key issues viz graduate skills and jobs what do graduates do? what skills and knowledge are required...
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Key issues viz graduate skills and jobs
• What do graduates do?
• What skills and knowledge are required in their work and how do these relate to the skills and knowledge developed on undergraduate courses?
• How has the expansion of HE impacted upon the occupational structure and the construction of jobs by employers?
Distribution of sample according to new graduate labour market classification
Traditional graduate job
Modern graduate job
New graduate job
Niche graduate job
Non-graduate job
Graduate Job Class according to 1995 Degree Subject
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Arts
Humanities
Languages
Law
Social Sciences
Maths & Computing
Natural Sciences
Medicine & Related
Engineering
Business Studies
Education
Other vocational
Interdisciplinary
TOTAL
Traditional
Modern
New
Niche
Non-graduate
Knowledge workers in the Information Age
• Technical experts
• Hybrid skills (project managers)
• New persuaders
• Carers with credentials/Interpersonal service providers
MODERN GRADUATE – Technical
Expert • Software Engineer, small ICT start-up• Salary: £50,000 - £59,999• Degree: Computer Science, 2:2, New
University• Provision of ICT support/solutions,
systems testing/development/documentation
• Interview 16, male aged 28
MODERN GRADUATE - New Persuader
• Client Manager, small management consultancy
• Salary: £60,000 and over• Modern Languages, Old University• Interactive/interpersonal skills, Time &
Task management, consultant resourcing
• Interview 11, female, aged 28
MODERN GRADUATE - New Persuader
“Why do you think you were taken on?”
“I had a consulting background that was essential for the job and I think I had the right sort of interpersonal skills to deal with both clients and senior consultants despite my comparatively young age”(Interview 11 - Client Manager, small management consultancy)
MODERN GRADUATE – Hybrid Skills
• Systems Designer, large management & IT consultancy
• Salary: £36,000 - £39,999• Distributed Information Systems, New
University• Client-facing project management, systems
design/programming/development, client presentations/workshops
• Interview 2, female, aged 28
MODERN GRADUATE – Hybrid Skills
“Why do you think you were taken on?”
“Probably to them because I come from a technical background but I have client facing skills. So it’s not just a tech-y person… most tech-y people, well not most but a lot of tech-y people have problems dealing with clients and face-to-face meetings and presenting and things like that, so they were looking for a mix of, if you like, business skills mixed with technical skills”
(Interview 2 – Systems Designer - Large IT Company)
MODERN GRADUATE -
Interpersonal Service Worker
• Arts Education Administrator, National Arts Organisation
• Salary: £15,000-£17,999• Classics, 2:2, Old University• General PA work, events administration
and organisation, contracting staff• Interview 018, female aged 29
NEW GRADUATE – Technical Expert • Unit Manager, large manufacturing company• Salary: £30,000 - £32,999• Degree: Electrical & Electronic Engineering,
2:1, Old University• Production systems management, emphasis
on technical/engineering knowledge & problem-solving, budgetary controls, staff management
• Interview 23, male aged 29
NEW GRADUATE - New Persuader
• Recruitment Consultant, Resourcing and Business Consultancy
• Salary: £40,000 - £49,999• Psychology, 2:1, 1960s University• Client interface, candidate search,
interviewing and recommendation, pitching for business - presentations, cold-calling...
• Interview 51,male aged 32
NEW GRADUATE – Hybrid Skills
• Interview 36• Commercial Manager, small publishing
company• Salary: £60,000 and over• Business Information Systems, 2:2, New
University• Negotiation/tendering/sales activities,
interface between production & customer
NEW GRADUATE - Interpersonal Service Worker
• Interview 12• Welfare Advice Worker, Charity -
Community project• Salary: Less than £9,999 (p/t)• History/Social Science, 2:2, HE College• Provision of support/advice on range of
welfare issues, interviewing, home visits...
NEW GRADUATE -Interpersonal Service Worker
“I'm the more approachable person out in the community. I've been there for years, so they know me. They come into see me for welfare benefits advice, debt advice, education problems. A listening ear, because I'm there. If they feel they should have received the benefits, I then take it further for them, that sort of thing.”(Interview 12 - Welfare Advice Worker, Charity - Community project)
Respondents’ use of skills in current job
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Per cent
Problem solving skills
Numeracy skills
Advanced computing skills
Research skills
Entrepreneurial skills
Management skills
Leadership skills
Team-working skills
Written communication
Spoken communication
Some
A lot
A comparison of skills required ‘a lot’ in current job and developed ‘a lot’ on 1995 course
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Leadership skills
Management Skills
Ability to work in teams
Entrepreneurial skills
Creativity
Research skills
Advanced IT or software skills
Basic computer literacy
Numeracy skills
Foreign language skills
Spoken communication
Written communication
Problem-solving skills
Skills developed*
Skills required*
Use of computers in current job
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Per cent
Non
Niche
New
Mod
Trad
Job
cat
egor
y
Advanced
Complex
Routine
Not at all
Proportion of respondents satisfied with key aspects of current job
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Per cent
Overall satisfaction with job*
Number of hours worked
Opportunity to use initiative
Job security
Relations with line manager
The total pay
Promotion Prospects
The actual work
Implications
• The graduate labour market is segmented, but there are distinct categories of ‘graduate job’ one of which, after seven years, most graduates have entered.
• The subjective perceptions of the majority of graduates is that they are in appropriate employment for people with their skills and qualifications.