Adzuna and Milkround’s Graduate of the Year Competition 2013

Graduates! It’s back! And this time it is bigger and better than ever before. Adzuna has teamed up with top graduate website Milkround to bring you “Graduate of the Year 2013.” Together we are offering you the chance to win a JOB, some CASH and a foot in the door.

The rest is up to you!

1.                An internship with a top UK company (including eBay, L’Oreal, Sony & Google)

2.                A cash prize of £1000

3.                A CV clinic with a top UK entrepreneur

4.                The Illustrious Crown of “Graduate of the Year”

 

The UK employment market is tougher than ever, especially for graduates fresh and eager from university. Competition for graduate positions continues to rise in the UK with over 50 applicants for every available graduate job. Unemployment among 18-25 year olds is the highest it’s been for decades and graduates are finding it tougher than ever to land an entry level position. But there are glimmers of hope in the market, with top employment companies Milkround and Adzuna teaming up to launch a nationwide campaign to find Britain’s “Graduate of the Year 2013”.
If you are a recent or soon-to-be graduate from a recognised UK university then we want to hear from you. We are looking for the brightest, sparkiest, gutsiest individual around.  Whether you excel in arts, music, sports, academia, languages or are an outstanding student union member, leader, or social contributor, we want to hear about you and why you deserve to win.
To enter go to Graduate of the Year 2013 and tell us briefly why you think you are worthy of this magnificent prize.  Deadline is 1st July 2013 and the overall winner will be announced at the Award Ceremony on the 1st August 2013.

Don’t believe us, check out the success of last year’s winner Leo Anthias. Following his internship at Passion Capital, Leo has since gone on to found his own company, Verse (making PowerPoint collaboration painless).

Remember not everyone can be a winner but that doesn’t mean you can’t land your dream job too.  Check out our blog for great interview tips, stellar advice for graduates, thousands of graduate jobs, internships and more vacancies than you can shake a stick at.

Join the chat on twitter: #graduateoftheyear

What Do Graduates Do?

Although graduate employment levels for 2010-11 were slightly down on the previous year, there were considerable variations between different subjects of study, according to "What Do Graduates Do?" (WDGD) 2012, based on the annual survey of Destinations of Higher Education Leavers that takes place each year.

One career area that clearly bucked the downward trend was Computer Science and IT which showed an 8.5% rise in graduate employment and e-skills UK have forecast that growth in IT employment will grow at twice the UK average until 2020.  Of course, not all entrants into the industry will have studied IT as a main subject at University.

Less good news came unexpectedly from the public sector with a big fall in entrants and the trend extended to include occupational therapists, physiotherapists, radiographers, teachers and probation officers.  These areas each offered over 100 posts less than 2010-11 but the biggest drop was in the number of social work entrants, which fell by 420.  This is certainly not great news for the University of Cumbria, which offers courses in all the professions listed except probation.

The report once again showed the importance of self-employment to graduates from performance arts, media production and art and design. 64.6% or artists and 85.3% of musicians were recorded as being self employed or freelancers six months after graduation.

The Business Studies area is one that exemplifies the "mixed message" theme identified in the WDGD report.  Although it shows up with a higher level of unemployment than average (10.1%) and a sharp drop in the numbers going on to further study, each of the key disciplines of Accountancy, Business Management and Marketing showed high levels of graduates going straight into relevant employment.

They were also some of the subjects that produced less graduates working as Retail, Catering, Waiting and Bar staff, a denomination which covers a large number graduates yet to find a suitable career opportunity by the date of the survey - although longitudinal studies show that many succeed in doing so over a longer period of time.

Should I Move to London?

Careers Advisers often advise clients to increase their chances of getting a job by being prepared to work away from home and since Dick Whittington, there has been a long tradition of hopefuls from the North treading the golden pavements of London to 'seek their fortune'.

But does it pay off?

Recent research by "Graduate Market Trends" (Winter 2011/12 edition) analyses regional trends in graduate employment since the recession to come up with some interesting contrasts between employment patterns in London and elswhere.  What it broadly shows is the following:

• In certain key sectors, the London area dominates the UK employment scene so that over 50% of 2009 - 10 graduates working in some fields of work are based there.  In broad terms, London is a mecca for media careers (including editing), fashion and clothing design, finance, management consultancy and politics.
  
• On the other hand there are some industries, notably Engineering, where opportunities are just as available elsewhere.
  
• Although London has the highest number of graduate employers in the country, the rate of unemployment for London HE institutions is actually HIGHER than in other parts of the country.
  
• The reverse of this paradox is shown in Scotland - although Scotland is the only part of the country to show a decrease in graduate employment since 2007, the unemployment rate for Scottish HE institutions in the lowest in the UK.
  
• At 74% levels of private sector employment are considerably higher in London.  Elsewhere percentages of public sector employment  levels are a good deal higher*.  Additionally, only half of graduates in private sector employment outside London were considered to be in graduate level employment, whereas the figure for London was 67%.
  
• It is therefore interesting to reflect that ongoing public sector cutbacks are likely to have a more profound negative effect on unemployment in areas outwith London.

Hopefully this gives some feel of whether it is worth packing your bags heading for the 'big smoke'.   The next stage is to decide how you feel about issues like higher living expenses, commuting, lifestyle...

* N.b. however this does not mean there are fewer health and education sector vacancies in London than Lancashire and Cumbria - the reverse is likely to be true! (Ed.)

Is 'Employability' A Smokescreen To Mask Labour Market Failings?

If you don't mind ploughing your way through a bit of theory, there's an interesting article "The Shifting Sands of Employability" by Nick Wilton in the latest edition of CESR Review from the Centre for Employment Studies, Bristol.

Taking an etymological approach, Wilton looks at the use of the term 'employability' from the 1940's to the present day. Early definitions focus on assessing people's ability to work in the light of characteristics like age, family backgound, ability or medical condition.

Following many variations the term has, since 2006, focussed on graduate employability - in particular, the supposed responsibility of graduates to acquire a set of key skills that will meet the demands of the labour market.

Wilton's argument is that this emphasis on 'tooling up' graduates for employment overlooks the fact that the graduate labour market has not kept up with the rise in graduate numbers. Social and education characteristics (e.g. type of University attended, gender, ethnicity) may be more likely to account for difficulties in finding graduate employment rather than the acquisition of employability skills.

To quote: "As such, in its current guise, employability is associated with the attribution of fault rather than seeking remedy for unemployment and effectively disregards structural explanations for unemployment or underemployment such as geographical immobility, the collective experience of labour market inequality and the recruitment behaviours of organisations"

Heady words indeed, but is it all true?

It is certainly true that come organisations concentrate their recruitment efforts on a limited number of prestige universities, which, combined with academic stipulations often based on UCAS points ensure that they are far more likely to recruit candidates who are from priveleged backgrounds. Unpaid internships and high costs of study are making some career routes virtually inaccessible for those who are not.

On the other hand there are some companies with active diversity policies who go out of their way to encourage applications from under-represented groups, just as there are some individuals who are so determined to succeed and have so much belief in their own success (the 'locus of control' theory) that they succeed against all the odds.

Are employability skills a useful addition to the graduate skillset - or just a cover up for the lack of decent jobs? What do you think?

Positive Outlook for the IT Industry

Research by Sector Skills Council e-skills shows employment in the IT industry is set to grow at five times the national average over the next ten years.

Their "Technology Insights 2011" suggests opportunities will increase at 2.19% per annum, with over half a million new IT & Telecoms professionals needed over the next five years.

Further details suggest that the age profile of the industry is now rising, with only 19% of professionals aged under 30 and 17% are over 50. The gender profile however remains a big issue as only 18% are women.

For more details see http://www.e-skills.com/technologyinsights2011