Looking for Graduate Work in The Uk - The uk graduate recruitment market - Part 3/4

Welcome to section 3 of Looking for graduate work in the UK, this section will look at the UK graduate recruitment market. The figures on this slide are taken from a survey of big graduate recruiters called “High fliers”. The most recent version of this report was very positive about the UK graduate job market with 2014 forecast to be the best in some time. The University of Edinburgh’s vacancies also reflect this with the number of graduate vacancies the Careers Service advertises increasing by 20% in the last year. Which is great news for any international student looking for UK jobs. In particular sectors that are reported as doing well in the UK include the public sector, accountancy and professional services, investment banking, retail and engineering and manufacturing. What does this mean for graduate recruitment? Generally speaking UK graduate recruiters can be split into two types. First we have large companies – often multinationals – these tend to be household names such as banks, supermarkets, manufacturing and blue chip companies. These organisations recruit hundreds and even thousands of graduates a year. They often offer generous salaries and training opportunities. These are the companies that have graduate training schemes and you are likely to see them around campus – they need to work hard to recruit all the graduates they need. Often but not always they will require a 2.1 at undergraduate and they tend to recruit early in the year with schemes closing from around November onwards. If you are currently on a Tier 4 visa then these employers can be a good area to focus as they will often be on the Home Office list of sponsoring organisations and are likely to pay a salary that meets the minimum salary requirement for a Tier 2 visa application. If this kind of organisation does not appeal to you – or you want to work in an industry where companies like this don’t really operate – for example charities or media – then you will need to think about applying for smaller companies. These companies tend to recruit in small numbers and so are unlikely to offer structured graduate training programme. You are also less likely to see them around campus. Many of our graduate go on to work for smaller companies however. Often they will recruit later in the year – from January or February onwards. They are also more likely to be flexible on their entry requirements so if you don’t have a 2.1 they may be a good option. Usually the application process will be more straightforward with a CV and cover letter or an application form and then an interview. You can find these vacancies on MyCareerHub. You can also try to get in touch with this type of organisation directly – even if they are not currently advertising a vacancy. This is known as a speculative application which is where you contact the company with a brief introductory email or letter along with your CV. This approach can be effective if you know what area you want to work in after graduation. If you want to find out more about making this kind of approach to employers come in to the Careers Service for some help. For more information on how we can help you please look at section 4 of this talk.