AGCAS Heads of Service Conference 2009
Employer Engagement
(in an economic downturn)
Presenters
• Adam Powell
Head of Employability, Bath Spa University
• Ian Hodges
Director, Careers and Employment Service, University of Exeter
• Gary Argent
Business Operations Manager, Association of Graduate Recruiters
Content
• Context
• How do Careers Services currently engage?
• What do employers want?
• How might this change in a recession?
• Employer predictions on skills and knowledge gaps
• What can Careers Services do to help?
• Action points to take away
Context
Latest official figures
• 1.86m people (6% of those of working age) were unemployed up to November 2008
Highest number since 1997
• 1.07m people claiming jobseeker’s allowance in November 2008
Highest figure since July 2000
• 562,000 job vacancies in the three months to November 2008
Lowest figure since comparable records began in 2001.
• 650,000 graduates left HE with a degree in 2006/7
More than ever before
And now ...
• 70,0000 job losses in last three months
• 600,000 job losses predicted in 2009 – equates to a job going every 52 seconds
But is the future bright?
Employer engagement at Exeter (in one slide!)
• Events (inc 6 Fairs)
• Vacancy Services
• Employer led Skills Sessions
• The Works ‘job shop’
• SHELL STEP (Agency of the Year, 2008)
• Graduate Business Partnership (GBP)
• Sponsorship opportunities
• Links to Business, the Students’ Guild and Exeter Award
Employer engagement at Bath Spa (in one slide!)
• Re-positioning of Careers Service
• Informing curriculum (re-)development
• Employer-led placements and projects: curricular and extra-curricular
• Bath Spa Plus
• Local/regional networks
• Industry mentoring scheme
• Graduate Career Development events
• Co-ordinating employer engagement?
• “Would you like fries with that?”
What is on recruiters’ minds right now?
What is on recruiters’ minds right now?
• The financial downturn
– Budgets
– Questions about the efficiency of their process
– Questions about the value that graduates add
– The need to be flexible
• Graduate Development
• Assessment
– Not just the best, but the best fit
– Adaptability
– Understanding motivation
• Collaboration
• The wider graduate pool
Ways that you help already
• The financial downturn
– Budgets Cost effective, innovative engagements
– Questions about the efficiency of their process
– Questions about the value that graduates add
– The need to be flexible Close relationships
• Graduate Development Deeper understanding of the university model
• Assessment
– Not just the best, but the best fit Placements / work experience
– Adaptability This, and other skills…
– Understanding motivation
• Collaboration Willingness to support sector initiatives
• The wider graduate pool
Practical examples of good engagement
• Access to industry experts for course design, review or delivery
• Helping CAS engage with first years
• On campus skills sessions
• Access to alumni
• Mentoring programmes
• Campus based “drop in” information sessions
• Support to societies
• Job swap
• Dedicated placement schemes
What else would you like to see?
What else could you do?
• The financial downturn
– Budgets
– Questions about the efficiency of their process
– Questions about the value that graduates add
– The need to be flexible
• Graduate Development
• Assessment
– Not just the best, but the best fit
– Adaptability
– Understanding motivation
• Collaboration
• The wider graduate pool
What is the AGR doing?
• The financial downturn
– Riding the recession and Measuring Return On Investment
– The survey and encouraging best practice
– Brokering more discussions, face to face and online
• Graduate Development
– The AGR awards
– The one day conference and regional graduate developer networks
• Assessment
– The AGR Standard
• Collaboration
– The sector focus groups
• The wider graduate pool
– The Hidden Graduate Pool
– Widening their horizons
– INGRADA
Employer prediction: shortfalls in hard skills
Writing skills
56.4%
Leadership skills
43.1%
Project Management
33.5%
Numeracy skills
27.7%
Fluency in a foreign language
23.4%
Administration
18.6%
Basic computer skills
9.0%
Other
3.2%
0%
20%
40%
60%
Employer prediction: shortfalls in soft skills
55.1%
Communication
45.9%
Managing your own learning
Independent working
32.1%
29.6%
Motivation
26.5%
Problem solving
23.0%
Analytical skills
20.9%
Organisation
Team working skills
16.8%
Confidence
16.3%
Cultural sensitivity
14.8%
Other
14.8%
0%
20%
40%
60%
Employer prediction: shortfalls in knowledge areas
Business &
Management
42.0%
37.0%
Engineering
Mathematics
26.1%
24.4%
IT / Technology
13.4%
Science
9.2%
Other
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
It needs to be two way though…
What do you want from these engagements?
How well do recruiters understand what is on your mind?
How can AGR help you to get the message across?
Questions or comments?
Adam Powell
Head of Employability, Bath Spa University
[email protected] | 01225 876310 | www.bathspa.ac.uk/careers
Ian Hodges
Director, Careers and Employment Service, University of Exeter
[email protected] | 01392 264400 | www.exeter.ac.uk/employability
Gary Argent
Business Operations Manager, Association of Graduate Recruiters
[email protected] | 07961 886 512 | www.agr.org.uk