GAINING WORK EXPERIENCE BECOMES MAIN PRIORITY FOR NEW GRADUATES
GAINING WORK EXPERIENCE BECOMES MAIN PRIORITY FOR NEW GRADUATES
- Graduates say work experience is critical to stand out from the crowd; 69% use it to help their job applications,; 34% take up volunteering to enhance their cv and increase their chances of a getting a job
- 45% of students say the market place is becoming even more crowded: the huge growth in graduates is the main obstacle to getting a foot on the career ladder.
When it comes to finding a job, work experience is a graduate’s most valuable asset, says a new survey by the Vodafone UK Graduate Programme.
Getting experience in the workplace is now seen as critical with 69% of those surveyed revealing that they have undertaken an internship to boost their success in job applications, and a further 34% using volunteering to enhance their chances of finding work. With many leading companies discontinuing their graduate recruitment programmes to cut costs, the competition for entry level jobs has become fiercer than ever before forcing graduates to take action to ensure they stand out from the crowd.
“Volunteering and work experience have become critical assets which young people today can use to enhance their attraction to employers,” said Vodafone UK Graduate Manager, Nicola Fitzgerald. ”Over 3,000 people applied for our 2010 graduate programme which offered 50 places. It was those people who communicated how their life experiences and personal interests added value to their academic successes who shone through both in their CVs and interviews.”
The report comes as thousands of final year students all over the UK graduate, granting them a degree but no guarantee of a job. Almost a third (31%) of university leavers confess they are concerned they will not get a job they want in the next six months. Just under half (45%) say the huge growth in the number of graduates all job hunting is the main barrier to getting started on their career.
The choice of university degree is highly influential in a student’s view of their future career prospects – 20% of those studying Engineering and Arts subjects say they are very optimistic about securing work after graduation, whilst 42% of those studying degrees such as Law and Business remain gloomy about life after university; believing studying a more vocational course would have made a significant difference to their job prospects.
Applications for the 2011 Vodafone Graduate Programme will open in November this year. For further details, please visit: www.vodafone.co.uk/discoveruk.
