Graduates worry over job skills

The vast majority of university leavers feel they have the skills required to get jobs, but worry it is more difficult than ever to find work, new research shows.

Eight out of ten students surveyed, who had completed degrees, said they felt they had the skills employers wanted, but a similar number (84 per cent) felt it was harder than ever to get a job, research by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU) found.

However, researchers found that one in ten believed the skills they developed on their course had not made them more employable and 6 per cent said they did not have the skills employers wanted.

More than 50,000 students were tracked from UCAS application until two years after graduating for the Futuretrack research at the University of Warwick.

The third stage of the project surveyed how final-year students felt about their readiness for the world of work. It revealed a discrepancy between what employers look for and what skills students think will be valued.

Students said they thought commercial awareness, numeracy and computer literacy were less important than softer skills, such as communication and work ethic.