS COMPANY?

WORK EXPERIENCE

The importance of candidates having relevant and significant work experience is definitely on the rise, and we took the opportunity to ask our respondents what kind of work experience university offered them.


WAS THE COMPANY IN THE INDUSTRY THAT YOU’D LIKE TO WORK IN?

62%

38%YesNo

62% of those occurring in the industry the respondents were hoping to have a future career in.

CAREER CONFIDENCE

Confidence is essential as a fresh graduate looking to start a successful career. We aim to examine the confidence level of current students and graduates along with what they perceive has an impact on it.

HOW HAS MEDIA COVERAGE HAS IMPACTED YOUR

CONFIDENCE LEVELS IN FINDING A JOB AFTER UNIVERSITY?

31% of the respondents claim that media coverage has had no impact at all on their confidence level, while 22% say it has made them feel they won’t get hired after graduating. A very close 21% say media has made them feel that university was the right choice.

We asked what would give them more confidence and, tellingly, 63% said work experience would give them a sunnier outlook on their job prospects. 56% wanted direct contact with potential employers and 41% wanted the government to craft better policies for graduates. Only 18% wanted more positive media coverage.

31%

22% 21%

It has h

ad no im

pact

It has m

ade me fe

el that I

won’t

be abl

e to ge

t a job

after u

niversit

y

It has m

ade me fe

el that I

made th

e

right ch

oice b

y goin

g to un

iversit

y

19%

7%

It has m

ade me q

uestion

whether g

oing

to unive

rsity is

the c

orrect

choic

e

It has m

ade me fe

el that a

vocat

ion or

appren

ticeship w

ould h

ave be

en a bett

er choic

e

Work exp

erience

or an inter

nship

Direct

contact w

ith

potential

employer

s

Better

policies

for grad

uates

from go

vernment

Having a

caree

r mentor

Better

advice f

rom my unive

rsity

Financial su

pport

A qualificat

ion from a

professio

nal body

63%56%

41% 40%35% 35%

32%

Attending C

V and

intervie

w workshops

More positi

ve media c

overage

28%

18%

WHAT WOULD GIVE YOU MORE CONFIDENCE IN YOUR FUTURE JOB PROSPECTS?


WHAT’S BEEN YOUR GREATEST INFLUENCE WHEN DECIDING WHICH CAREER PATH TO CHOOSE?

Following my in

terest

s

Degree

topic

Reading jo

b descrip

tions o

nlineFam

ily

Fellow stu

dents/frie

nds

Graduate

recru

itment fa

irs/car

eer fai

rs

Talks fr

om employer

s

60%

40% 38%32%

28%

22% 19%

Graduate

recru

itment si

tes

17%

Lectures

Universit

y care

er ser

vice

Social m

edia

Industrial

placem

ent year

17% 14% 13%9%

Recruitm

ent agencie

sOther

8%4%

At 60%, ‘following my interests’ was a significant winner when it comes to the greatest influence current students and graduates had when deciding what career path to choose, followed by degree topic (40%) and reading online job descriptions (38%). Recruitment agencies and industrial placement years proved least popular with 8% and 9% respectively.

Work-life

balance

& flexibility

Training a

nd development

Job stability

High sa

lary

Fun work enviro

nment

Promotion opportu

nities

Recognitio

n

57%

47% 44%

35% 33% 33%

15%

High lev

el of re

sponsibility

Prestig

e of th

e company

11% 9%

WHICH FACTORS ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU IN YOUR CURRENT OR FUTURE ROLE?

A huge number of factors and influences play a role when you are trying to figure out what career is right for you. 57% of our respondents show that they value their personal life, marking work-life balance and flexibility as the most important factor to them when choosing a job role.

Almost half (47%) valued training and development, with 44% wanting job stability. Only 9% of the respondents were impacted by the prestige of the company and 11% wanted a high level of responsibility.


WOULD YOU EXPECT TO BE ASSESSED ON YOUR RESILIENCE

WHEN APPLYING FOR A JOB?

SHOULD MENTAL TOUGHNESS BE FACTORED INTO THE SUITABILITY

OF AN APPLICANT FOR A JOB?

Nearly three quarters (73%) claimed that they did expect to be assessed on their resilience during the application process.

64% thought that resilience should be a factor when employers are deciding on applicants’ suitability.

73%

27%

YesNo

64%

36%

YesNo

94%

6%

Complete the assessmentDecline the assessment

IF YOU WERE ASKED TO TAKE PART IN AN ASSESSMENT OF YOUR MENTAL TOUGHNESS AS PART OF YOUR APPLICATION FOR A JOB,

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF NOT COMPLETING THE ASSESSMENT MEANT YOUR APPLICATION WOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED?

When asked whether they would take part in a resilience assessment, assuming declining would mean that their application was denied, a whole 94% would complete the assessment in order to remain in the running.


Resilience, or mental toughness, is a hot topic among recruiters at the moment. We asked our respondents what their feelings were on this and whether they thought it is fair for employers to ask for evidence of candidates’ mental toughness.

HAVE YOU WATCHED VIDEOS MADE BY COMPANIES TO PROMOTE

THEIR JOB OPPORTUNITIES?

Nearly half (43%) of our respondents have watched company videos that are aimed to promote job opportunities.

58%

42%NoYes

WHICH STATEMENT BEST DESCRIBES WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT COMPANY VIDEOS?

THE RISE OF VIDEOVideo is rapidly becoming a staple for companies who are realising the countless possibilities of the medium.


‘They give a good general introduction

of the company.’

‘I prefer viewing/watching the same information than

reading it.’

‘They tend to over simplify the situation

and paint a glossy picture.’

‘It makes me feel involved when watching a

company’s video.’

25% of the respondents said it helped them decide which company they want to work for.

SOME RESPONDENTS’ COMMENTS ON COMPANY VIDEOS INCLUDED:

WHAT ACTIONS ARE YOU LIKELY TO TAKE AFTER WATCHING AN EMPLOYER BRAND VIDEO?

WHEN WATCHING AN EMPLOYER BRAND VIDEO, WHAT TOPICS WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE COVERED?

A huge 80% of respondents said that they are likely to visit a company’s website after watching their brand video. Almost a quarter (22%) would submit a job application to the company in question.

What students and graduates most want from companies’ brand videos is what a typical day might look like, i.e. catching a glimpse of what their career might be like were they to join the company. Others wanted a view of training offered (65%) and the company culture (61%). Interestingly, only 17% wanted to watch a message from a senior manager or CEO.

80%

26% 22%

Visit th

e com

pany w

ebsite

Talk to

friends

or

family

about t

he com

pany

Submit a

job ap

plicatio

n

2% 5%

Share th

e vide

o on so

cial m

edia

Other

Typical day

Training o

�ered

The company c

ulture

Graduate

jobs avai

lable

The plac

e of w

ork

Views fr

om di�erent

departments

Message

from a

senior m

anager/C

EO Other

67% 65%61% 61%

47%

36%

17%

3%


75%

25%

NoYes

HAVE YOU EVER TAKEN PART IN A VIDEO INTERVIEW FOR A JOB?

While video interviews appear to be on the steady rise, only just over a quarter (26%) of our respondents had taken part in one to date.

WHAT DEVICE DID YOU USE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE EMPLOYER DURING YOUR VIDEO INTERVIEW?

89%

6% 4% 1%

A laptop or PC

A smartphone A tablet Other


Out of these, 89% carried out their video interview on a laptop or PC, 6% used a smartphone, and only 4% used a tablet.

The popular reasons given by those who preferred video interviewing were that it involved less travel time (70%), came at lower costs (60%) and gave them more confidence (53%).

COMMENTS FROM THE RESPONDENTS INCLUDED:70%

60%53%

44%

8%

Less tim

e spent tr

avellin

g

Lower c

ost

I was m

ore co

nfident

I was l

ess nerv

ousOther

WHY DO YOU THINK VIDEO INTERVIEWING IS BETTER

THAN A TRADITIONAL FACE-TO-FACE INTERVIEW?


DO YOU THINK VIDEO INTERVIEWING IS BETTER THAN A FACE-TO-FACE INTERVIEW?

84%

16%

NoYes

Only 26% of students and graduates believed that video interviews are superior to face-to-face interviews.

‘I think it’s a good opportunity to demonstrate soft skills prior to

assessment centre.’

‘Travelling can be extremely

inconvenient, and it allows more people

to be interviewed.’

‘I could choose when during a specified day I wanted to complete it.’

‘More relaxed in my own environment

and felt better prepared.’

CLOSING STATEMENT

Our 2016 findings are a view into the minds of current students and graduates, showing their concerns and hopes for the future.

2016’s respondents show a remarkable sense of self-worth and confidence, and, more than ever, appear to know exactly what they want to achieve.

We at Milkround were happy to find that more than 6,500 students and graduates from our high-quality database were keen to take part in our 2016 Career Confidence survey. This huge amount of responses means that we can get a fantastic overview of students’ and graduates’ opinions on for example the economy, video interviews, and getting that all-important first graduate job.

With all this in mind we are sure to uncover even more in 2017.

THOUGHTS FOR THE FUTURE


Students and graduates are feeling optimistic about their chances of getting a job after university. However they feel pessimistic towards the current state of the economy and what that might mean for them.

Work-life balance and flexibility was the most important factor to students and graduates when choosing a job role.

Nearly three quarters of our respondents expect to be assessed on their resilience when applying for a job.

A quarter of our respondents say that company videos has helped them decide which company they want to work for, proving the importance brand videos can have to a company’s reputation and attractiveness. The vast majority want company videos to centre around a typical day.

Their biggest concern is competition. Specifically, competition form candidates with more work experience. This goes hand in hand with their (slightly smaller) concern that there are not enough jobs available.

Students and graduates overwhelmingly believe that employers favour candidates from certain universities over others, and that it is based on the reputation of the university along with the overall university ranking.

When asked, the respondents that have declined one or more graduate job offer claimed it was because it was ‘just not the right role for me’, proving the importance of work satisfaction over elements like salary and location.

To find out more about working with Milkround please contact;

Sales Team: [email protected]

Tel: 0203 003 4000

Or visit: https://recruiters.milkround.com/

STUDENT AND GRADUATE CAREER CONFIDENCE SURVEY JULY 2016

Documents

STUDENT AND GRADUATE CAREER CONFIDENCE SURVEY - JULY 2016 · 2017. 9. 6. · CONFIDENCE SURVEY JULY 2016 5 Graduates are using much the same sources to search for graduate jobs in