Exploring the Challenges of Equipping Graduates with Relevant

Employability Skills
"SME" stands for small and medium-sized enterprises as defined in
EU law: EU recommendation 2003/361 (Ec.europa.eu, 2014)
The two main factors that are recognised to determine that a
company is an SME are:
. The number of employees the company has.
. The turnover or the balance sheet total.
Company category Employees Turnover or Balance sheet total
Medium-sized < 250 50 m 43 m
Small < 50 10 m 10 m
Micro < 10 2 m 2 m
(Ec.europa.eu, 2014)
The figures in the table above are only for individual companies. Companies that are part of a group
of companies will need the figures or all of the companies in that group combined.
Deli A GoGo is a deli/coffee shop that is situated in the Whitchurch area of Cardiff and was opened
in 2011. It is part of a group of shops that also includes the coffee shop Coffee A GoGo. It would be
classed as a micro business as it has fewer than 10 employees combined and turns over far less than
a turnover of 2 million.
Background
This briefing report will be looking at the challenges of equipping graduates with the right
employability skills. With the increase in universities and university graduates there is now more
competition for jobs than there has ever been. A larger spotlight is being placed on the amount of
employability skills that an applicant possesses to differentiate between two job applicants.
Graduates need to gain these employability skills to increase their chance of getting a job and also
widen the variety of possible jobs that they can apply for. Employability skills can be defined as, A
set of achievements, understandings and personal attributes that make individuals more likely to
gain employment and to be successful in their chosen occupations". (Peter Knight & Mantz Yorke
(HEFCE/DfES ESECT group))
Current Research/ Issues
A report undertaken by the Office for National Statistics titled Graduates in the UK Labour Market in
2013 stated that:
In 2013 there were 12 million graduates in the UK.
Steady increase in the number of graduates in the UK over the past decade.
In April to June 2013 graduates were more likely to be employed than those who left education
with qualifications of a lower standard.
Non-graduates aged 21 to 30 have consistently higher unemployment rates than all other
groups.
Graduates were more likely to work in high skilled posts than non-graduates.
Annual earnings for graduates reached a higher peak at a later age than the annual earnings for
non-graduates.
In 2013 those graduates that had an undergraduate degree in medicine or dentistry were the
most likely to be employed and had the highest average gross annual pay.
Graduates from the top UK universities earned more than graduates from other UK universities.
Male graduates were more likely to have a high or upper middle skill job than female graduates.
Latest data shows 25% of 21-year-olds who left university with a degree in 2011 were unemployed
compared with 26% of 16-year-olds with GCSEs (Osborne, 2012)
From this information there is an extremely large amount of post graduates in the UK and the
number is increasing year on year. All of these graduates are looking for jobs that befit their
qualifications but the number of jobs in these sectors does not equal the number of graduates that
are looking for jobs meaning there is a surplus of graduate. This surplus of graduates means that
there is a huge amount of competition for jobs in the UK. This competition means that an applicant
cannot just rely on their qualifications to acquire a job but also need to have certain employability
skills that they can add to their resume to set themselves apart from an average candidate.
Another issue is that there is tension between HEIs (Higher Education Institutes) and the business
world that graduates are only being taught to pass exams and are not being equipped with the right
skills to handle themselves in the business environment. Employability is not just about having the
right qualifications to do the job a candidate needs to have the right characteristics that an employer
is looking for that will see the candidate do the job well. Businesses want university degrees to be
practical and relevant to the current business environment.






Implications of Employers
From looking at the research we can find that the implications for employers are that companies
have a large pool of talent to find the perfect candidate for the vacant position within their business.
Another advantage for an employer is that with so many candidates applying for jobs they are able
to pay the person a lower salary to do the job. With so many applications there will always be
someone that is willing to do the job for a lower wage than the other person. This means that
business are able to keep their costs down and maybe even be able to afford to hire another person
within the business creating more job opportunities for unemployed post graduates.
If you look at the other end of the spectrum for employers, although they have a large pool of talent
in which to find the right candidate for their position, that candidate may not have the right
employability skills needed to do the job to the best of their abilities. This is where employers need
to invest money and time into new members of their personnel giving them the right training so that
the new member of staff can gain the needed skills. These skills can then be used when doing that
job and when working as part of the team within the business.
Linking this to an SME, when looking at potential management candidates, the owners of Deli A
GoGo are looking for certain employability skills that would be a perfect fit for the business such as
teamwork, commitment, self-management, numeracy and reliability. Although a university degree
would add to the desirability of a candidate, the owners would be putting more onuses on the
employability skills that can push the business on and keep the company and the team of employees
working at a maximum.
(Thelifeskillspartnership.com, 2014)
Implication for Higher Education Institutions
Higher education Institutions have been able to come together with the business sector and reach
an agreement where universities can offer sandwich year degrees where for one year the student
is able to go for work experience in a business that relates to the course that they are studying. This
type of degree can bridge the gap between the education and business world where students are
able to apply their knowledge for their education into a practical way whilst also gaining vital
employability skills the experience that they need in order to find a suitable job for themselves when
they leave full time education.
This is an advantage for every party because universities will gain another years tuition fees, the
business will have another member of staff but for much cheaper than a post graduate member of
staff and the student will gain the vital experience that they need to push themselves ahead of the
large chasing pack of other candidates without the work experience.
Conclusion
In conclusion when looking at the research statistics it is clear to see that post graduate students
face a difficult challenge in finding suitable jobs that are linked with the qualifications that they have.
The statistics show that the number of graduate students is going to continue to grow and so the
amount of competition is going to continue to grow meaning that graduate are going to have to
work harder and go to greater lengths in order to achieve the desired outcome. Graduates are
unable to just rely on academic qualifications to secure a job and need to improve their resume by
gaining the right employability skills needed for that job to push them to the front of the pack.
Looking at the HEIs and the business world, Universities are going to have to do more to ready their
students for future employment and teach them the vital skills needed when working in the wider
world and not only just how to pass an exam and achieve a grade. Businesses will need to continue
to invest in their staff and future staff to keep them up to date with the characteristics that a
modern worker needs in the business environment.
Bibliography
Ec.europa.eu, (2014). What is an SME? - Small and medium sized enterprises (SME) - Enterprise and
Industry. [online] Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts-figures-
analysis/sme-definition/index_en.htm [Accessed 9 May. 2014].
Kent.ac.uk, (2014). Employability Skills. [online] Available at:
https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/skillsintro.htm [Accessed 9 May. 2014].
Graduates in the UK Labour Market in 2013. (2013). UK: Office for National Statistics.
Osborne, H. (2012). Graduate unemployment levels on a par with school leavers. [online] the
Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/feb/22/graduates-
unemployment-levels-school-leavers [Accessed 9 May. 2014].
Thelifeskillspartnership.com, (2014). The Life Skills Partnership. [online] Available at:
http://www.thelifeskillspartnership.com/ [Accessed 9 May. 2014].