Last month on the 25th April Grovelands published Grovelands Graduate Insight [Spring/Summer 2016] which is yet another report which explores the graduate market in terms of how businesses can capture and retain talent by understanding how graduates approach the workforce.
The survey conducted for the research ‘reports on current students, employed graduates, and graduates who have so far been unsuccessful in securing’ work.
Of 221 respondents, 59% of the graduates said that they are currently working in a role unrelated to their degree subject. The survey revealed that 53% of graduates did not have an employment plan prior to graduation, nor completed a single job application. It took at least 6 months for 47% of graduates to find a position, with 18% of that taking over a year.
The report makes four key conclusions:
- ‘Increase the number of graduate intakes to get the best talent’: this suggests that employers should run more than ‘one major graduate intake a year’ to take advantage of the large pool of talent in this area
- ‘A healthy work/life balance is a must’: graduates rate independence and empowerment in their work environment as important
- ‘Graduates are not concerned about university costs’: graduates do not mind the costs of education, however they do expect that this investment both financially and personally should give them some advantage in the competitive workforce
- ‘Graduates are open minded about careers’: both graduates and employers should be aware of transferable skills and take note that their degree specialism does not necessarily dictate other essential skills of being an excellent employee.