The REC has welcomed reports that UK universities are looking to award students extra marks to their degrees if they can show ‘corporate skills’ or experience in the jobs market. The need for academic institutions to prepare students for the world of work was one of the key recommendations in the final report of the REC’s Youth Employment Taskforce that was published last year.
Examples of recent progress include developing presentation and facilitation skills, giving marks for work experience and generally making workplace skills a mandatory element of degree courses. This is already a compulsory part of vocationally-oriented undergraduate degrees, such as engineering.
The REC’s monthly JobsOutlook survey shows that sought-after skills for employers include commercial awareness, project management and negotiation skills as well as ‘usual suspects’ such as communication and teamworking skills.
Picking up on the significance of these recent developments within the higher education sector, Tom Hadley, the REC’s Director of Policy and Professional Services says:
“Making employability skills an intrinsic element of degree courses is a positive step forward. It will enable graduates to compete in a difficult and evolving jobs market and will help to build better bridges into the world of work. It is also in the interests of the universities themselves as students will increasingly base their decision on where to study on whether they think it will prepare them for the jobs market – particularly in light of increasing tuition fees.
“Recruiters can make a real difference by working with schools and universities to raise awareness of future job opportunities and of the skills that employers are looking for. This is something that the REC will continue to promote through our links with organisations such as the Education and Employers Taskforce.”
For more information on the REC Youth Employment Taskforce go to: http://www.rec.uk.com/about-recruitment/externalrelations/campaigns/youth-taskforce
