Paul Sissons

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Paul Sissons CEO, GTI Media
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Session 1 The economic forecastThe macro
economy and impact on marketsSession 2 The
student research The evolvement of early career
skills in the light of the current economic
climate Session 3 The Careers Services
overview Session 4 The graduate recruiter
confidence snapshot
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• Session 1The economic forecast
• Bryan Finn

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UK economy GDP growth
Annual change
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UK economy and recruitment advertising
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World economy major economies
Annual change
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World economy current world GDP growth rates
Annual change
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World economy oil prices
US per barrel
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UK economy share prices
FTSE 100
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UK economy manufacturing
Annual change
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UK economy service sector output
Annual change
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UK economy retail sales
Annual change
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UK economy consumer confidence
Balance
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UK economy service sector confidence
Balance
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UK economy inflation
Annual change
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UK economy Sterling effective exchange rate
Index 2005 100
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UK economy house prices
Annual change
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UK economy value of mortgage lending
Annual change
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UK economy employment
Annual change 0000s
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UK economy total job vacancies
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UK economy job vacancies by sector March 2009
Annual change
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Future prospects GDP forecast for 2009
Annual change
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Future prospects GDP forecast for 2010
Annual change
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UK economy and total recruitment advertising
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World economy world GDP growth forecasts 2009
Annual change
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Our survey sample

• 1,504 survey participants from the TARGETjobs
  database
• 33.4 were in their final year of university, the
  rest in their first, second or penultimate year
• 31 male and 69 female
• 20 from a BaME background
• 69.7 aged 21 and under
• 35 with 300 or more UCAS points
• 58 attend a pre-1992 old university
• Survey open 9th to 20th April 2009

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• Feedback and findings relating to employment
• confidence from those participants in their final
  year at
• university

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How confident do you feel about securing a
graduate job when you leave university?
Final years
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How do these results compare with our last survey
in February 2009?
Final years
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Do you feel more or less confident about securing
a graduate job now than when you started your
final year?
Final years
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Have you seen any effects of the credit crunch in
your job hunting?
Final years
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(No Transcript)
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April 2009 -28.5
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Graduate Employment Index by RegionApril 2009
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Graduate Employment Index by Sector April
2009
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• Session 2 The student research
• The evolvement of early career skills in the
  light of the current economic climate
• Neil Harrison, TMP Worldwide

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Our survey sample

• 645 survey participants from the TARGETjobs
  databases
• 70 24 and under
• 399 in their final year at university, 246 have
  graduated and are in their first/second job post
  university
• 44 male and 56 female
• 32 from a BaME background
• 66 with 300 or more UCAS points
• 71 spent the majority of their secondary
  education in a state school
• 66 study or studied at a pre-1992 university
• 77 of final years without a job offer to date
• Survey open 6th 21st April 2009

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What will you do if you cant find a graduate job?
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How will you build up your skills base if you
dont get a formal graduate job offer?
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Lets look more closely at those who will look at
further study to build up their skills base
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Knowing what I do now about graduate jobs
prospects, I would still have gone to university
3-4 years ago
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Those people agreeing that they would still go to
university if they knew what the jobs market was
going to be like 4 years prior
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The skills debate its not going
awayTodays labour market is bringing home to
students the need to take responsibility for
developing the skills and attributes that will
make them employableDavid Lammy
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Which workplace skills are important in the
current economy cf a strong economy?
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In the current economic climate, the ability
simply to survive is key in the modern workplace
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The ability to get your head down and ride out
the recession is a key workplace skill
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Effective risk taking is becoming a dirty word.
People are becoming fixated on survival and
ignore the importance of challenging the norm.
They value customer skills above all which is
laudable but does this suggest bunker mentality
of what we have, we hold?
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And is this flying in the face of what employers
are looking forGraduates should be willing to
learn develop, bring new ideas and contribute
to future growthRichard Lambert
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The investment an organisation continues to make
in graduate skills is a major factor in how I
rate them
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If organisations continue to invest in skills
development they will be far likelier to hold
onto their people when things improve
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I would be sceptical about those organisations
claiming not to be reducing their investment in
skills right now
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Early career graduates
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My employer has cut back on skills development in
the light of the recession
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How do you respond to your employer cutting back
on skills investment?
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The evolution of skills within the modern
workplace
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I would feel more engaged and enthused by an
organisation continuing to invest in my skills
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If the economy picked up tomorrow, I would look
for a new job immediately
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In looking for a new job, the amount of
investment in skills would play a key role in
which organisation I would join
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Two things to leave you with

• 40 of your early career professional would jump
  ship if they had the chance
• We are creating an employment environment in
  which risk is viewed negatively

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• Session 3View from the campus the skills
  agenda
• Anne-Marie Martin

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The sample

• All Heads of Careers Services at Russell Group
  Institutions
• Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff,
  Edinburgh, Glasgow , Imperial, King's, Leeds,
  Liverpool, LSE, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne,
  Nottingham, Oxford, Sheffield, Southampton, UCL,
  Warwick
• All Heads of Careers Services at 94 Group
  Institutions
• Bath, Birkbeck, Durham, East Anglia, Essex,
  Exeter, Goldsmiths, Royal Holloway, Lancaster,
  Leicester, Loughborough, Queen Mary, Reading, St
  Andrews, SOAS, Surrey, Sussex, Warwick, York
• AGCAS Officers

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The survey

• Careers Service involvement with the skills
  agenda
• At Government and regional level
• At institutional policy level
• Operationally with students and graduates

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The Context

• There have been many government initiatives
  intent on encouraging Universities to align more
  closely with business and students to acquire
  employment related skills.
• Ex Polytechnics and Colleges of Higher Education
  were the first to introduce the teaching of
  employability skills into their curriculum.
• Older Universities, especially those that are
  described as research-led have been slower to
  respond.
• Research led institutions have, however, always
  been committed to the idea that the academic
  experience is more than attending lectures and
  gaining knowledge. They have been keen to
  encourage employability without diluting
  essential academic freedoms and rigour.
• This research uncovers a huge range of endeavours
  throughout the sector not only to improve the
  opportunities to develop skills, but also to help
  students assess their skills and articulate them
  to employers.

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Whats going on at Government Level

• I was asked to give evidence to Alan Milburns /
  Cabinet Office Fair Access to the Professions
  Panel. As a result of that my team is working
  with the Cabinet Office to produce a tool kit for
  employers considering taking an intern.
• The role of Universities in training individuals
  for the workplace has been the subject of a
  library of government reports and investigations.
  
• Both Government and Universities now consult and
  listen to the views of careers advisers.
• 80 Institutions and AGCAS contributed to the
  recent CBI/UUK report, Future Fit, which
  highlighted progress made in skills delivery.
• Represented on or contributed to DIUS Higher
  Skills Steering Group led by David Lammy DIUS
  Graduate Employment Forum which meets monthly and
  is advising on the establishment of graduate
  internships and UK Skills Commission
  consultation.
• AGCAS Liaison Officers for all Sector Skills
  Councils ensure there is effective communication
  between careers advisers and the industries
  represented by the SSC.
• HEFCE have pumped 50M into Universities via
  Careers Services under the Economic Challenge
  Investment Fund.

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Regionally is where its at

• Almost all Regional Development Agencies are
  working with Universities to increase the number
  of work placements and internships both for
  current students and, in response to the current
  recession, recent graduates.
• General schemes include
• Graduates for Business in the SW develops
  graduate employability skills through work
  placement and a 3 day graduate directions
  course.
• Yorkshire and Humberside giving 2/3rd wage
  subsidy to employers offering internships. Each
  of the 10 regional Universities will have 20 to
  30 internships specifically for graduates.
  Skills development and training will be in
  integral part of the scheme.
• Others are focused on particular regional skills
  needs or disciplines
• Wired Sussex is developing skills in the
  digital media sector.
• GradEast is helping small and medium sized
  enterprises employ and use graduates more
  effectively.
• The SE Physics network summer studentship scheme
  offers funded work experience and skill
  development for Physics and Astronomy students
  and graduates.
• AGCAS Scotland Financial Skills Gateway will
  enhance the development and management of skills
  within Scotland in line with future industry
  needs.

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Institutions

• Employability Strategies
• My institutions key ambitions are to
  increase the proportion of students exposed to
  work-based learning, enhance provision for skills
  development increase employer involvement in
  curriculum delivery
• Learning and Teaching Strategies and Curriculum
  Reviews
• I was fully involved in the review of the
  curriculum. I took soundings from all our major
  employers to identify skills gaps in our
  students. This has resulted in a new cutting
  edge course, which will be compulsory for all
  students from 2010, that aims to both broaden the
  thinking of the undergraduates and integrate key
  learning skills
• Graduate attributes. Both skills and a set of
  desirable attitudinal dispositions.
• Employability Awards/Skills certificates/Credits
  in recognition of the development of
  employment-related and other skills outside the
  curriculum.

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Practical Assistance

• We are seen as the skills provider. 82 of our
  60 skills sessions are delivered/co-delivered by
  employers. Students love them.
• Everyone delivers career management skills
  training and transferable skills awareness
  training. Many are also delivering transferable
  skills training often in association with
  employers
• Some are running these as modules embedded in
  the curriculum or providing consultancy to
  academic staff to assist them to do so
• Loads of online activity designed to encourage
  students to audit their own skills and identify
  ways of filling the gaps
• Some specifics
• Developing skills clouds for every degree
  discipline
• Delivering specific training for students working
  and volunteering on campus eg client interviewing
  skills for students volunteering to work in the
  Legal Advice Centre
• A student internship bureau
• How to Analyse and Promote your Skills to
  Employers, Skills4Work
• Joint module with the enterprise department on
  commercial awareness

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• Session 4The graduate recruiter confidence
  snapshotCarl Gilleard, AGR

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Which sector do you operate in?
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Is the market your business operates in
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Are you more or less confident about the
prospects for the UK economy than you were three
months ago?
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Are you more or less confident about the
prospects for your business than you were three
months ago?
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Comparing your graduate intake with 2007/08 do
you expect to recruit
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Have your target numbers of graduate recruits
been adjusted since the start of the current
recruiting round?
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Do you expect to meet your graduate targets?