ONE IN THREE GRADUATES ADMIT THEY COULD HAVE TRIED HARDER

With more and more employers using the 2:1 degree class as a screening tool in the graduate job selection process, a timely survey from Graduate Recruitment Bureau (GRB) reveals that 35% of respondents with a 2:2 admitted they did not work hard enough to get the grades.


According to Dan Hawes, GRB Co-Founder, "This refreshing honesty among graduates is welcome and might actually help them to find ways of overcoming what increasingly appears to be a barrier to graduate jobs. Employers do appreciate frankness and those who do not stick rigidly to the 2:1 class when screening candidates may well be impressed with a candidate who admits that they could have worked harder as long as they emphasise what else they have to offer."

A surprisingly high number of respondents pointed to external factors affecting their performance – financial, health and family issues affected 21% of graduates suggesting that employers should not jump to conclusions why results might have been low. A further 15% felt that the course they studied was much harder than they expected while 22% admitted that they did the best they could do suggesting perhaps that they were satisfied with their results.

Reflecting on the results, Hawes commented, "There is a growing emphasis on the need to achieve a 2:1 but employers should be reminded that the degree classification system in the UK is not intended to be a national standard so comparing one candidate with another on the basis of their degree award is potentially misleading. The results of this survey also suggest that other factors can affect individual performance. I'd suggest that recruiters of graduates, despite the rising number of applicants in the economic downturn, do their best to treat each application on its own merit and not to make assumptions as to why someone should obtain a lower second or a third class degree for that matter."