Legal News

Finding work had been hard in 2011 but has become harder in the current year as openings have come down amid the economic uncertainty a major report has revealed.

The fact that leading companies are being flooded by 73 applications for each graduate vacancy shows the tough conditions prevailing on the employment front.

It is an average figure with the number being higher in some sectors with as many as 154 jobseekers chasing each post in the retail and 142 for a single job in the investment banking.

With competition for available posts getting fiercer many employers would be obvious in their demands for a first class degree from the graduates.

The survey of 215 firms has found that more number of bosses was thinking of raising the minimum requirements from a 2.1 class degree to the top grade. The reason the bosses say is that there were more number of first class graduates to choose from.
The revelation follows a doubling in the number of students given firsts by universities in a decade. A record one in six obtained the top grade last year, prompting fresh concerns about degree inflation.
A third of firms have reported that they were carrying out the checks or planned to widen the social diversity of employees by questioning the graduates on their schools and parents jobs when the prospective candidate applies for trainee schemes.
The trends emerged during in-depth interviews with firms who were members of the Association of Graduate Recruiters.
But there are some who say that recruiters should use considerable cautions over plans to restrict recruitment to only first class graduates.
Carl Gilleard, AGR chief executive, warmed that exceptional academic achievement was not always an indicator of potential to excel in the workplace.
Degree classes were not ‘national standards’ and varied across universities and courses. Instead, he said, employers should look at the broader picture, including extra-curricular activities and work experience.
According to the survey, the number of vacancies this year is down 0.6 per cent on last year.
One investment bank said that market conditions have been very affected by the eurozone, especially if you are in international business. The industry would rather hire less and face the consequences later.’