Skills, Knowledge and Attitude

Submitted by wendii on Fri, 02/03/2012 - 20:17.
in

On PersonnelToday's website, there's a summary of a report of a survey by XpertHR which says that in the UK at least, employers say there are too few graduates to fill entry level positions. I was intrigued by this, because we hear a lot of 'the last 2/3 graduating classes haven't got jobs due to the recession and are therefore stuck'.

80% of those surveyed though, said that the problem was the actual number of graduates, but the quality. They 'faced difficulties recruiting graduates due to a lack of skills, knowledge or the attitudes of the candidates'. According to the article, this is the second survey in as many weeks to have this finding.

What strikes me about this statistic is that two of the three, graduates can easily change, themselves, without any cost. Changing your attitude is as easy as deciding to. Getting more knowledge is as easy as going to the library (and most graduates have access to their college library for several years after they leave). Skills is harder, but there's nothing to stop you practicing your excel skills at home. If the problem for graduates getting jobs really is just skills, knowledge and attitude, it's an easy problem to solve.

http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2012/02/01/58316/too-few-applican...

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acao162's picture
Submitted by acao162 on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 15:39.

Wage Dis-connect

One other problem I've had with filling entry level positions is that new grads seem to have a real mis-understanding of what an entry level job pays. I lost 5 qualified candidates because their starting salary requirement is more than I make after 10 years.

In addition to the wages, the new grads don't want to start at the bottom.  They think because someone gave them a shiny new BA they should be a manager, with 4 weeks vacation, a nice office and an assistant. 

(And for the record, after 10 years, I get 3 weeks vacation and a nice office.  I'm still waiting for the assistant...)

ratpfink's picture
Submitted by ratpfink on Mon, 02/20/2012 - 23:48.

I should be a manager

 I will graduate next spring with a BBA and not fewer than a half dozen instructors have explicitly or implicitly stated that we will all be in management in a few years. So maybe schools are giving students a poor sense of expectations in their post-graduate job search...