A recent survey of some of the UK's largest graduate recruiters saw three in four of those polled claim that students are increasingly leaving university without the necessary skills to make a successful transition to the workplace. The firms, including HSBC, Santander and KPMG, focussed on the widespread lack of transferable skills essential to their recruitment process.
In the survey, conducted by the Young Enterprise charity, these frustrations were aired on a general level without any single deficiency standing out above others. Commercial awareness, communication and technical skills were all listed as problematic, with even something as seemingly basic as punctuality being below par in many cases. One suggested root of the problem was the narrow focus of the education system on academic achievements, without building for future progress beyond end of year exams.
But as with any such "doom and gloom" headline, this must be brought into perspective. While firms such as these may find many of their interviewees to be below the criteria they deem necessary for their graduate positions, they are still all large graduate employers which doubtless do find enough suitable candidates year after year.
When coming across information such as this, then, the key is to take them as a positive rather than a negative - not a personal criticism, but an insight into what employers are looking for and a chance to develop those skills as you continue the application process. Discovering that many graduates are deemed to be lacking in employability skills need not be a worry, but rather an opportunity to make sure you stand out.
