recession 09 - view from the campus

View from the campus

Anne-Marie MartinThe Careers Group, University of London on behalf of the Association of

Graduate Careers Advisory Services

The Sample• All 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 94 Group InstitutionsBath, Birkbeck, Durham, East Anglia, Essex, Exeter, Goldsmiths, Royal Holloway, Lancaster, Leicester, Loughborough, Queen Mary, Reading, St Andrews, SOAS, Surrey, Sussex, Warwick, York

• All other member institutions of the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services

The Research

“There’s no such thing as qualitative data. Everything is either 1 or 0.” Fred Kerlinger

“All research ultimately has a qualitative grounding.” Donald Campbell

The Questions

• We asked Directors of Careers Services how the following were reacting to the recession– Institutions– Employers– Students– Careers Services

Institution

• Vice Chancellors are concerned• Offer of additional resources.• Recession Contingency Planning Groups• Higher Education Funding Council for

England has announced additional funding stream – ‘Economic Challenge Investment Fund‘

• Government Graduate Internship Scheme

Employers• Conflicting messages. • Employer activity on campus buoyant• Current vacancies – full and part-time.

– Some institutions report number of vacancies are down

– Significant number of services report number of vacancies identical or up on this time last year

• Everyone reviewing their offer as employers reduce their graduate recruitment budgets

• Unemployment up in July 2008 cohort

StudentsAnxiety but not panicConcerned because their parents are concerned Increased use of the careers service Attendance at events mixedBelieving the headlines so giving up before they start.

“Large accountant, still with 200 vacancies, attracted 4 students here yesterday despite lots of leafleting”

Some signs of avoidance of particular sectors

“Those finalists who are already far down the path, with interviews etc lined up, are active; the others have decided to shelve the

issue for the moment”The exceptions

Most popular questions

• Which are the safest jobs to go into?• Information on volunteering

opportunities for a year?• Benefits or not of a postgraduate

degree?• Public versus private sector?

Careers Services• Conflicting messages so preparing for anything• Trying to communicate clear messages through

many media• Encouraging students to engage• Preaching Quality and Quantity in applications• Talking to and involving academics• Extending activities beyond the normal cycle • New products and services

New Products and Services

• Seminars & Workshops: Job Hunting in a Recession; Creative Job Search; Commercial Awareness; Understanding the Market;

• Increase in Coaching: Selection Perfection• New info: Top ten tips for surviving the

recession; Guide for Parents• New Messages: Plan B; Quality AND Quantity• New Opportunities: Internal Internships;

Graduate Placement Schemes• Boot Camps• Tissues for the unlucky few• This recession is different

A recession like no other

• The Head of the Management school at LSE agrees with careers service view

• Four engines of the economy – USA, Europe, Japan, Emerging markets

• Previous recessions have seen one or two of these failing and the jumbo jet of the economy has managed to continue on two or three engines

• This recession has effected all four engines and the plane is therefore gliding downwards

When all the engines fail you need

experienced pilots

The Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services

• Members are Higher Education careers services and their staff

• 2000 members in 130 Higher Education institutions

• Flagship event: Biennial Conference– Convey your messages to advisers– Learn how to reach their students – Superb networking opportunities– Day 3 programme tailored for employers– Conference dinner at Twickenham Rugby Stadium

www.agcas.org.uk

The future of graduates, the future of guidance

• 8-11 September Brunel University London

• 10th September - Employer Day

• Workshop applications close 6 March

• Sponsorship and exhibiting opportunities

• NetworkingContact: Mark Nuttall Tel: 0114 2515771 Email: mark.nuttall@agcas.org.uk

www.agcas.org.uk/biennial2009