UK | Universities | An “F” on employability

Good-quality, independent careers advice has never been needed more in universities. According to recent figures from the Office for National Statistics, in the final quarter of 2011, the graduate unemployment rate stood at 18.9% – almost one in five, and very slightly below the spike of 20% in the third quarter of 2010. And with fees set to rise to £9,000 in many institutions from September, many predict that students will become far more discerning “customers”, so university careers services will need to up their game.

Following last year’s higher education white paper, universities will be required to publish data on how many of their graduates get jobs – making “employability” the new buzzword in universities. But providing careers advice is only part of the story, says Candi Hindocha, who graduated last year from Lincoln University with a journalism degree. Given that new types of job are emerging all the time, students need access to industry-specific advice and guidance, she says. “It’s about contacts: if they’d [the university careers service] had specialist advisers for different parts of the university, it would have helped people a lot more.”…

Source:

Read More @ Universities failing on ’employability’, students say | Education | The Guardian.

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