Refer Graduates To GRB And Claim £100

Refer a friend now and claim £100 when we find them a job. It’s really simple and it works!

- Get your freinds to complete the form below
- When we find them a job we’ll give you £100.

Refer your friends to this short registration form now!
http://www.grb.uk.com/Jobs/shortform/ShortForm.aspx?id=339&name=MGM

6 Mistakes New Grads Make in Their First Jobs

Useful tips here on this site for grads about to enter the world of work.

1. Thinking that because you have your degree, you shouldn't have to do grunt work.
2. Not being thorough.
3. Thinking that what you post on social networking sites doesn't matter.
4. Procrastinating.
5. Not putting effort into forming relationships with older colleagues.
6. Not saying "thank you."

Read more > 6 Mistakes New Grads Make in Their First Jobs

GRB Graduate on Radio 1 Newsbeat Today at 12:45pm

Great news! Rhiannon Jenkins, an Oxford University Chemistry graduate we placed last month is being interviewed today on Radio 1. Listen in today at 12:45pm!

Reasons To Be Cheerful

There is a massive disconnect at the moment between what graduates think the jobs market is like and what is actually occurring! If you're reading this then spread the word because it's really not all doom and gloom. Only today I read a survey showing over 50% of finalists were not confident finding a graduate job whereas in fact, among the large traditional graduate recruiters, they have 30% of their vacancies UNFILLED! So get searching for these employers - look at the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers, use your Careers Service, network like mad and use specialist recruitment agencies like GRB.

Unpaid Internships

I recently gave advice on hiring interns for employers following a briefing by the CIPD however across the pond it seems the norm for students to work on unpaid internships and as such is creating a huge backlash from students who don't have the opportunity to work for nothing. I found this article in the NY Times "The Unpaid Intern, Legal Or Not" however the comments say more than the article!

As a member of CIPD, a professional association for those involved in Human Resources, I get to meet some very interesting people and attend some thought-provoking seminars. I went to one last night and it got me thinking about how graduates could use what I learnt.

The subject was effective communication and looked at how you first need to know about different personality types, including yourself, and then being able to adapt your communication style to suit. I found several crude versions of the test we used last night based on Earth, Wind, Fire and Water personality types. Google it and see what you find . Here's a list of personality tests I found.

Are You Top Of The Pops?

With over 270,000 students about to graduate and enter the world of work I thought we should ask them what sectors they are making a beeline for. The results should give recruiters a realistic idea about what response they are likely to get to their graduate recruitment campaigns.

So which sector has got "it" and which hasn't in the eyes of graduates?

1. Marketing, PR or Media 21%
2. Engineering 16%
3. Banking, Finance and Insurance 16%
4. IT 13%
5. Accountancy 9%
6. Public Sector (Teaching, Nursing, etc) 9%
7. Law 8%
8. Charity 6%
9. Retail/FMCG 2%

For more interesting insights to help you understand the graduate market discover more graduate poll results.

Oxford Graduates Land Job With Google

It seems to get the attention of the one of the worlds most popular firms is to prove your idea works first!

Securing a graduate job this Summer is going to be tough so being innovative can really pay off. Oxford graduates, Mark Cummins and James Philbin, set up PlinkArt a painting recognition app that caught the attention of Google HQ. Spotting a niche, Google talent scouts approached the pair, made them an offer and hired them. What a day that must have been!

Having studied mobile geometry the pair will now be focusing their talents on Google Goggles, the group's first photo-based visual search engine.

How Will The General Election Affect Graduates?

My contacts in the graduate recruitment industry are extensive and enable me to bring you exclusives from time to time. Here's one from the industry's main spokesperson, Carl Gilleard, Chief Exec of the Association of Graduate Recruiters.

"Have you noticed that there's a general election taking place on 6 May? You would have to been living the life of a hermit to have missed all the media hype that’s been generated since the dissolution of Parliament a week ago and there's still a month of campaigning to go!

A question for employers, parents, students and academics to consider is 'Will the election make any difference?' The result itself may not immediately make an impact although a hung parliament might send jitters through the markets and impact negatively on business confidence and prospects.

But what of specific policies in relation to higher education and graduate recruitment? Last month AGR (The Association of Graduate Recruiters) launched its first ever election manifesto in which we made seven clear recommendations:

- Abolish the 50% target for HE participation
- Lift the cap off student tuition fees and drive up standards
- Embed employability skills in all courses
- Introduce the Higher Education Achievement Report to provide recruiters with more meaningful data on which to base selection
- Strengthen university and schools careers services
- Introduce tax breaks for employers of graduates
- Introduce a more flexible visa system for employers.

All seven recommendations are intended to raise standards and create more and better opportunities for graduates. How much notice an incoming government will take of the manifesto remains to be seen but one thing is certain the challenges of funding cuts in Higher Education while at the same time safeguarding if not improving standards is one that will not go away.

Not unexpectedly, the proposal to remove the cap on tuition fees attracted most reaction especially from students themselves. We suggest removing the cap gradually to enable prospective students and their families to make provision. We also propose safeguards to ensure the most disadvantaged students are protected. And it should be remembered that tuition fees are only repayable when the graduate is in employment and currently earning a salary of more than £15,000. Repayment of fees is at a very competitive interest rate and spread over many years.

Of course, we would all like to provide 'free' higher education but there is no such thing as 'free' education. Someone pays and in our view it is right that the students themselves should contribute a proportion of the overall cost as they benefit from higher education especially if the experience is a quality one and quality does not come cheap! We expect student expectations to rise as they pay more and that in itself will help to drive up standards.

Given the choice between quantity and quality in Higher Education we are certain that employers too will vote for quality. You can find the full manifesto at www.agr.org.uk. Happy electioneering!"

Using Social Networking For Recruiting

Social networking sites like Facebook or Linkedin are becoming increasingly popular and are unavoidable in day to day life. A recent GRB poll of 500 students said that 73% felt it was an invasion of privacy for an employer to "snoop" on their profile so what's a recruiter to do?

Making the best recruitment decision comes down to having as much information on a potential candidate in order to judge their suitability. Typically we resort to CVs, Interviews, Assessment Centres and the like but now employers are including social networking sites as another slice of information on which to base their decision.

There are no rules restricting the use of these sites however employers run the risk of attracting claims for discrimination. For instance if an employer announced she was pregnant and as a result you retract an employment offer you could liable if there is any documentation pertaining to show that this announcement led to the retraction.

I think most employers understand students make the most of university life and now have a way to express this openly online. To other generations this seems way too revealing and question why they would want to let the world see some of the things that get posted but unless something is seriously anti-social, illegal or defamatory users of social networking sites should have nothing to fear. For selectors, by all means take a look once the decision has been made to hire someone but where it can really help is especially if you have a few people starting as you can contact them all through Facebook and get them talking to each other before they start. See it as a pre-induction strategy to spend time communicating with employees before they start which will help them settle in better to your firm and everyone benefits.

Good News

This is the kind of thing the nation wants to see more of - especially graduates about to enter the job market. Email me any similar stories to feature on my blog! dan@grb.uk.com

Half Full or Half Empty?

It fascinates me how people lap up bad news over good - Is it schadenfreude or the just the British state of mind?! Take graduate recruitment. I have been interviewed on BBC Radio recently in response to surveys showing lack of jobs for graduates; questioning the "value" of degrees or how graduates are two-a-penny and I counter all these arguments because I see things differently.

Every graduate will find their degree helps them get a job in some form or another. My company, GRB, has launched the successful careers of thousands of highly capable, switched-on graduates and it gives me great satisfaction to use them as examples against the doom and gloom so often portrayed by the media. In fact I relish the opportunity to show the glass is half full and graduates DO go on to lead fantastic, and very influential, careers in their lifetime as a result of their investment in their higher education. So my message to graduates is not to give up, keep trying and you will find your rightful place in this world!