FEATURE REALITY CHECK >>
The HEAR has a wide range of potential benefits, and the current work being undertaken by AGR and AGCAS on behalf of BIS will no doubt provide a better picture of usage intentions.
It is tempting to assume that degree score relates directly to future earnings, but social enterprise, Gradcore, which carries out an annual survey of over 4,000 graduates looking at everything from salaries to industry, employer and location choices, has confirmed that this is not the case. Martin Edmondson, CEO Gradcore, looks at what this finding from The Big Graduate Survey means – and why it brings the 2:1 debate sharply into focus…
D
espite the minor variations in our survey wage boundaries from year to year, there is a clear
pattern showing that degree score is not a clear indicator of future wage performance. The two charts below illustrate this, showing average earnings plotted against degree score:
applicants for 20 jobs. Metrics like these leave recruiters understandably looking for sharp dividing points to cut down the applicant pool. Clearly the most convenient way of cutting down numbers during selection will not always be the best, but under considerable pressure there can often appear little choice. In the light of this there is a need for other measures and markers of graduate employability to be available to graduate recruiters. Two evolving offers are the HEAR (Higher Education Achievement Report) and Skills Awards.
Figure 1 – 2011 Figure 2 - 2012
If we take wage performance as a proxy of overall work performance/potential, then to select graduates based on degree score is not the best way to identify talent. This is hardly a new proposition, given it has been a hot topic of conversation at many an AGR conference or event, and remains a live debate whenever we set up a graduate scheme attraction and selection programme. However, this data adds to the growing weight of evidence in this area. The recent Target Jobs Breakfast further highlighted this topic, with Simon Howard from Work Group suggesting that using the 2:1 as a recruitment filter can be bias against very good candidates on the basis of gender, ethnicity or even subject of study. Added to this is the challenge of consistency in universities, which means that a 2:1 from one university is not the same as a 2:1 from another.
It is all very well to say ‘stop using 2:1s’, but another to do it, and we speak from experience with one of our graduate recruitment campaigns in 2012 attracting 27,000
10 GRADUATE RECRUITER
The HEAR has a wide range of potential benefits, and the current work being undertaken by AGR and AGCAS on behalf of BIS will no doubt provide a better picture of usage intentions. It is unclear at the moment exactly which universities will participate, and how easily the HEAR will integrate into and add value to graduate recruitment selection processes. However, if it can create consistency and be easily assimilated into graduate selection processes, this will be welcomed by many graduate recruiters. Another regular graduate employability marker instigated by universities is the ‘Skills Award’ or ‘Graduate Award’. These Awards typically gather together work experience, volunteering and extra- curricular activity into a certificate or accreditation which gives an indicator of employability development undertaken. Universities should be applauded for taking the initiative in this area, but these awards face a similar challenge to the 2:1 in the sense that it is hard for recruiters to know if an award from one university is the same as an award from another. As ever, the route through this challenge almost certainly lies in the strengthening of relationships between graduate employers and universities. By identifying appropriate partnerships, graduate recruiters and universities can work together to co-create awards/ accreditations and better understand the specific qualities of graduates from a certain course/university. For graduate recruiters this means constantly analysing what makes a successful hire in your organisation, and understanding the competencies, values and strengths mix that underlies this so you know exactly what you are looking for at all stages of the attraction and selection process. For universities this means factoring employer thinking into employability development, and clearly communicating the distinctive nature of your graduates. In an environment where all of these things are happening, a 2:1 could become a smaller part of the overall picture.
www.gradcore.co.uk
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