Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009 Dan Davies, Lucy Dinsdale, Nicola Turner
www.graduateadvantage.co.uk Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
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Contents List of Figures Rationale Aims & Objectives Background Industry Information The West Midlands’ Labour Market Skills Gaps Information Regional Business Diversity High Technology Corridors & Business Parks Graduate Employment by Sector Graduate Employment by SOC code Graduate Employment by Geographical Area SMEs vs Large Companies Graduate Packages Offered by SMEs Graduate Salary Information The Cost of Living in the West Midlands Transport Links in the West Midlands Methods Used to Recruit Graduates Job-hunting Strategies and the Hidden Labour Market
3 5 6 7 11 12 19 21 23 27 30 35 40 44 48 51 54 56
Regional Information Pages: • Metropolitan Boroughs • Shropshire • Worcestershire • Herefordshire • Staffordshire • Warwickshire
62 78 85 92 100 107
Graduate Case studies: • Birmingham • Shrewsbury • Worcestershire • Leominster • Staffordshire • Leamington Spa
70 83 90 98 105 113
•
Summary Key Recommendations Next Steps References Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
120 122 125 127 2
List of Figures 1
Businesses in West Midlands by company size
7
2
Businesses in the West Midlands by business sector
8
3
Definitions of business categories
9
4
All people economically active in the West Midlands
11
5
Skills gaps in the West Midlands
12
6 7
Proportion of graduate employers that feel graduates lack business and industry-specific skills Proportion of graduates and employers that see ‘soft’ skills as key to securing employment
13 14
8
West Midlands’ skills gaps by sector
15
9
Proportion of employers that highlight deficiencies in ‘soft’ skills among graduates
17
10
High Technology Corridors in the West Midlands
22
11
Graduates in work by sector
24
12
Proportion of graduate employers that feel graduates are critical to their business success
25
13
Proportion of graduate employers who have encountered recruitment difficulties
26
14
HE leavers into work in the West Midlands
27
15
General nature of qualifications, training and experience for occupations in SOC major groups
28
16
Graduates and non-graduates in work
29
17
Graduates into graduate-level work
30
18
Graduates into graduate level work in the West Midlands
31
19
Graduates into work by sector in the West Midlands
32
20
Business sizes in the West Midlands
36
21
Proportion of graduate employers that provide formal graduate training
38
22
Most popular benefit by provision by employer size
41
23
Average UK graduate salaries by region
44
24
Key salary and vacancy data
45
25
Graduate vacancy and salary information
46
26
Rental prices across the West Midlands
48
27
Average house prices in the UK and West Midlands
49
28
Housing prices by county
49
29
Map of rail network for the West Midlands
52
30
Seven steps to making speculative applications
59
31
Graduates into employment by sector in Metropolitan Boroughs
63
32
Graduates into employment by sector in Metropolitan Boroughs
64
33
Businesses by sector across the Metropolitan Boroughs
65
Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
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34
Newspaper job advertising across the Metropolitan Boroughs
69
35
Graduates into employment by sector in Shropshire
78
36
Graduates into employment by sector in Shropshire
79
37
Businesses by sector across Shropshire
80
38
Graduates into employment by sector in Worcestershire
85
39
Graduates into employment by sector in Worcestershire
86
40
Businesses by sector across Worcestershire
87
41
Newspaper job advertising across Worcestershire
89
42
Graduates into employment by sector in Herefordshire
93
43
Graduates into employment by sector in Herefordshire
94
44
Businesses by sector across Herefordshire
95
45
Graduates into employment by sector in Staffordshire
100
46
Graduates into employment by sector in Staffordshire
101
47
Businesses by sector across Staffordshire
102
48
Graduates into employment by sector in Warwickshire
108
49
Graduates into employment by sector in Warwickshire
109
50
Businesses by sector across Warwickshire
110
51
Newspaper job advertising across Warwickshire
112
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Rationale The nature of the work at Graduate Advantage offers a unique insight into the regional graduate labour market. Graduate Advantage is known for assisting those who have just left university to find work with businesses based in the West Midlands and helping companies to find the right person with higher-level skills. As a result, we are often asked to provide advice or comment on this marketplace from the standpoint of a small or medium size enterprise (SME) or a graduate.
Our experience is that information about the labour market in the West Midlands is widespread but contained in disparate sources and formats, which does not identify the market specifically. Our University Partners and graduate users have reported difficulties in accessing suitable information.
Although ample data and research exists, there are two main challenges: specific facts about graduates are difficult to separate, and the data sets do not compare easily. We have not found any information produced with graduates in mind. From its position as a specialist intermediary, Graduate Advantage is well placed collate the most relevant information into a format suitable for graduate job seekers.
Another objective of this report is to use this information to give graduates an insight into what employers are thinking, what they are looking for in a new graduate, and what graduates can do themselves to increase their chances of employment. To this end we are well placed to highlight information that might not at first appear relevant to graduate job seekers. Organisations such as the Institute of Directors (IoD) and Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) produce information that is directly relevant to graduates, even though the research is usually targeted to businesses.
Graduate Advantage anticipates this summarised Labour Market Information being used to help final-year students and graduates focus on the sectors that are actively recruiting and to use the report recommendations to inform their own job searches and manage their own careers. By making the market position clearer we hope it will enable graduates to decide for themselves the opportunities and attractions of the region. We believe that when graduates access targeted information that highlights the choice and the activity in this regional labour marketplace it will encourage more to stay here after graduation. Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
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Aims & Objectives This LMI project will therefore investigate the information currently available through existing research from the following: •
West Midlands Regional Observatory (WMRO)
•
Prospects
•
Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
•
Sector Skills Council (SSC)
•
National Employer Skills Survey (NESS)
•
NOMIS (Job Centre)
This will be collated and arranged into a set of data that is of use to the intended audience — graduate job seekers.
This document aims to inform careers services of the full scope of the work undertaken and seeks their comment on the data, the recommendations and the distribution of the information.
This report intends to show how graduates entering the labour market are perceived by businesses in the West Midlands and to identify, region-by-region, any sector-specific ‘hot spots’ or geographic concentrations for graduate recruitment and retention.
It is believed that the work undertaken by Graduate Advantage will leave a useful legacy by providing careers services with a document focusing specifically on the local graduate labour market, so it can be used as a careers resource.
The ultimate aim is to positively inform and influence the job seeking process of graduates from regional Universities with the aim of retaining more graduates in the region.
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Background Industry Information Figures from Business Link West Midlands in March 2007, report a total of 186,660 companies in the West Midlands of which more than 99% are classed as small or medium sized enterprises1, commonly recognised through the acronym SME.
Figure 1: Businesses in West Midlands by company size 60,000
54,650
54,605
39,360 40,000 30,000 18,915
20,000
10,165 10,000
1,690
830
170
730
100-199
200-249
250 +
5,545
50-99
Number of businesses
50,000
20-49
10-19
4-6
2-4
1
0
0
Num ber of em ployees
* Source: Office for National Statistics, Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR), March 2007
Large company graduate training schemes have a high profile on many university campuses across the West Midlands, to the extent that graduates can be led to believe that these schemes are the only viable career option following graduation. In reality, many graduates choose to work for small and medium sized companies for a variety of reasons including: •
desire to work locally
•
preference for working in a small company
•
initial temporary role following graduation, which then becomes more permanent
1
A company is classified as a small or medium enterprise if it is an enterprise with fewer than 250 employees and has an annual turnover not exceeding 50 million euro or an annual balance sheet not exceeding 43 million euro. (Source: European Commission, 2005)
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Should graduates choose to remain in the West Midlands, or move to the area following graduation, they are making a decision to work in a region with a wide range of business sectors as demonstrated in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Businesses in the West Midlands by sector
Numbers of Businesses in the West Midlands Manufacturing
No . o f Bu sinesses
60,000
Construction
50,000
Retail/W holesale
40,000
Hotels/Restaurants
30,000
Trans/Storage/Comms
20,000
Finance
10,000
Real Estate Public/Defence
0 1 Business Sectors
Education Health/Social Other Community
*Source: ONS Statistics 2007
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To assist interpretation, Figure 3 clarifies the business sector categories as shown in the graph on the previous page and to give examples of the typical businesses in each category.
Figure 3: Definitions of Business Categories
Sector Category
Typical Industries/Businesses
Manufacturing
Food, printing, chemicals, plastics, metals, machinery, medical, furniture, equipment
Construction
Demolition, drilling, roofing, highways, plastering, flooring etc.
Retail/Wholesale
Wholesale & commission trade, retail trade (except motor vehicles), repair of personal/household goods
Hotels/Restaurants
Hotels, camping sites, hostels, restaurants, takeaways, public houses & bars
Transport/Storage/Communications
Land transport, pipelines, auxiliary transport, travel agencies, post & courier services, telecommunications
Finance
Financial services (except insurance & pensions), Insurance and Pensions (except social security)
Real Estate (includes IT & Business)
Property development, renting machinery & equipment, computer and related activities (IT), research & development, other business activities
Public/Defence
Public admin, defence, social security, collection & purification of water, other service activities
Education
Primary, secondary teaching, FE & HE education, driving schools. Training
Health/Social
Hospital, human & animal health, dental, social work, care work, social accommodation
Other Community
Activities of community not elsewhere mentioned, private household employed persons, recreational & sports activities
*Categories and business sectors according to SIC codes
Defining a single set of business categories for this report has been challenging, as every source of data uses different categories. For example, the largest category in this table was ‘Real Estate’ but we found that it included much more than the everyday use of that term suggests and appears to be an amalgamation of many different sectors.
The grouping included everything from rented units, property maintenance, computer-related business and other business categories. This category will therefore be of interest to a wide section of job seeking graduates, despite its title. Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
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For consistency and ease of reference in this report, the sector described as ‘Real Estate’ here, will be termed as Property, Leasing & Business and covers property development/maintenance, equipment hire/leasing and, significantly for graduates, ‘other business’, which includes ‘computer related’ and the IT industry.
Following Property, Leasing and Business, the next three largest sectors in the West Midlands are Retail/Wholesale (45,750), Construction (19,100) and Manufacturing (18,950)2.
1
These figures have been rounded up/down to the nearest 50 by request of ONS according to their policies for data reproduction.
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The West Midlands Labour Market The labour market in general terms, not with graduates specifically in mind, can be used at this point to provide a wide perspective over the West Midlands and illustrate the figures for employment rates. According to the NOMIS figures, focused on providing official labour market statistics, the West Midlands has an overall employment rate of 72.9% compared to a UK average of 74.3%. These figures are based on results in the NOMIS survey for January 2006 – December 2006. In the same period, NOMIS also suggests that there were 4% of people looking for work compared with 4.4% nationally. The image provided by NOMIS for the West Midlands is as shown below.
Figure 4: All People Economically Active in the West Midlands
< 73.36%
< 77.82%
< 82.28%
< 86.74%
< 91.2%
This map shows the areas where unemployment is highest in the West Midlands according to the Job Centre NOMIS data. The full interactive map is available through the website: www.nomisweb.co.uk. The areas with the lowest employment are Birmingham (68.9%), Sandwell (70.1%), Walsall (72.5%) and Newcastle-underLyme (72.6%). This is in contrast to regions such as Bromsgrove (91.2%) and Malvern Hills (85.2%). Information such as this should give graduates an overall view of the relative employment rates across the West Midlands. Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
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Skills Gaps Information in the West Midlands The National Employer Skills Survey 2005 defines the term ‘skills gap’ as a “lack in proficiency in a particular skill of any member of staff in an establishment”. The figures from the 2005 report (Figure 5) suggest that the West Midlands has higher rates of skill gaps compared to the average for England.
Figure 5: Skills Gaps in the West Midlands
Skills Technical, practical or job-specific skills Customer handling skills Written communication skills Oral communication skills Literacy skills Problem-solving skills Management skills Team-working skills Numeracy skills General IT user skills Foreign language skills Office/admin skills IT professional skills
WM %
England %
60 46 45 43 43 40 36 35 27 19 19 16 12
53 38 31 35 28 34 24 34 23 13 13 14 10
*Figures taken from NESS05 Report
Although this information does not directly focus on graduate positions, it is indicative of a region where employers are struggling to find the right candidates for the positions they advertise. Graduates looking to develop their career in the West Midlands would be well advised to note these skills gaps and take actions to ensure that they are able to meet the requirements of future employers.
The skills gaps noted in Figure 5, above, fall broadly into two categories – jobspecific and transferable skills. The fact that 60% of employers in the West Midlands reported a gap in a technical, practical or job-specific skill is concerning.
A similar pattern regarding graduates’ lack of business and industry-specific skills was found in research undertaken in 2008 by the West Midlands Regional Observatory, see Figure 6, below. Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
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Figure 6: Proportion of graduate employers that feel graduates lack business and industry-specific skills www.wmro
All graduate employers
Manufacturing, engineering, constuction & utilities
Other services
Knowledge based services
Public sector services
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Proportion of graduate employers
*Ipsos MORI survey of graduate employers / West Midlands Regional Observatory 2008
Given the strong evidence to suggest that employers seek graduates who are more ‘work ready’ with business and industry-specific skills, the importance of work experience cannot be over-emphasised. Whilst a proportion of students in the West Midlands undertake a year in industry as part of their degree, many more opt for a formal part-time placement over a summer holiday or during term time.
There are several statutory funded schemes operating across the West Midlands and the United Kingdom, that provide the opportunity for students and graduates to develop business-awareness and specific knowledge of the industry in which they wish to develop their career. It is the recommendation of this report that work experience continues to be promoted across universities as an essential career development strategy. Furthermore, promotion should also continue to be undertaken with companies who will ultimately provide such opportunities.
Whilst work experience can provide the opportunity to develop specific industry-related skills, it is also one of the most valuable ways in which ‘soft’ or ‘transferable’ skills can be developed. Anecdotal evidence from employers, the media and research clearly suggests that the skills referred to as ‘transferable’ are often the key to securing employment. Research by Andrews and Higson (Figure 7) demonstrates this belief across employers and graduates alike. Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
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Figure 7: Proportion of graduates and employers that see ‘soft’ skills as key to securing employment Competencies
Proportion of
Proportion of
graduates
employers
Communication skills
94%
96%
Team-working and relationship building
92%
85%
Self and time management
92%
82%
Ability to see the bigger picture
88%
74%
Influencing and persuading abilities
86%
78%
Problem-solving abilities
86%
75%
Leadership abilities
75%
60%
Presentation skills
74%
88%
*J Andrews and H Higson: education, employment and graduate skills, 2007
Many careers and employability services in West Midlands’ universities provide training courses focusing on transferable skills. These should be promoted to students and graduates seeking work in the West Midlands and links will be given on the Fact Sheets.
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Figure 8 gives further detail on skills gaps relating to specific sectors. Using this table, we can highlight where work can be done to increase a graduate’s chances of finding work.
Figure 8: West Midlands Skills Gaps by Sector Main 3 skills gap areas
Higher than average skills gaps
Agriculture
Technical and practical skills (69%) Problem-solving skills (35%) Oral communication skills (34%)
Technical and practical skills
Engineering
Technical and practical skills (67%) Team-working skills (57%) Problemsolving skills (57%)
Technical and practical skills Problem-solving
Other manufacturing
Team-working skills (55%) Technical and practical skills (48%) Problemsolving (43%)
N/A
Electricity, gas & water
Oral Communication (74%) Written communication (59%)
Oral communication Written communication Management skills Office admin skills
Construction
Technical and practical skills (62%) Customer handling skills (55%)
Written communication
Wholesale and retail
Customer handling skills (60%) Team-working skills (56%) Oral Communication (54%)
Customer handling
Hotels and restaurants
Customer handling skills (80%) Team-working skills (66%) Oral Communication (62%)
Customer handling skills Teamworking skills Oral Communication
Transport
Oral communication skills (58%) Technical and practical skills (57%) Problem-solving (53%)
Written communication Numeracy
Business & professional services
Customer handling (58%) Technical and practical skills (48%) Oral Communication (36%)
N/A
ICT and telecoms
Oral Communication (72%) Technical and practical skills (52%) Customer handling (45%)
Oral communication Management skills IT professional skills
Public administration
Team-working skills (69%) Oral communication (60%) Customer handling (54%)
Team-working skills Oral communication Written communication Literacy
Education
Team-working skills (60%) Technical and practical skills (58%) Oral communication (50%)
General IT user skills
Health & social work
Technical and practical skills (66%) Literacy skills (43%) Team-working skills (42%)
Technical and practical skills Literacy skills
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In the case of ICT & Telecoms, the highest reported skills gap can clearly be seen as ‘Oral Communication’ with 72% reported. This means that of those vacancies that have been declared as ‘Hard to fill’, 72% of employers have stated that the oral communications of candidates is an issue. This is also one of the main skills gaps in the remaining business sectors and is an opportunity for graduates to present this as a positive skill, possibly enhancing chances of success over candidates with previous experience.
Secondly, and also within ‘ICT & Telecoms’, there is a reported 45% lack of ‘Customer Handling’ skills. This is replicated in other sectors (Construction 55%; Wholesale/Retail 60%; Business & Professional 58%) and is something that graduates and careers services can target.
The third column in Figure 8 shows those skills gaps that are higher than the UK average in the West Midlands. Once again, it is useful to point out that many of these reported gaps are ‘transferable’ skills such as written communication, team-working skills, oral communication and numeracy. The recommendation of this report would be to use this table as a focus in helping graduates to increase their employability.
Some of the key areas that absorb graduates in the West Midlands such as Business & Professional Services, Public Administration, Education, ICT and Telecoms all report higher than average skills gaps in oral communications, so graduates thinking of going into these sectors should be looking for opportunities to practice and develop. Suggestions for this could include becoming more active in chairing society meetings and university groups, presenting ideas formally or informally, contributing more in meetings or group work, or seeking out more opportunities to speak to people outside their peer group. The careers services will perhaps have ideas where graduates can access more opportunities locally such as joining organisations that offer training in public speaking or presentation practice.
Other essential skills that many candidates lack are customer handling, team working or technical/practical skills. Suggestions for gaining these types of experience would be to find voluntary or part-time work experience or student work experience placements, which have proven to be key in many graduates being successful in job applications. If graduates can be advised on how to acquire the Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
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necessary skills and then be shown how to present these when applying for jobs or in interviews, they stand a greater chance of getting jobs over and above more experienced candidates, thereby seriously enhancing their employability.
Whilst the importance of transferable skills in the workplace cannot be over-emphasised, it is interesting to note the results of some recent research amongst employers in the West Midlands.
A study commissioned by the West Midlands Regional Observatory in 2008 compared the views of two groups; the first being graduate employers and the second, a random sample of companies. This is, in effect, a comparison of perception versus reality and the results, shown in Figure 9 provide some notable outcomes.
In every one of the four transferable skills areas on which employers were questioned, the companies with a history of recruiting graduates had far fewer concerns over their transferable skills than those companies chosen at random. Figure 9: Proportion of employers that highlight deficiencies in ‘soft’ skills among graduates
Communication with clients and customers
Attitude to work
Graduate employers
Communication within the organisation
Random sample of employers
Team working
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Proportion of employers
*Ipsos MORI survey of graduate employers/West Midlands Regional Observatory 2008
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This concept of perception versus reality is surely one of the largest challenges facing today’s students and graduates. Whilst graduates can take the opportunity to raise their employability through gaining necessary skills, universities and statutory agencies have a role to play in challenging perceptions of graduates in the business community and highlighting the benefits they can bring.
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Regional Business Diversity Before moving the focus of this report to the county-by-county look at businesses and graduate activity across the West Midlands, it would be useful to see the figures from different sources that provide insight into the commercial make-up of the region.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is an active group focusing on the requirements of small businesses in the UK. As the proportion of SMEs is increasing, this organisation becomes more important as a voice for small businesses and can give a good view of their specific needs. The research paper ‘Lifting the Barriers to Growth in UK Small Businesses’ (FSB West Midlands, Biennial Membership Survey 2006) provides valuable information on areas of difficulty that has been experienced by SMEs. Such information could be of use to job-seeking graduates.
The FSB report reiterates the feeling amongst the business community in the West Midlands in relation to skills and training as discussed in the previous section on Skills Gaps. The report adds further weight to the research of WMRO in highlighting employers’ concerns regarding the lack of transferable skills in the West Midlands workforce: “Between one-third and one-quarter of business owners in the West Midlands report shortages of advanced IT skills, managerial skills, sales and marketing skills, communication skills, customer service skills and basic IT skills amongst their current staff. Compared with other regions, problems are worse in the West Midlands with respect to customer skills and basic IT skills, but relatively better with respect to technical skills and literacy“ (Federation of Small Businesses: ‘Lifting the Barriers to Growth in UK Small Businesses’ 2006)
The report also gives an insight into the nature and diversity of businesses in the West Midlands, which can be of interest to graduates looking to stay in the region. Graduates are interested in where to find companies for which they would like to work. The FSB report states that: “Nearly one-quarter of West Midlands businesses operate from a business park/industrial estate (24%).” (Federation of Small Businesses: ‘Lifting the Barriers to Growth in UK Small Businesses’ 2006) Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
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This could be of particular interest to graduates looking to find work through speculative approaches to businesses based on business parks and industrial estates. In the Fact Sheets produced alongside this report there is information for each county highlighting the main business and science parks in the area with contact details to enable graduates to conduct their own research. The figure provided by the FSB accounts for a large number of businesses in the West Midlands based on business parks and offers a lot of potential for graduates willing to make speculative applications.
To further highlight the diversity of business location in the West Midlands the FSB reports suggests:
“Just under one-third of respondents operate from home (32%), the most common form of business premises for West Midlands businesses. The next most significant types of premises are factory, workshop or business unit (25%), offices (18%), retail/shop unit (17%). The West Midlands has the second highest proportion of businesses which operate from factory, workshop or business units (after Yorkshire and The Humber), and well above the UK average (19%).” (Federation of Small Businesses: ‘Lifting the Barriers to Growth in UK Small Businesses’ 2006)
The fact that the West Midlands has such a high proportion of factory/workshop business premises is perhaps a historical position based on the predominance of the West Midlands as a manufacturing region of the UK. The FSB report suggests: “Compared with the UK as a whole, Manufacturing is over-represented in the West Midlands (18% cf. 11% for the UK) and is the highest of any UK region…” (Federation of Small Businesses: ‘Lifting the Barriers to Growth in UK Small Businesses’ 2006)
This is interesting to see that manufacturing is still representative in the West Midlands and that it is still regarded as being over-represented compared to the other regions of the UK.
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High Technology Corridors and Business Parks The findings in the Business Diversity section disclosed that a large proportion of businesses, almost a quarter in the West Midlands, are based on Business Parks or Industrial Estates. This, therefore, creates an opportunity for graduate job seekers to focus their efforts and to research companies locally-based in such parks.
High Technology Corridors are areas worth a further mention. According to Advantage West Midlands, there are three areas, known as ‘belts’ or ‘corridors’ in the region where a mix of industry, business activity, research and development and new technology congregate. These designated areas are: •
The Central Technology Belt
•
The Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire Technology Corridor
•
The Wolverhampton to Telford Technology Corridor
The aim of these corridors has been to provide specialised areas to accommodate business needs and to encourage companies to settle and base their business in the West Midlands. According to AWM, the resulting activity from funding for these areas aims to: •
develop and improve the infrastructure of the corridors so that they offer a complete range of high-quality accommodation that satisfies the demands of technology-led businesses
•
promote and enable collaboration between businesses, academic and research institutions, to ensure businesses have access to, and benefit from, the local knowledge base
•
provide integrated business support services and investment funds to support design, research and development and the commercialisation of research to create new products and services
•
improve workshop and leadership skills so that existing and incoming businesses can recruit the high-quality, highly-skilled workforce they need
•
market the corridors as prime locations for technology-related, design, manufacturing and professional service businesses.
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Figure 10: High Technology Corridors in the West Midlands
Central Technology Belt This Corridor runs from central Birmingham to north Worcestershire and follows the line of the A38, drawing on the strengths of existing businesses, the universities of Birmingham and Aston and the former Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, QinetiQ, in Malvern. Identified areas of expertise include medical sciences, materials engineering and environmental technologies. Among the key projects funded through the Central Technology Belt are Longbridge Technology Park, Malvern Hill Science Park and the National Nanotechnology Centre.
The Coventry, Solihull, Warwickshire High Technology Corridor This is an area of strong, established high-technology transport, Information and Communications Technology and building technology businesses. These are supported by significant intellectual resources at the Universities of Coventry and Warwick and Warwick Manufacturing Group. These assets are being built upon to strengthen ICT and design cluster opportunities and provide benefits for all linked industries and technologies. Key projects in the Coventry, Solihull, Warwickshire Technology Corridor include the Serious Games Institute in Coventry and the ACT-UK National Centre for Advanced Construction.
Wolverhampton to Telford Technology Corridor The third corridor extends from Wolverhampton to Telford along the line of the M54. The University of Wolverhampton, which has an excellent reputation for working effectively with businesses, is a key asset to the corridor. Industry strengths include aerospace, advanced engineering and polymers which, along with growth areas such as information technology, building technologies and creative industries, are a key focus for the development of the corridor.
*Source: AWM Website, www.advantagewm.co.uk The businesses in these parks are often linked with universities in some capacity and the nature of their business, in terms of technology, means that they are more likely to target graduates in their recruitment strategies. The recommendation at this point would be for graduates to research these corridors through the Advantage West Midlands website – these links will be provided alongside key contact details in the Fact Sheets.
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Graduate Employment in the West Midlands by Sector Building on the previous discussion of the sectors and industries in the region, the focus now shifts to the distribution of graduates currently employed in specific industries. This will give an insight into those sectors that appear more receptive to graduate applicants, or simply reflect sectors where more graduates are employed.
The figures used are collated from HESA and show the numbers of graduates finding work within 6 months of leaving university. This data gives an overall view of graduate activity in the West Midlands. It could be useful for final-year students looking to put a geographical focus on their job search in the coming year and also for those graduates wanting to develop careers in the region.
For consistency, the HESA categories have been used in the remainder of this report and also in the Fact Sheets. The nature of the data from HESA means that the figures are divided into Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes and these have been collated into larger categories such as ‘Manufacturing’ or ‘Education’. For ease of reference, we recommend providing a selection of specific SIC codes for graduates to refer to and to show what types of position are involved.
It is important to note that this is a breakdown of graduates employed in certain sectors and does not take into account the skills gained by those graduates in relation to their studies. For example, someone may have studied computer science and will be working in the construction industry. This is intended to give a view of the highest rates of graduate employment.
The difficulty in the process of mapping areas/sectors for graduates is that different classifications of category are used by different research projects. As such, the category above for ‘Other’ is an amalgamation of those that do not strictly fit into the other more defined categories such as ‘Construction’ or ‘Manufacturing’. The sectors with the three highest percentages are as follows: Health/Social employs the highest proportion of graduate employees representing 29% of the graduates gaining employment in the West Midlands in 2006.
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Education is the second highest employer with 27%. The combined figure for ‘Health & Social Care’ and ‘Education’ accounts for 56% of graduates finding work in these sectors.
Property/Leasing/Business is the third largest category accounting for 14% of graduates. This category is more difficult to analyse than the previous categories as it is an amalgamation of real estate, property development, equipment hire/leasing and general business (including IT related business).
Figure 11 gives the figures for each sector:
Figure 11: Graduates in Work by Sector Sector Health/Social Education Property Leasing Business Public/Services Manufacturing Retail/Wholesale Other Finance Construction Transport/Comms Hotels/Restaurants Agric/Mining Total
No of Graduates 3642 3427 1757 1138 791 532 496 318 252 183 117 47 12700
% 28.7 27.0 13.8 8.9 6.2 4.1 3.9 2.5 1.9 1.4 0.9 0.3
*Figures taken from HESA survey 2005/2006
With a total of 64.6% of graduates gaining employment in Health and Social Care, Education and Public Services, the Public Sector in the West Midlands attracts a higher percentage of university graduates than other UK regions. However, recent research across graduate employers in the business community demonstrates a strong belief in the need for graduate and higher level skills to enable future business success (Figure 11).
Graduates seeking work in the Private Sector should be encouraged by these findings and can be safe in the knowledge that the public and private sectors provide ample graduate level job opportunities.
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Figure 12: Proportion of graduate employers that feel graduates are critical to their business success
www.wmro.org
All graduate employers
Manufacturing, engineering, constuction & utilities
Small and micro businesses
Public sector services
Knowledge based services
Other services
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Proportion of graduate employers
*Ipsos MORI survey of graduate employers/West Midlands Regional Observatory 2008
With this research in mind and given the potential ramifications for regional prosperity and economic growth through the involvement of graduates in the Private Sector, Advantage West Midlands is funding initiatives aimed at stimulating demand for graduates across the business community and in SMEs in particular.
Whilst on-going initiatives such as Graduate Advantage and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, in addition to work undertaken by individual university departments, might be helping to stimulate demand for graduates by employers, a worrying trend still exists.
Research by the West Midlands Regional Observatory points to concerning reports from employers on their difficulty in recruiting graduates. Of the sample of employers represented by the data in Figure 13, 22% reported problems in recruiting new graduates, while in industries such as manufacturing, more than half the sample had difficulties in recruiting experienced graduates.
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Figure 13: Proportion of graduate employers who have encountered recruitment difficulties
Manufacturing, engineering, constuction & utilities
*Ipsos MORI survey of graduate employers / West Midlands Regional Observatory2008 Small and micro businesses
All graduate employers
Knowledge based services
Public sector services
New graduates Experienced graduates
Other services
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Proportion of graduate employers
The most common problem experienced in recruiting graduates by the sample in the research above is cited as difficulties in meeting salary expectations, followed by finding graduates with the appropriate skills.
There is clearly ample opportunity for new and experienced graduates to study this information and ensure that when applying for roles, they are realistic about their salary expectations and they are adequately skilled for the position on offer. Graduates should be encouraged by the research in Figures 11 and 12, which demonstrates the need for higher-level skills in a range of sectors across the West Midlands.
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Graduate Employment in the West Midlands by SOC code The figures for the following section of this report have all been taken from the HESA ‘Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Survey 2005/2006’ (DHLE). The objective is to show in which areas of the West Midlands most graduates are finding work.
This first set of data focuses on graduates finding work within six months of leaving Higher Education. At this stage, the survey does not divide the nature of work, so this is a reflection of the numbers of graduates finding work in a broad sense. The following section looks in more detail at graduates finding ‘graduate level’ work, which will be discussed further.
Figure 14: HE Leavers into Work in the West Midlands
HESA Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey 2005/06
Total
Graduate Non-Graduate Unknown Total
12,700 4,770 9 17,479 *Source: HESA Survey 2005/2006
The complete figures for the West Midlands from the HESA survey for 2005/2006 shows that 17,479 graduates started work in the West Midlands six months after leaving Higher Education. Figure 14 shows the delineation between ‘Graduate’ and ‘Non-Graduate’. This is the way in which the survey splits those who have found work in general and those who have found work that is seen to be relying on the degree or the skills learned as a graduate.
According to HESA, the categories are set out in line with Elias & Purcell’s report ‘SOC (HE) A Classification of occupations for studying the graduate labour market’ (Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick). The universities collate the graduates’ responses and each are assigned a Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code relating to the type of work involved. Within this system there is a division between roles that are defined as graduate level and those Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
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defined as non-graduate level. For further information on this the reader should referred to Elias & Purcell’s publication. The SOC codes are used in the survey according to the response given from the graduates. Figure 15 gives details of the SOC codes.
Figure 15: General Nature of Qualifications, Training and Experience for Occupations in SOC Major Groups
Major Group
General nature of qualifications, training and experience
1. Managers and Senior Officials
A significant amount of knowledge and experience of the production processes, administrative procedures or service requirements associated with the efficient functioning of organisations and businesses.
2. Professional Occupations
A degree or equivalent qualification, with some occupations requiring post-graduate qualifications and/or a formal period of experience-related training.
3. Associate Professional and Technical Occupations
An associated high-level vocational qualification, often involving a substantial period of full-time training or further study. Some additional task-related training is usually provided through a formal induction.
4. Administrative and Secretarial Occupations
A good standard of general education. Certain occupations will require further additional vocational training to a well-defined standard (e.g. typing or shorthand).
5. Skilled Trades Occupations
A substantial period of training, often through a work-based training programme.
6. Personal Service Occupations
A good standard of general education. Certain occupations will require further vocational training, often provided through a work-based training programme.
7. Sales and Customer Service Occupations
A general education and a programme of work-based training related to sales procedures. Some occupations require additional specific technical knowledge, but are included in this major group because the primary task involves selling.
8. Process, Plant and Machine Operatives
The knowledge and experience necessary to operate vehicles and other mobile and stationary machinery. To operate and monitor industrial plant and equipment. To assemble products from component parts according to strict rules and procedures and subject assembled parts to routine tests. Most occupations in this major group will specify a minimum standard of competence that must be attained for satisfactory performance of the associated tasks and will have and associated period of formal experience-related training.
8. Elementary Occupations
Occupations classified at this level will usually require a minimum general level of education (i.e. that which is provided by the end of the period of compulsory education). Some occupations at this level will also have periods of work-related training in areas such as health and safety, food hygiene and customer service requirements.
*Table used from IER ‘Volume 1: Description of Classification’, 2004
For the purpose of the DLHE survey, the classifications of major groups 1 through 3, as highlighted in the table above, are used to classify jobs as ‘graduate level’. Groups from 4 to 8 are classed as ‘non-graduate’.
In 2005/6, 12,700 entered graduate-level work. This figure represents 73% of the total number of graduates in the DHLE survey. Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
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Figure 16: Graduates and Non-Graduates in Work
Graduate level work Non-graduate level work
*Source: HESA Survey 2005/2006
This is a good signal for graduates looking for work as they can see that the West Midlands is an active area for graduate-level work. However, with 17,479 graduates entering this regional labour market each year, they should be aware that there is a lot of competition for positions.
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Graduate Employment in the West Midlands by Geographical Area The West Midlands spans a vast area encompassing five counties and one metropolitan borough. One of the choices faced by graduates is where to seek work and possibly relocate in the region. Undoubtedly, some areas offer the potential for more graduate-level jobs than others.
According to HESA, of the 12,700 graduates entering graduate-level jobs in 2005/2006, more than half of these gained employment within the West Midlands county, also known as the Metropolitan Boroughs. A mere 3% of the graduate-level roles were reported to exist in Herefordshire; the most rural county in the region. Figure 17 provides a full breakdown by percentage.
Figure 17: Graduates into Graduate Level Work in the West Midlands by Percentage
Graduates into 'Graduate Level' Work 7% 3% 9% 15%
9%
Herefordshire Worcestershire Warwickshire West Midlands Staffordshire Shropshire
57%
*Source: HESA Survey 2005/2006
Graduates seeking positions outside the West Midlands county should not be discouraged and readily assume that opportunities are few and far between in the likes of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Whilst only 3% of roles of a graduatelevel were reported to be in Herefordshire, this represents 356 graduate positions (Figure 18). Whilst there were clearly more graduate-level jobs reported in other counties, what must be considered is that competition may well be greater in more Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
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populated areas. Graduates seeking roles in more outlying areas of the county may be pleasantly surprised by the job opportunities available.
Figure 18: Graduates into Graduate Level Work in the West Midlands
Graduate Level Work 7352
1937 1119
840
H
er ef or ds hi W re or ce st er sh ire W ar wi ck sh i re W es tM id la nd s St af fo rd sh i re Sh ro ps hi re
356
1096
*Source: HESA Survey 2005/2006
The Regional Fact Sheets towards the end of this report give further county-by-county employment information.
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The tables over the following two pages are included to give a snapshot of where graduates are finding work, in which sectors and in which geographical locations. All the counties covered in this report are featured with their own breakdown.
Figure 19: Graduates by Sector across the West Midlands
Shropshire
Metropolitan Boroughs Sector Health/Social Education Property Leasing Business Public/Services Manufacturing Retail/Wholesale Other Construction Finance Hotels/Restaurants Transport/Communication Agric/Mining
Graduates 222 202 141 91 52 40 39 17 10 9 9 8
Worcestershire Sector Education Health/Social Property Leasing Business Public/Services Manufacturing Other Retail/Wholesale Finance Construction Transport/Communication Agric/Mining Hotels/Restaurants
Sector Health/Social Education Property Leasing Business Public/Services Manufacturing Retail/Wholesale Other Finance Construction Transport/Communication Hotels/Restaurants Agric/Mining
Graduates 2,187 2,044 1,029 604 370 288 251 233 161 104 71 10
Warwickshire Graduates 351 286 131 110 79 48 35 17 16 12 7 4
Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
Sector Education Health/Social Property Leasing Business Manufacturing Public/Services Retail/Wholesale Other Construction Transport/Communication Finance Hotels/Restaurants Agric/Mining
Graduates 240 229 206 125 112 72 54 24 21 15 13 8
32
Herefordshire Staffordshire Sector Health/Social Education Property Leasing Business Public/Services Manufacturing Other Retail/Wholesale Finance Transport/Communication Construction Hotels/Restaurants Agric/Mining
Sector Graduates 600 507 203 189 145 84 75 41 36 29 18 10
Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
Health/Social Education Property Leasing Business Public/Services Retail/Wholesale Manufacturing Other Construction Agric/Mining Hotels/Restaurants Finance Transport/Communication
Graduates 118 83 47 32 22 20 20 5 4 2 2 1
33
At a glance, it is clear that every county shares a top two: Health & Social Care and Education. Couple this with the Public/Services category, this accounts for the majority of graduate recruitment in the West Midlands.
Detailed analysis from the Hooley Report on Graduate retention and Skills (2008) confirms that the West Midlands employs a disproportionately high number of graduates in the public sector. While this is good news for graduates seeking work in the Public Sector, it means that the Private Sector might initially appear to graduates to offer fewer opportunities than other regions. In reality, the report confirms this is not the case and demonstrates that there is significant demand for graduate skills from private sector businesses.
The data in the tables above confirm this position showing consistent demand for graduates in the categories of ‘Property, Leasing and Business’, and ‘Manufacturing’ in every part of the region; the significant detail for job-seeking graduates is that the majority of businesses in these two categories will be private sector SMEs.
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SMEs vs Larger Companies The size of businesses is of equal interest to this report as the distribution and density of business in any given area. The proportions of Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are very high across the UK and this is something that is often missed by graduates looking for work as many tend to focus on the larger Blue Chip companies. One reason for this may be that the larger companies have higher budgets for the purposes of marketing and recruitment in universities and they also conform to the ‘milk round’ recruitment timetable, all of which contributes to their visibility.
According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), SMEs make up 99% of UK businesses.
“For each region and county in the UK, no more than 0.2 per cent of enterprises are large (250 or more employees), and at least 99.0 per cent of enterprises are small (0-49 employees). The proportions of enterprises that are medium-sized (50-249 employees) range from 0.5 per cent (in the East of England, South East and South West) to 0.8 per cent (in the North East and Northern Ireland)”
(National Statistics ‘Statistical News Release’, December 2006).
Local figures bear out this picture in the West Midlands with Business Link confirming the estimate that 99% of regional businesses are small to medium sized. This offers a substantial opportunity to graduates who are willing to consider alternatives to the traditional larger companies.
If a company has fewer than 250 employees it can be classed as an SME. The graph below is taken from the IDBR statistics from March 2007 and shows the picture of West Midlands businesses in terms of company size based on number of employees.
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Figure 20: Business Sizes in the West Midlands 60,000
54,650
54,605
39,360 40,000 30,000 18,915
20,000
10,165 10,000
1,690
830
170
730
100-199
200-249
250 +
5,545
50-99
Number of businesses
50,000
20-49
10-19
4-6
2-4
1
0
0
Num ber of em ployees
IDBR March 2007
This clearly shows that the majority of businesses in the region have fewer than six employees, and the final column demonstrates that only a small number of WM businesses are classed as ‘large’.
ONS statistics confirm that the very high proportion of SMEs in the West Midlands is mirrored in most other regions across the UK, although it is notable that London has the smallest proportion of SMEs. This information should encourage graduates who are seriously considering entering graduate employment with a smaller company in the West Midlands.
The recommendations at this point are to give this information to graduates looking for their first position and to encourage them to view SMEs as a target alongside the larger more visible businesses.
Graduate Advantage is the first to acknowledge that gaining access to recruiting SMEs is more difficult than larger companies, and this can be for several reasons: •
SMEs recruit when they have a need and this might not coincide with the ‘milk round’ timing preferred by large graduate recruiters
•
SMEs are often unaware of how to access graduates, so might not know to advertise jobs in the local University Careers Services
•
SMEs may not realise that the job they have could be done by a graduate
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•
SMEs are unlikely to have large recruitment or advertising budgets, so are unlikely to utilise websites such as Prospects.net or Milkround.com
•
SMEs often fill their job vacancies through word-of-mouth or by considering speculative applications, thus reducing the need to formally advertise
This report will offer practical suggestions for how to access SME vacancies, but all of those approaches will require some work on behalf of the job-seeking graduate. It should be stressed that doing this research can have many benefits, none more so than securing a job without having to compete against the huge number of graduates applying to large companies.
The impact a graduate can make on a small company is often something that goes unnoticed outside the business involved and yet the feedback we receive is extremely positive. The benefits for graduates can be summarised as follows:
Graduates in SMEs can often be exposed to positions of more responsibility from the start, which enables them to use their skills and have an immediate impact on the business. The range and variety of day-to-day work in SMEs is often much more diverse than in larger businesses where segregated departments work separately SMEs are not primarily based in the more urban areas and account for business across all geographical regions, including more rural locations; this is good for graduates who do not necessarily wish to move to the urban centres In SME terms, graduates are desirable for the transfer of knowledge, bringing in new ideas and helping them to keep on top of new technology and therefore improve their business
Graduates often have strong opinions about SMEs, which are sometimes based on worries, rather than fact. Some of the most common negative opinions are as follows: •
In smaller companies there is a view that progression and opportunities will be fewer than within a larger organisation
•
Graduates worry that the budget available for training provision and continual professional development could be less in SMEs
•
The recruitment into larger companies may be much better advertised in terms of attracting graduates and their tried-and-tested recruitment practices are likely to be smoother
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•
Salaries offered by larger companies are seen as being higher than those at a SME
Our experience is that while some of these points are true some of the time, the SME market is simply too vast and too varied for this to be the universal case. Each business sets different priorities, budgets and packages and we would recommend the job-seeking graduate prepare a checklist of items that are important to them for discussion at interview.
On the specific note of formalised training and development for graduates, it has been noted that this is an area where companies wishing to recruit and retain graduates could be failing to develop their recruits to their fullest potential. In a recent study commissioned by the West Midlands Regional Observatory, it was found that only 28% of graduate employers in the sample offer any formal or systematic training. This figure rises to almost 40% in the Public Sector, but falls as low as 17% in manufacturing, construction and utilities.
Figure 21: Proportion of graduate employers that provide formal graduate training
All graduate employers
Manufacturing, engineering, constuction & utilities
Small and micro businesses
Knowledge based services
Public sector services
Other services
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Proportion of graduate employers
*Ipsos MORI survey of graduate employers/West Midlands Regional Observatory 2008
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Graduates should research the training and development policies of potential employers prior to and during the interview process. It is worth noting the increasing provision within statutory agencies and organisations focusing on SMEs to help them to access training for their employees through grants and centres specifically in place for this. Working for a small company does not necessarily mean that training will not be available but it may be in the hands of the graduate to undertake research on assistance available and to make suggestions to their employer.
Ultimately it is for each graduate to decide his/her preference but much could be gained from graduates having enough information to make an informed choice and understanding that working for a large company is one of a number of options for entering the job market. It is particularly important for graduate retention that the West Midlands should promote SMEs alongside large companies as entry routes for graduates, because so few of its companies can be considered ‘large’.
The Regional Pages in this report will highlight the benefits of SMEs by showing different case studies from graduates and students who have worked with companies through the Graduate Advantage project. These will also be made available to graduates in the Fact Sheets to be produced after this report.
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Graduate Packages offered by SMEs While a salary is often the main element of a benefits package, there are other perks that may influence a decision to take a job. This section aims to show the variety of benefits available in SME employers in the West Midlands. Salaries are covered in detail and here we concentrate on other benefits that may be included in a graduate package offered by an SME. Training SMEs vary widely in the training they offer. Many provide on-the job training, which is not structured in the way many graduates expect, but this can have immediate and lasting impact on performance in a new role. Employers say the graduates must be prepared to learn as they earn and adjust their expectations from a fully mapped-out training programme. This training approach is frequently overlooked by graduate jobseekers because it is not recognised as ‘learning’ in the usual sense, says human resources professional publication Personnel Today. “Staff at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) get the most benefit from on-the-job learning rather than taught courses or structured training programmes, according to the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA). Its research found that much valuable learning takes place at work, but is often not recognised as ‘learning’ in the usual sense because it happens informally. This informal learning took the form of talking to colleagues and staff from other companies, watching demonstrations, reading books and trade magazines, or attending conferences and seminars.” Article in Personnel Today (22 October, 2004)
In our experience at Graduate Advantage, we find that SMEs are most likely to offer their new graduates free or assisted qualification training in job-specific areas e.g. CIM, CIMA, CIPD, with many companies also happy to offer flexibility for study days and exams.
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Other common employee benefits Regional SMEs commonly offer pensions, home computer loans, free on-site parking and various travel-to-work schemes. Other tax-free benefits we found include an annual party worth up to £150 per head, and independent financial advice worth up to £150 per employee. Some examples are detailed below: •
Pensions vary by sector and size of company, with money purchase arrangements (such as GPP or stakeholders) more common among smaller private sector employers according to the CIPD, 2007.
•
The Home Computing Initiative (HCI) is a plan where firms could offer up to £2,500 worth of computing equipment to staff.
•
Many companies offer season ticket loans for public transport worth up to £5,000. We also found that travel to work is a real green issue and there are various council-run schemes such as Wheels 2 Work in Staffordshire offering bicycle and moped loans to employees. In addition, some companies will sponsor employees for up to half the cost of bicycle and accessories for commuting to work.
Figure 22 compares the provision of benefits between very small and very large employers. Figure 22: Most popular benefit provision by employer size (CIPD 2007)
Number of employees (0–49)
Number of employees (5,000+)
25 days or more paid leave (88%)
25 days or more paid leave (90%)
Free tea/coffee and cold drinks (83%)
Training and career development (85%)
Christmas party/lunch (81%)
Relocation assistance (74%)
Training and career development (69%)
Car allowances (72%)
Life assurance (52%)
Health and well-being benefits (72%)
Mobile phones (52%)
Childcare vouchers (69%)
Childcare vouchers (44%)
Enhanced maternity/paternity leave (68%)
Health and well-being benefits (40%)
Formal coaching/mentoring schemes (56%)
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Dress-down days (35%)
Life assurance (56%)
Car allowances (33%)
Mobile phones (56%)
Interestingly, some low-cost benefits that are common in small employers, such as free drinks and a Christmas party, are not found as often among the largest organisations. Contrary to expectation, the survey also shows that many small firms offer a diverse range of benefits often tailored to their employees’ requirements.
Flexible benefits schemes enable employers to allow staff to select the benefits that suit them. With greater workplace diversity, this choice of perks is popular among employees. Flexible benefits schemes can include a wide range of options for staff to select from, including tax-efficient benefits such as childcare vouchers and mobile phones, or salary sacrifice pensions contributions.
By far the most popular form of flexible benefit is flexible working, with 60% of firms offering it to employees. By sector, Public Sector employers (78%) are most likely to offer this benefit, followed by Voluntary Sector (67%), Private Sector service firms (56%) and manufacturing and production companies (50%). By size, either the very largest employers (76%) or the very smallest (71%) are most likely to offer this arrangement.
Childcare vouchers, which can be used to pay for all types of registered childcare, are available to all eligible working parents whose employers run the scheme. By joining the scheme, employees are entitled to exchange a portion of their gross salary for the vouchers. As this is exempt from tax and National Insurance, savings of up to £1,196 per parent, per year can be made.
Smaller firms are also finding ways of retaining skilled workers without breaking the budget through low-cost options such as ‘voluntary employee benefits’. These are discounted products made available through the employer and the contract is between employee and provider says www.employeebenefits.co.uk.
The appeal of this scheme was highlighted in a study by benefits provider AIG UK in which 80 per cent of employees found the appealing, while a quarter cited them as a deciding factor when choosing an employer.
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Some examples of voluntary benefits are: •
Revenue-approved plans, including CSOP (Company Share Option Plans up to £30,000) and EMI (Enterprise Management Incentives up to £100,000 per individual) are for smaller, younger, higher-risk companies to help them keep selected employees with scarce skills willing to invest their time and expertise in helping such ventures achieve their potential.
•
SIPs (Share Incentive Plans) and Save as You Earn (SAYE) plans are taxefficient ways to reward all employees. SIPs involve the giving of free shares, buying partnership ones and receiving matching shares all held in a trust. SAYE schemes allow employees to save between £5 and £250 a month for up to seven years with a bonus on completing the plan.
•
Healthcare providers have also spotted the opportunities in the SME market. For example, Standard Life Healthcare has launched a modular private healthcare and wellbeing product designed for the SME market. Businesses with up to 250 employees can take up bespoke ‘mix and match’ healthcare plans offering different levels and types of cover to separate segments of the workforce.
•
Some SMEs are now offering the kind of shopping benefits packages that, until recently, were restricted to larger companies. For example, myshopping:2go gives employees in small to medium size companies access to the UK’s largest staff discount scheme. It means companies with fewer than 200 staff, traditionally excluded from such schemes, can help employees save considerable sums of money with discounts from over 1,700 different retailers.
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Graduate Salary Information Graduate salaries is a subject that regularly hits the headlines. Confusingly for graduate job seekers in the West Midlands, figures presented in the national media citing ‘average graduate salaries’ will inevitably include those in London and the South East. The effect of these higher salaries on so-called ‘average’ figures should be taken into account.
Graduates should be realistic in their salary expectations for the West Midlands. Figure 23 gives a region-by-region view of average salaries for those entering their first employment after leaving university.
Figure 23: Average UK Graduate Salaries by Region Region
Salary
East
£17,524
East Midlands
£16,529
London
£20,787
North East
£16,604
North West
£16,453
South East
£17,759
South West
£16,702
West Midlands
£16,472
Yorkshire and the Humber £16,320 Scotland
£17,642
Wales
£16,869
Northern Ireland
£16,006
All regions
£17,715
*Figures from Prospects via HESA Destinations of Leavers from
Higher Education (DLHE) 2004/05
It is important to note that these figures are based on 2004/2005 returns. According to the DLHE survey for 2006 graduates, the average salary for full-time, first degree leavers entering full-time employment in the UK was £18,501, an increase of 4.4% from the previous year’s figure.
The average salary for the West Midlands is below that of the UK average in these statistics. However, when compared with the averages for other regions, such as the East Midlands, the South West and North West, the comparison is very close and the
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West Midlands should be regarded as an area that readily competes with other regions outside London and the South East.
A more recent study produced by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) has been completed for ‘Graduate Recruitment in 2007 and Outlook for 2008’ looking into more detail for the graduate starting salaries in 2006/2007 and the forecast for 2008. The survey is conducted with a sample group of 219 employers affiliated to the AGR. These figures are useful to understand trends affecting the bigger picture but do not necessarily provide a clear view of the market in the West Midlands — many of the AGR employers can be classed as ‘large’ companies and many are London-based, which is different to the employer profile in the West Midlands. Therefore, we recommend the figures from this study should be used as confirmation of a gently rising upward trend in graduate salaries since 2006. It is yet to be seen what affect the threats to economy stability posed by the credit crunch and rising inflation will have on salaries from 2008 onwards.
Figure 24: Key Salary and Vacancy Data Time of survey field work Report published Number of AGR employers surveyed
May-June 2007 July 2007 219
Updated forecast of 2006-2007 year-on-year change in graduate salaries
+12.7%
Updated forecast of 2006-2007 year-on-year change in graduate starting salaries
+2.4%
Updated forecast of 2007 median graduate starting salary
£23,500
*Source: The AGR Graduate Recruitment Survey 2007: Summer Review
This AGR survey for 2007 suggests that the median starting salary for graduates is £23,500, which is considerably higher than the figures suggested in the HESA survey. It is important to note that there are many different sources highlighting graduate salaries in the high-intake media, such as The Times and The Guardian, targeted at graduates. One problem is that these figures are often much higher, which may lead to exaggerated expectations for graduates. As a review of the starting salaries for graduate positions in the West Midlands alongside job titles, the most reliable information is from actual graduate jobs and salaries locally. From our
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own work filling graduate jobs in mostly SMEs, Graduate Advantage has produced a list (Figure 25) of jobs and their starting salaries:
Figure 25: Graduate Vacancy and Salary Information Personal Injury Administrator
£28,000
Projects Engineer
£22,000
Graduate Designer Business Advisor Product Developer Tour Coordinator
£20,000 £20,000 £19,000 £18,500
Software Solutions Technician
£18,000
Export Manager Business Development Administrator Web development Manager Java Developer
£18,000
IT Support Technician
£18,000
Sales Order Administrator
£16,500
Marketing Coordinator
£16,000
Junior Design Engineer Creative Coordinator
£16,000 £16,000
Support Engineer
£16,000
Business Development Manager Research Assistant
£16,000 £16,000
PR Accounts Executive
£16,000
PHP Developer Product Specialist Web Developer
£16,000 £16,000 £16,000
Systems Sales Engineer
£16,000
Marketing & Website Development
£16,000
Marketing Assistant
£15,504
Marketing Coordinator Web Designer
£15,500 £15,500
Web Applications Developer
£15,000
Events Coordinator
£15,000
Sales Support Executive
£12,200
Internal Sales Executive
£15,000
Systems Engineer
£12,000
£15,000
Event Coordinator
£12,000
Web Designer/Business Development *Source: Graduate Advantage
£18,000 £18,000 £18,000
Customer Liaison Manager Sales Manager - Online Retail Division Business Analyst Analyst Programmer Creative Coordinator Junior Analyst Programmer Business Development & Research Marketing Assistant Membership Liaison Executive Assistant Project Manager Office Manager/Resourcer Trainee Insolvency Practitioner Marketing Project Trainee Recruitment Consultant Project Engineer Operations Co-ordinator Sales & Marketing Assistant 3D CAD Engineering Client Services Assistant Graduate Software Developer Graphic Design Trainee Accountant Junior Designer Market Research & Project Assistant
£15,000
Consultant
£13,500
Research Events & Marketing Assistant Research Officer Administrator/Mac Operator Marketing Executive/Team Leader
Graduate Advantage Labour Market Information Report 2009
£15,000 £15,000 £15,000 £15,000 £15,000 £15,000 £15,000 £15,000 £14,560 £14,500 £14,500 £14,500 £14,250 £14,000 £14,000 £14,000 £14,000 £14,000 £14,000 £14,000 £13,743 £13,500 £13,500
£13,500 £13,500 £13,000 £13,000
46
The table shows the details of graduate positions that have been filled in West Midlands’ companies through Graduate Advantage. This has been included in order to give indications to the starting salaries locally and to help set realistic expectations. The first thing to note is that the majority of these vacancies is lower than the national average of graduate salaries as put forward by HESA (£17,715) and AGR (£23,500).
The job titles are of equal importance in this report to give guidance to graduates looking for their first full-time position. These are job titles that have been used in recruitment with SMEs and as such could offer a useful starting point for their own research. It is important to note that Graduate Advantage works primarily with SMEs, which understand they are recruiting graduates straight from university and often without previous business. As such this can offer a reliable guideline to graduate starting salaries in the West Midlands.
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The Cost of Living in the West Midlands When graduates are looking to find work in an area, one of the main concerns, other than getting the job, has to be the cost of housing and the viability of staying in the West Midlands. Many graduates living in the family home in the area still want greater independence by moving out and finding their own accommodation, so this is just as important as it is for those who come into the region.
For the vast majority of graduates, living in rented accommodation is the usual option on leaving university and moving into employment. Figure 26 sets out average rental prices across some of the major towns and cities in the West Midlands. Figure 26: Rental Prices across the West Midlands (November 2008) 3-bed house
2-bed house
1-bed flat
House share (double room)
Birmingham B13 (Moseley)
£595
£725
£450
£325
Coventry CV5 (Earlsdon)
£595
£525
£400
£330
Hereford HR1
£780
£550
£525
£320
Leamington Spa CV32
£750
£750
£595
£400
Newcastle-under-Lyme ST5
£575
£480
£495
£280
Shrewsbury SY1
£595
£550
£525
£350
Stoke-on-Trent ST1/ST2/ST3
£475
£425
£345
£300
Telford TF1
£595
£525
£400
£340
Wolverhampton WV1/WV2
£575
£515
£495
£350
Worcester WR1
£850
£570
£495
£380
House and flat rental prices are based on unfurnished properties *Figures taken from www.rightmove.co.uk (flats and houses) and www.spare-room.co.uk (double room in house shares)
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Many graduates set their sights on buying a property as soon as earnings allow, so affordability of housing is a major factor in their job search. The following figures are taken from the Halifax House Price Index published in July 2008.
Figure 27: UK and West Midlands House Price Average
United Kingdom Average
West Midlands Average
£185,625
£172,630
*Figures taken from HBOS ‘House Price Index” July, 2008
The average price of a house in the West Midlands is currently 7% below the UK average, which could be a reflection of many economic aspects, but offers a positive message to graduates that a good standard of living is more affordable in this region. Greater London prices are now 1.7 times higher than those in the West Midlands. By dividing the West Midlands into the separate counties, one can see a view of the housing prices at a more local level in the table below.
Figure 28: Housing Prices by County Average
Detached
Semi
Terraced
Flat
Worcestershire
£190,346
£276,450
£179,301
£160,887
£128,823
Herefordshire
£232,940
£315,586
£196,866
£164,593
£129,374
Shropshire
£220,516
£308,438
£179,623
£163,253
£133,422
Staffordshire
£179,628
£272,997
£152,752
£152,752
£121,977
Warwickshire
£216,296
£335,823
£192,507
£160,401
£143,037
WM Boroughs
£163,634
£304,909
£160,638
£130,744
£124,123
*Figures taken from HBOS ‘Regional House Price Study’, 2007
The table gives an insight into the way that house prices differ between the counties within the West Midlands. The reasons for the differences will be far and wide in terms of economics, population densities, geographic location etc. However, there are some interesting facts in this that could be of use and interest to graduates.
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The lowest average price for houses in the West Midlands is within Boroughs, where there is the highest number of people and businesses. Here, the average price for a terraced house is £130,774, which is the lowest figure across the counties. In terms of graduates finding houses to buy based on graduate starting salaries, realistically, they would be looking at flats or terraced housing in one of the urban areas of the West Midlands Metropolitan Boroughs.
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Case Study – Living Expenses Marcus Andrews, BA (Hons) University of Leeds Training Coordinator, Graduate Advantage
Like many graduates, due to financial circumstances, I saw the family home as the first port of call after university. This meant that I didn’t have to worry about rent deadlines, while giving me the space to find a job I really wanted. It allowed me to work, save up, and move into a great place 18 months later.
Being fresh out of university and not in the financial position to take on the responsibilities of a mortgage, renting was the best option. Looking at my monthly income and the average cost of bills gleaned from the websites of utility companies and the local government, it was possible to work out how much a month I was could spend on rent. The most useful thing I did before I started looking at flats was to list my potential outgoings and my income so I could see what I could afford. My fixed costs right now are something like this: Electricity £30; Gas £30; Water Rates £20; Council Tax = (dependant on local council) and anything else on top of these e.g. mobile phone, internet, etc. Having worked out my fixed costs, I came across something called Rent Sum. This basically means that to meet the required income-to-rent ratio, your salary should be at least 2.5 times your annual rent.
When I was flat hunting, there were several other things I considered. As a nondriver, public transport links were important. The West Midlands has great bus and train connections – it seems like you can get everywhere in this region within 20 minutes. To me, having a social life is important; so local amenities (bars in my case!) were also key and it was something else to include in my list of outgoings. I ended up renting a one-bedroom flat in Birmingham city centre, which means I can now walk to work.
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Transport Links in the West Midlands Employers tell us that job-hunting graduates frequently overlook the practicalities of actually getting to work. One of the first things that employers ask when considering CVs and applications for positions is: “Can the candidate get to us in a reasonable amount of time and with consistency?” This is imperative for businesses, as they need to know that their employees will be punctual and will not be spending inordinate amounts of time getting to and from the workplace.
Feedback from many employers suggests that some graduates do not research the company premises or location thoroughly enough, which leads to unreasonable travel options and raises doubt in the minds of employers about how long the graduate would stay. This is one area that serious graduates would do well to research before applying for jobs.
One of the great benefits of living in the West Midlands is undoubtedly the strong transport links. Birmingham’s central geographical position offers good accessibility from just about anywhere in the UK, which is an attractive selling point for businesses. As the second city, Birmingham has twice-hourly fast rail links to London and, likewise, travelling north is easy by road and rail.
For graduates, the generous transport network in the region is also good news. The Metropolitan Boroughs has the largest number of graduates in work and also the largest number of businesses. The extensive public transport infrastructure has a major influence on these statistics because it offers graduates convenient and costeffective options for getting to work.
For graduates searching for jobs in more rural counties, such as Herefordshire and Shropshire, public transport is more limited and the reality is that graduates will need to consider relocation or their own transport. A good starting point for research is the rail network in the region. There are certain parts of the region that are very easy to get to by rail and these could be the focus for graduates willing to do a little research intro travel times.
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The following map shows the rail links for the West Midlands and details of this will be broken down and represented in the individual Fact Sheets to highlight certain areas and accessibility.
Figure 29: Map of Rail Network for the West Midlands
*Map from Traveline Public Transport Info. www.travelwm.co.uk This is an excellent resource for graduates to gain more knowledge about those easily accessible areas to widen the job search. The key places to focus on are those where the rail link ends in a town/city centre so there is minimal travel by bus at the destination. These destinations are usually much more amenable to graduates and daily journeys are much easier to.
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As a quick summary the main destinations from Birmingham could be: •
Stourbridge
•
Kidderminster
•
Walsall
•
Worcester
•
Dudley
•
Wolverhampton
•
Lichfield
•
Sutton Coldfield
•
Coventry
These are all areas where Graduate Advantage reports a high volume of vacancies from employers looking for graduates. The advice would be to research this thoroughly and, when possible, aim for direct links rather than multiple links where there is a higher likelihood of delays and longer travel times.
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Methods Used by Employers to Recruit Graduates In 2007, Birmingham Forward, an organisation representing young professionals across the city, published research entitled ‘Report on a Survey Amongst Professional Firms in Birmingham’. Concentrating on recruitment and skills development within the city’s professional services sector, the report sheds light on some of the issues that companies face when recruiting. Although this report is specifically focused on the professional sector, it is worth considering these points in terms of general graduate vacancies in other sectors and industries. When researching how companies advertise their graduate positions the following key points are made: “The main ways in which graduates are recruited are through the firm’s own website and internet advertising, and the university careers service. Small firms are most likely to rely on recruitment agencies, whilst the large firms rely heavily on their own website and unsolicited applications. Word of mouth recommendation is another source of graduates. The property sector seems to be more pro-active than others, sending posters and information packs to universities and providing placement opportunities. 77% of firms operate a two-interview recruitment process. Apart from this, the most prevalent form of recruitment is by CV and covering letter. Large firms are the most likely to use an application form, an assessment centre and/or psychometric testing. 58% of firms actively recruit in Birmingham or the West Midlands. The main reasons are that being a local firm they need people with local knowledge, they just prefer to recruit locally, and that recruits settle better and are likely to stay with the company longer. The principle ways of recruiting locally involve recruitment agencies; press advertising and working with the universities, either on an ad-hoc basis, such as careers fairs, or on a more on-going basis. The large firms are the most likely to use careers events.” * Birmingham Future ‘Report on a Survey amongst Professional Firms in Birmingham’, 2007
The findings of this report give an insight into how employers recruit, where they focus their attention, and what is expected of graduates as applicants. Smaller businesses tend to focus locally for recruitment as it means they can find people who can get to work in a reasonable amount of time and who do not necessarily need to relocate. Graduates should be encouraged by the fact that 58% of businesses prefer to recruit locally.
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Amongst the smaller businesses there is less reliance on web advertising. Graduates who concentrate mainly on web research and online applications would be advised to register their CVs with a local recruitment agency as this is the preferred recruitment method of many smaller businesses.
On a positive note, the report states that: “firms did not feel that their young graduates lacked soft skills such as team-working and networking, which is encouraging.”
This is a clear demonstration to graduates that they are in an excellent position to sell themselves to prospective employers in terms of transferable skills. They should take care to present these skills thoughtfully in speculative letters, applications, CVs and interviews.
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Job Hunting Strategies and the Hidden Labour Market One of the issues we face when working with graduates and final-year students looking for their first graduate position is a lack of understanding of employer recruitment processes, where graduate positions are advertised locally and the fact that many jobs are never advertised at all. This lack of understanding leads to frustration and frequently to the graduate giving up. The aim of this section is to provide guidance on job-hunting strategies with an emphasis on the ‘hidden job market’ and the steps graduates can take to make themselves visible in a market where an estimated 80% of jobs are never advertised. Traditional graduate recruiters advertise in well-marketed specialist graduate publications, such as Prospects Directory and The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers, which are sent to all higher education careers services. Whilst these publications advertise nationwide opportunities, a new directory with a focus on the West Midlands was launched in Autumn 2008. The publication entitled First Move West Midlands is available from all university careers services across the region and should be a primary reference point.
Beyond vacancies advertised through university careers service websites, the next most obvious resource is the local press and online recruitment sites such as Monster, Totaljobs and Milkround. All of these sources will provide information on local vacancies to an extent, but graduates relying solely on these are likely to encounter difficulties when trying to break into the SME labour market. Whilst advertising vacancies on their own websites is becoming more common in SMEs, this method is by no means universal and many will try to avoid paying the costs associated with online recruitment sites. Few SMEs have links with universities and most will not realise they can often advertise their graduate jobs online free of charge via university careers services. The answer to making inroads into the hidden graduate labour area is for graduates to be pro-active and creative in their approach to job-hunting. Such an approach requires work on behalf of the graduate, but undertaking such research can have many benefits, none more so than securing a job without having to compete against the large numbers of graduates applying to large companies.
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By setting criteria and targeting specific information individual research can prove a highly effective job-seeking tool. For example, graduates keen to find an entry-level job in IT may approach research as follows: 1. Narrow geographical search area to denser urban areas with strong transport links 2. Concentrate on creating a list of companies from business parks, science parks and high technology corridors in that area 3. Research companies on the list to establish a) to whom a speculative application should be sent and b) gather sufficient information to effectively tailor a speculative application
Alongside individual research, another useful ally in the exploration of the hidden job market is to use intermediaries who are specifically set up to work with SMEs. Graduate Advantage is one such intermediary that has many links to SMEs and has an interest in promoting the value of graduates to such businesses. Networking is an essential tool for uncovering hidden graduate jobs; the value of ‘word-of-mouth’ recommendation should not be under-emphasised. By learning a few basic techniques, graduates who network can discover jobs more quickly and more directly than their job-seeking peers.
What is networking? Simply put, it is using contacts to find information. Contacts are friends, parents’ friends or colleagues, neighbours, previous employers or even from chance meetings in a queue. It is worth investigating more structured sources such as employer connections from university departments, professional associations. This report recommends meeting employers wherever and whenever possible to understand their requirements and expectations. Online social networking provides new opportunities for seeking out contacts that may have the kind of information that will progress a job search.
What kind of information can contacts provide? Details on a job area, which could range from an informal chat to a formal information interview, developing a list of companies and contact names, developing commercial awareness by talking to people in that industry, or advice on current employer expectations and requirements. Given the stark picture painted by local employers regarding their recruitment difficulties resulting from the poor presentation of essential skills at interviews this
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report strongly recommends that graduates find ways to get in front of employers at every opportunity.
The aim should be to get a good understanding of smaller employers and their expectations and requirements. This kind of anecdotal information can be picked up from attending free networking events that take place all over the region. Good places to start are events arranged by professional organisations such as the CIPD, CIM and Birmingham Future events, or by going along to Alumni speaker events at universities where employers will be present and disposed to talking to job-seeking graduates.
Making a speculative application; an enquiry to an employer to see if there are any potential jobs or placement opportunities is perhaps one of the most daunting and underused methods of job searching by graduates. By not using this approach as part of their job-hunting strategy, graduates will reduce their opportunities to come into contact with the hidden job market. On many occasions, employers will fill their vacancies through their own networks or word-of-mouth, therefore negating the need for advertising.
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By making a speculative application, graduates will be well placed to stand out from the crowd when their letter and CV arrive at their chosen company or companies. Figure 30 features guidance from Aston University Careers Service on making such applications.
Figure 30: Seven Steps to Making Speculative Applications
Step 1
Self-analysis Consider skills, interests and motivations and how these might impact on career choice. Prospects Planner, a career development and decision making tool can be accessed via www.prospects.ac.uk
Step 2
Research jobs and companies Build a good awareness of what a chosen job and industry entails and the location and nature of organisations where potential opportunities might exist. Research can be undertaken by accessing websites such as the local chambers of commerce, relevant professional bodies, university alumni associations and local directories such as First Move West Midlands.
Step 3
Find a named contact The importance of addressing a speculative letter to an individual as opposed to “Sir” or “Madam” cannot be over-emphasised. A quick telephone call to the chosen company with a request for the name of the person responsible for recruitment should suffice.
Step 4
Constructing the letter and CV A well-researched application, tailored to the specific company, is much more likely to lead to an interview than a generic letter and CV.
Step 5
Keep records of letters and CVs sent Being organised and able to locate and refer to letters sent should applications be followed up by a particular company is important.
Step 6
Follow-up telephone call Between 10 and 14 days is an appropriate time to leave before following up the application with a telephone call. If the company is not interested at this point, use the opportunity to gain information on how recruitment is usually undertaken and whether there are any plans to recruit in the near future.
Step 7
Persevere It is not unusual to have to make multiple speculative applications before receiving a response.
*L Bland, Aston University Careers Service “Speculative Applications” 2008
Graduates looking to gain experience in a particular field should remain open to the possibility of a short-term work placement or work shadowing opportunity. These can be accessed through government-funded initiatives including Graduate Advantage and KITTs, but also through the speculative application route. Many companies will be more than happy to offer their time to graduates who demonstrate a pro-active approach to developing their skills and knowledge. This may also be an opportunity for an ‘Apprentice-style’ job interview where the company uses the placement or
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shadowing period to assess the abilities, attitude and suitability of the graduate. In these situations, it is very much up to the graduate to ‘make their own luck’, actively seek out opportunities and make the best of those that arise.
Graduates should also take advantage of any relevant training courses and interview practice sessions available to them. For example, Graduate Advantage runs regular employability skills courses known as ‘Grad Skills’ for graduates looking to develop themselves further. Feedback following interviews should also always be requested and the resulting learning points applied to future interviews.
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Regional Information Pages The following section provides information on the individual counties of the West Midlands. This will be used to create the Fact Sheets that will be targeted towards final-year students and graduates. The Fact Sheets will be created in a visually engaging format to ensure they are graduate-friendly and the content readily accessible. One idea under consideration is to style the Fact Sheet like a newsletter with columns and pictures and make it available online.
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Metropolitan Boroughs Fact Sheet Information
Introduction The Metropolitan Boroughs of the West Midlands – also known as the West Midlands County account for the highest concentration of people and business in the region. The Metropolitan Boroughs are as follows: the City of Birmingham; City of Coventry; Walsall; Sandwell; City of Wolverhampton; Dudley; and ‘Solihull.
In terms of figures for graduates finding work this is by far the largest proportion in this study due to the urban nature of the area and the concentration of businesses and universities. This area offers graduates excellent opportunities in a wide variety of industry sectors and job types, offers efficient transport links for public transport and individual travel to and from work, and presents the best chance of buying an affordable home on a graduate salary.
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Graduates into Work There were 7,352 graduates into work in this area, which accounted for 57% of all graduates for the year 2005/2006.
Figure 31: Graduates into Employment by sector in the Metropolitan Boroughs 2005/06
3% 0%
5%
2%
Manufacturing
4% 1% 1% 3%
Construction Retail/Wholesale Hotels/Restaurants
31%
Transport/Communication 14%
Finance Property Leasing Business Public/Services Education
8%
Health/Social Agric/Mining
28%
Other
* Source: HESA DHLE 2005/06
As the chart above shows, the majority of graduates into work can be found within ‘Health & Social Care’ and ‘Education’ where they account for a combined 59% of the total numbers of graduates entering employment in 2005/06. This is in line with the surrounding counties and therefore the Metropolitan Boroughs graduate distribution is in step with the regional distribution.
The next strongest sectors absorbing graduates are ‘Property, Leasing & Business’ with 14% and a further 8% are employed within the ‘Public/Services’ sector.
The actual figures for graduates finding work in each sector are shown in the table below. Aside from the obvious opportunities in Health and Education, the Metropolitan Boroughs area generates excellent opportunities for graduates in the Manufacturing sector. Historically, the West Midlands is known for having a very high proportion of manufacturing and maintains one of the highest proportions of factories and manufacturing business in the UK.
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Figure 32: Graduates into Employment by sector in the Metropolitan Boroughs 2005/06
Sector
Graduates
Health/Social
2,187
Education
2,044
Property Leasing Business
1,029
Public/Services
604
Manufacturing
370
Retail/Wholesale
288
Other
251
Finance
233
Construction
161
Transport/Communication
104
Hotels/Restaurants
71
Agric/Mining
10
*Source: HESA DHLE 2005/06
The figures are significantly higher across the board for recruitment in this area compared with the outlying counties, highlighting the Metropolitan Boroughs as the most active in graduate recruitment region. The high number of manufacturing businesses reveals substantial opportunity for graduates interested in roles such as finance, human resources, administration and management. Other vacancies could be on offer for graduates of manufacturing processes, process management and especially lean management as this is of interest to businesses looking to improve efficiency.
For graduates looking to develop their career in financial services and Law, they would be well advised to start their search for employment in the Metropolitan Boroughs and Birmingham in particular. The high profile of the young professionals networking and lobbying organisation Birmingham Future demonstrates the
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continued drive to maintain the high profile of the professional services sector in the city. A similar organisation, Coventry First works to highlight professional services within the second largest city in the Metropolitan Boroughs.
Commercial Overview As can be seen from the table below, the majority of businesses in the Metropolitan Boroughs come in the two categories defined as ‘Property/Leasing/Business’ and ‘Wholesale/Retail’.
Figure 33: Businesses by sector across the Metropolitan Boroughs
Industry Sector
Number of Businesses
Property/Leasing/Business
22,065
Wholesale/Retail
20,644
Manufacturing
9,125
Construction
7,267
Other
6,046
Health/Social Care
4,639
Hotels/Restaurants
4,164
Transport/Storage/Communications
3,911
Education
2,430
Financial
2,121
Public/Services
774
*Source: ONS
Analysis of this information alongside the sectors where most graduates are finding work once leaving university reveals a contradiction that graduates could exploit. From the HESA DHLE figures we know that more than half of all new graduates are finding work within ‘Education’ and ‘Health/Social Care’, whilst this table shows these employers appear quite low down the table in comparison to the other businesses and sectors in the area. The other sectors, therefore, represent both a challenge and an opportunity for graduates.
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What is clear is that all of the sectors above are recruiting graduates. Using the two sets of data we can identify that the most numerous graduate opportunities in this part of the region seem to be in the ‘Property/Leasing/Business’, ‘Manufacturing’, ‘Retail/Wholesale’ and ‘Finance’ sectors.
We can view the scale of the graduate labour market in the private sector if we take the most obvious Public Sector employers of ‘Health/Social Care’, ‘Education’ and ‘Public Services’; in doing so, we can see the breadth and volume of Private Sector businesses in the Metropolitan Boroughs.
Using the figures from WMRO that 99% of the businesses in the Private Sector will be small to medium-sized, it is obvious that learning how to tap into the SME graduate job market would present some clear opportunities to the proactive graduate job-hunter. This approach requires some in-depth research and job-hunting techniques but, given the high proportion of SMEs in the area and the ‘hidden’ job market, the recommendation of this report is that this could prove worthwhile.
The opportunity for graduates in this part of the West Midlands, with its high volume of businesses, appears very large, yet the figures for actual employment of graduates seem at odds with this. The fact that most graduates are finding work in Health and Education may show that those sectors are more effective at recruiting graduates and advertising vacancies.
One conclusion to draw from comparing the number of businesses in a sector against its reported absorption of graduates is that a high SME concentration appears to have a negative affect on the labour market for graduates in that sector. If we accept that the vast proportion of 22,065 businesses in the Property/Leasing/Business category will be SMEs and compare the HESA figures reporting only 1,065 graduates going into this sector, it seems to support this view.
There could be various reasons for this, and we put forward three for discussion: 1) the businesses are not recruiting, or 2) the smaller businesses are recruiting only for non-graduate level jobs, or 3) SMEs are ineffective at targeting recruitment at graduates.
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The very nature of business will discount option one as with this volume of businesses there will always be recruitment required. Option two leaves room for discussion as to “what is a graduate-level job?” and what SMEs may consider to be a graduate job might not match up to other expectations. Many SMEs are not aware of the skills graduates have, are not aware of the jobs graduates could do and believe graduates expect much higher salaries.
In our experience, SMEs are more than open to accepting speculative applications; not having to advertise roles saves them time and money. The challenge for graduates is to present themselves to potential employers in a way that meets their high expectations by clearly demonstrating how they can make a real difference to the business. As was demonstrated earlier in the report (Figure 9), it is often the perception that employers have of graduates that is the most substantial hurdle to overcome.
Transport Links in the Metropolitan Boroughs The transport network in this area is the best across the West Midlands region with Birmingham being the hub for rail links. The primary towns and cities of the Metropolitan Boroughs are all linked by rail from at least one station within Birmingham — Snow Hill, Moor Street and New Street. For those willing to widen the scope of their job search, the transport to outlying cities and towns such as Worcester, Kidderminster, Telford and Lichfield are also viable options. This means that the potential job market from this part of the West Midlands is substantial.
Example train journey times from Birmingham: •
To Wolverhampton – 25 minutes
•
To Walsall – 30 minutes
•
To Dudley – 15 minutes
•
To Coventry – 30 minutes
•
To Worcester – 40 minutes
•
To Telford – 45 minutes
•
To Lichfield – 40 minutes
•
To Redditch – 50 minutes
These travel times by rail show that the region is very well covered in regards to graduates looking for work and wishing to use the public transport system. All of
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these destinations have high concentrations of business and will therefore be worthy of further investigation.
Salary Information One of the main attractions to graduates looking for work, alongside the nature of the job description, is the salary. These will vary widely between different regions, different companies, company size and position in the market. However, a guideline can be given at this point that might help to set expectations. See Graduate Salary section. One of the methods used by companies when setting salaries is to review the job description and salary alongside similar positions advertised by other companies in the local press and through recruitment agencies. This is a good tip for graduates who would like to assess the salary range in a given area.
Business Parks For graduates researching the ‘hidden’ job market, business and science parks are a great place to start. This section provides information on such parks across the Metropolitan Boroughs. A simple web search on these in many cases provides information on the current tenants. This information can then be used in compiling speculative applications.
Walsall •
Darlaston Business Park
•
Premier Business Park
•
Leamore Enterprise Park
•
Town Wharf Business Park
•
Phoenix Business Park
•
Willenhall Business Park
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton Business Park: www.wolverhamptonbusinesspark.co.uk Wolverhampton Science Park: http://www.wolverhamptonsp.co.uk
Solihull Solihull Business Park: http://www.gvagrimley.co.uk/x3983.xml Blythe Valley Business Park: http://www.solihull-online.com/business.htm
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Sandwell View the Black Country Chamber of Commerce website at the following link for business parks, contact details and vacancies: http://www.blackcountrychamber.co.uk
Birmingham View the following website for Birmingham business parks, contacts and business details: http://www.locatebirmingham.com/economic_profile/business_parks
Coventry Electric Wharf: www.electricwharf.com
Dudley View the following website link to the Black Country Chamber of Commerce for business park details: http://www.blackcountrychamber.co.uk
Local Jobs Pages One of the best ways to find jobs and to keep in touch with the job market is to view the recruitment pages in the local newspapers. Despite a trend towards internet advertising, this remains one of the main methods used by companies and should be used by graduates and students. Figure 34 gives information on the newspapers across the area.
Figure 34: Newspaper job advertising across the Metropolitan Boroughs
Newspaper
Day
Walsall Chronicle
Wednesday
Black Country Evening Mail
Thursday
Birmingham Mail
Thursday
Coventry Telegraph
Thursday
Express and Star (Wolverhampton)
Thursday
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Sector Specific Information For specific clusters or business sectors the following links can be used to get more information and contacts:
Creative Industries •
Creative Launchpad: for business set-up, grants, vacancies, events www.creativelaunchpad.co.uk
•
Creative Industries - business support, grants, premises, vacancies www.birmingham.gov.uk (follow the Environment & Planning tab to ‘Creative Industries’)
Engineering •
Advanced Engineering Cluster: vacancies, business research and engineering news www.ae-cluster.co.uk
Construction •
West Midlands Centre for Constructing Excellence (WMCCE) for construction news and vacancies www.wmcce.org
IT Cluster •
The West Midlands IT Association (WMITA) now part of UK IT Association (UKITA) for sector specific research, events and vacancies www.wmita.co.uk
Professional Services •
Birmingham Future for news and networking opportunities in the professional services sector www.birminghamfuture.co.uk
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GRADUATE CASE STUDY: BIRMINGHAM
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GRADUATE PLACEMENT CASE STUDY 2007 Blaz Media Ltd - Birmingham
Harmish Chander Creative Designer
Blaz are an award-winning Birmingham based web, e-software and design studio, so when they approached the team at Graduate Advantage to find them a Creative Designer, we knew we had a big task ahead of us.
Harmish Chander, Graphic Design graduate from Coventry University joined the company in March 2007 on one of the Graduate Placements through Graduate Advantage. This free service handles vacancy development, advertising, promotion and recruitment administration as well as helping with training for the successful candidate and is open to all West Midlands businesses.
Harmish has certainly found the past six months educational; “My role has been a lot more than just design. I have had to consider clients’ needs and have definitely learnt how to think laterally,” he says.
Simon Kaguramamba, Harmish’s supervisor says: “It’s been great to have someone with the right foundations, but who is also willing to learn new things. We have taken what Harmish is capable of and helped bring out his ‘creative flair.”
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Simon feels that Harmish has certainly played a key role in helping the business expand, “Harmish is able to front a lot of the day-to-day projects now, which leaves me free to develop further business,” he says.
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GRADUATE CASE STUDY: BIRMINGHAM
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Graduate…where are you now? We catch up with Natalie Hartley at Birmingham marketing agency OWB We arrive at the offices of Oakley Wilkinson and Bryan (OWB) and are greeted by a smiling, confident Natalie Hartley. Natalie started at the agency a year-and-a-half ago on a Graduate Employment and Training programme organised by Graduate Advantage. Since then, she has gone from strength to strength. So, I called in for a cup of tea and a chat with Natalie.
Why did you choose to work for OWB? I’d recently finished a Business Degree and really enjoyed the marketing components of the course. I also liked the idea of working for a small company, so OWB was ideal.
What particularly drew you to a small company? I suppose, at first, I was a bit intimidated by the recruitment processes used by many large companies. There was still an assessment centre for my job at OWB, which involved making a presentation and working on a group task. However, the difference was I actually got to meet the team I would be working with.
What do you remember about your first day at OWB? I got there really early after allowing too much time to get there, as I was worried about being stuck in traffic! I was introduced to the team and given an overview of the company and the clients I would be working with.
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Could you give me a couple of examples of your clients? We work for so many! We do a lot of work for Lloyds TSB Development and Bella Italia – big, well-known companies. However, we also work with small businesses and we cover lots of industries. We work with Steel Service Sector, for example. It’s really interesting being involved in such a range of different businesses.
How has your role developed since you joined OWB? I have a lot more responsibility now and deal directly with clients. I also get involved in account handling. However, my role has also changed in ways that I didn’t expect. I now handle some of the administrative duties too, such as answering the telephone to clients.
What has been your biggest achievement? I started my CIM this time last year. I have completed three modules. I got grade As in the first two and am waiting for the results of my third.
Fantastic result! Yes, it is an achievement as it can be difficult to spend the day at work and then write assignments at home in the evening. Writing 6,000-word assignments is like doing my dissertation all over again! I really like it though and enjoy the subject, so the effort is worth it.
It’s not all work and no play is it? No, the Christmas parties have been great. The first Christmas I was here we went to Hotel Du Vin and hired the Billiards Room. Last
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Christmas, we went to The Mailbox and the party started early that day at work!
If you could give one piece of advice to graduates beginning their job search, what would it be? If you are writing an application form or CV, take your time to get it right. A lot of the CVs that come in to OWB end up on my desk and some are shocking! Use capital letters where they should be used and make the effort with your grammar. Plus, it makes sense to ring the company and find out to whom you should address your application…then make sure you spell their name right!
Finally, imagine Graduate Advantage catches up with you in five years. Where would you like to be? I like working in Birmingham — it has everything I need…like the Bull Ring! I live in the area and went to Birmingham University, so I’d like to stay in the West Midlands. In five years’ time, I hope to be working ‘client side’ rather than with an agency and I would like to have even more responsibility. I love marketing and definitely want to stay in it.
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Shropshire Fact Sheet Information
Introduction The county of Shropshire covers a large area of the West Midlands. Much of this is rural and the areas with the highest concentration of business, and therefore job vacancies, tend to be around Telford, Wrekin, Shrewsbury, Ludlow and Bridgnorth.
Graduates into Work The chart below shows the breakdown of graduates in work in Shropshire to give an overview of which sectors appear to be more active in regards to recruitment or, indeed, which may appear to be more attractive to the graduate job searcher.
Figure 35: Graduates into Employment by sector in Shropshire 2005/06 5% 1% 5%
5%
2%
1%
Manufacturing
1% 1%
Construction Retail/Wholesale Hotels/Restaurants
29%
14%
Transport/Communication Finance Property Leasing Business Public/Services Education
12%
Health/Social Agric/Mining
24%
Other
*Source: HESA DHLE 2005/06
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This data set shows that the vast majority of graduates in Shropshire are finding their way to both ‘Health & Social Care’ and ‘Education’, accounting for more than half of all graduates (222 and 202 respectively). The next highest proportion is 14% entering an amalgamated sector of ‘Property, Leasing & Business’. This includes occupations such as property rental, estate agencies, equipment hire, IT business and other similar businesses. According to this data there were 141 graduates entering this sector in the year 2005-2006 (67 of these were in Telford alone).
The ‘Public Services’ category accounts for 12% in roles such as civil service, local government and defence positions and also utilities such as water and waste. This is a sector that could be of particular interest to graduates in the future due to the diversity of the roles such as IT, business, law, economics, finance, and politics. Figure 36: Graduates into Employment by sector in Shropshire 2005/06
Sector
Graduates
Health/Social
222
Education
202
Property Leasing Business
141
Public/Services
91
Manufacturing
52
Retail/Wholesale
40
Other
39
Construction
17
Finance
10
Hotels/Restaurants
9
Transport/Communication
9
Agric/Mining
8
*Source: HESA DHLE 2005/06
Positions within ‘Manufacturing’ and ‘Retail’ are also vibrant with good opportunities for graduates. The research completed by graduates as part of their job searching is crucial here to find out what employers are looking for. A particular path in these
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sectors will be within management for positions where graduates can certainly offer employers skills such as communication, teamwork and leadership.
Commercial Overview The spread of businesses over Shropshire are of interest to compare with the figures from HESA for the graduate destinations. The full figures are as follows: Figure 37: Businesses by sector across Shropshire
Industry Sector
Number of Businesses
Property/Leasing/Business
4,500
Wholesale/Retail
4,256
Construction
1,886
Manufacturing
1,456
Hotels/Restaurants
1,400
Other
1,342
Transport/Communications
964
Health/Social
959
Education
549
Financial
328
Public/Services
189
Source: HESA DHLE 2005/06
As with the other counties, there is a discrepancy when looking at the majority of businesses in Shropshire compared with the graduate destinations. The destinations data clearly shows that the highest proportion of graduates is entering either ‘Education’ or ‘Health & Social Care’, but both of these sectors are amongst the lowest in the above table. There are fewer of these types of organisations and yet they are attracting the highest percentage of graduates.
There is an opportunity here for graduates to be more pro-active in their job searches by approaching the smaller SME businesses that account for much of those in the
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Property/Leasing/Business category. This sector accounts for the highest proportion of businesses and yet it is being out-performed by Health and Education in terms of graduates into work.
Transport Links in Shropshire The rural nature of Shropshire inevitably leads to a less well-developed transport network than that of more populated areas. However, the sophistication of modern communications provide great opportunities for companies whose business does not rely on a sophisticated transport network to locate in more rural areas. For graduates seeking the ‘quieter’ life, this is great news, although a less-comprehensive public transport system inevitably means that graduates looking to work in Shropshire would be at an advantage if they were drivers.
Access to the main towns and cities such as Telford is relatively easy for people travelling from Birmingham thanks to the rail network. However, once the job search moves to areas such as Shrewsbury or Oswestry, in the north, or Ludlow, in the south of the county, travel becomes more difficult.
The following information is gathered from the National Rail Journey Planner beginning with example travel times from Telford: •
To Birmingham New Street: 50 minutes
•
To Wolverhampton: 20 minutes
•
To Shrewsbury: 20 minutes
•
To Walsall: 60 minutes
•
To Stafford: 45 minutes
Alternatively, there are many other routes from different towns in Shropshire such as: •
Ludlow – Telford: 55 minutes
•
Ludlow – Wolverhampton: 70 minutes
These times show the different places that graduates can search for jobs with the expectation of being able to get to them by public transport in a reasonable amount of time. There are some areas that are completely
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non-viable for rail travel due to too many changes at different stations. For example, it would take two hours to travel by train from Telford to Worcester.
Salary Information One of the main attractions to graduates looking for work, alongside the nature of the job description, is the salary. These will vary widely between different regions, different companies, company size and position in the market. However, a guideline can be given at this point which may help to set expectations. The section of graduate salaries in this report gives further information.
One of the methods used by companies when setting salaries is to review their job description and salary alongside other similar positions advertised by other companies in the local press and through recruitment agencies. This is a good tip for graduates who would like to assess the salary range in a given area.
Business Parks One avenue open to graduates looking for work is to be proactive and search out suitable companies to approach. Graduates should find out where companies are based and see if they match the kind of work required. Shropshire is a very large county and as such, one place to start could be with the business parks or funded ‘Science Parks’ such as the following:
Wolverhampton e-Innovation Centre http://www.e-innovationcentre.co.uk/ Shrewsbury Business Park http://www.shrewsburybusinesspark.co.uk/ Ludlow Eco Business Park
Local Jobs Pages One of the best ways to find jobs and to keep in touch with the job market is to view the recruitment pages in the local newspapers. This is one of the main methods used by local companies and is an avenue for graduates. Not only does this show the jobs becoming available locally, but it also gives students the opportunity to begin researching the job market in advance of their graduation.
The main newspaper job advertising in Shropshire is through the Shropshire Star every Thursday.
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GRADUATE CASE STUDY: SHREWSBURY
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When Alpa Chauhan and Darren Muffit graduated from their respective universities, both were looking for an IT-based position in the West Midlands. Through Graduate Advantage, Alpa (BSc Hons Business Information Systems, Staffordshire University) and Darren (BSc Hons Computer Science, Leeds Metropolitan University) found their first graduate jobs with Shrewsbury-based company Software Sculptors Limited.
The company had recently launched a Customer Relationship Management software package known as ‘Flight Deck’ and were looking for two Product Specialists. These roles were to be customer facing, managing new clients with everything from quotes on Flight Deck through to installation and after-care support.
Like many small to medium enterprises, Software Sculptors were looking for new recruits with enthusiasm, professionalism and great customer service skills to go alongside technical knowledge and ability.
Alpa Chauhan, Darren Muffitt & Claire Mather
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Worcestershire Fact Sheet Information Introduction Worcestershire is located in the ‘Heart of England’ and offers a blend of outstanding scenery and places to visit to suit all interests. Visitors can experience the Malvern Hills, the cathedral city of Worcester, the Wyre Forest, industrial heritage of Bromsgrove and Redditch, the market towns of Pershore, Droitwich Spa, Tenbury Wells and Evesham. In terms of concentration of businesses there are several key towns and cities that graduates can research for job opportunities. Worcester attracts a lot of businesses within the city itself and in neighbouring districts. Other towns to note are Redditch, Bromsgrove, Kidderminster and Droitwich, which all have business parks and central business districts.
Graduates into Work The figures below show the breakdown in terms of percentages of graduates finding work in the main sectors. The majority, 59%, find work in the ‘Education’ and ‘Health & Social Care’ sectors. This is followed by ‘Property, Leasing & Business’ with 12% and ‘Public Sector & Services’ at 10%.
Figure 38: Graduates into Employment by sector in Worcestershire 2005/06
Source: HESA DHLE 2005/06
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It is interesting to note that 79 graduates entered employment in the ‘Manufacturing’ sector in this period. This should be an indicator that vacancies are still common in this sector and offer graduates an opportunity locally.
The full figures for each sector are shown in the table below: Figure 39: Graduates into Employment by sector in Worcestershire 2005/06
Sector
Graduates
Education
351
Health/Social
286
Property Leasing Business
131
Public/Services
110
Manufacturing
79
Other
48
Retail/Wholesale
35
Finance
17
Construction
16
Transport/Communication
12
Agric/Mining
7
Hotels/Restaurants
4
Source: HESA DHLE 2005/06
The information above demonstrates that although graduate-level job opportunities are fewer in Worcestershire than in the more populated areas of the Metropolitan Boroughs, there remain genuine opportunities for those wishing to pursue their graduate career in the county. The active sectors in respect to graduate recruitment would be ‘Property/Leasing/Business’, ‘Public Services and Manufacturing’.
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Commercial Overview According to the ONS statistics for 2007, the breakdown of businesses regarding sectors in Worcestershire is as follows: Figure 40: Businesses by sector across Worcestershire
Industry Sector
Numbers of Businesses
Real Estate/Business
7,041
Wholesale/Retail
5,249
Construction
2,398
Manufacturing
2,148
Other
1,941
Hotels/Restaurants
1,434
Health/Social
1,081
Transport/Communications
966
Education
640
Financial
429
Public/Services
187
Source: ONS
The more general category ‘Real Estate & Business’ comes at the top of the list with 30%. ‘Retail’, ‘Manufacturing’ and ‘Construction’ all have quite high figures in this area. The sectors that account for this highest proportion of graduates finding work such as ‘Education’, ‘Health & Social Care’ and ‘Public/Services’ are relatively low in the list regarding the numbers of actual organisations, although these are currently successfully targeting graduates.
Transport links in Worcestershire Worcestershire is well represented for transport links between the major towns and cities. For example, Worcester city is on the rail line from Birmingham to make it
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easier for those travelling in from this direction. The M5 is close by and offers easy access from Birmingham, to the north, or from Gloucester, from the south. It is perfectly feasible for those travelling from Worcester to cover much of the West Midlands area by train. Examples are given here for various routes from Worcester with times provided by the National Rail Journey Planner: •
Birmingham: 55 minutes
•
Dudley: 65 minutes
•
Wolverhampton: 80 minutes
•
Kidderminster: 20 minutes
•
Stourbridge: 35 minutes
•
Malvern: 15 minutes
•
Bromsgrove: 20 minutes
All of these journeys are feasible and providing the business is sufficiently close to the train station at the destination, then this is an option for graduates looking to widen their jobs search. Again, the key to this is researching the different towns and identifying which companies are recruiting. Job-seeking graduates should bear in the mind the rural nature of some areas of the county where public transport provision is likely to be both less regular and far reaching. Despite fewer transport links, many companies are attracted to establishing themselves in more rural areas, especially when their business does not wholly depend on being close to major centres and road links. There are certainly the opportunities available for those wishing to live and work in more rural parts of the county (see case study on Pamela Statham at Botanix in Tenbury Wells) and it is worth noting that owning a car is a distinct advantage for these graduates.
Salary Information One of the main attractions to graduates looking for work, alongside the nature of the job description, is the salary. These will vary widely between different regions, different companies, company size and position in the market. However, a guideline can be given at this point that could help in setting expectations. The section of graduate salaries in this report gives further information. One of the methods used by companies when setting salaries is to review job descriptions and salary alongside similar positions advertised by other companies in the local press and through
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recruitment agencies. This is a good tip for graduates who would like to assess the salary range in a given area.
Business Parks There are a number of areas within Worcestershire where graduates may find it useful to focus their job searches. Malvern is at the southern end of the Central Technology Belt, which hosts a wide range of businesses with a particular focus on IT, Defence and Research & Development. Perhaps the best-known company in this area is QinetiQ (formerly ‘Defence Evaluation and Research Agency’), a large MOD contractor involved in research and development, IT security and technology. Some areas worth investigation:
Malvern Hills Science Park http://www.mhsp.co.uk/ Bromsgrove Business Park: http://www.saxonbusinesspark.co.uk/ Hartlebury Trading Estate: http://www.hartleburytradingestate.com/
Local Jobs Pages One of the best ways to find jobs and to keep in touch with the jobs market is to view the recruitment pages in the local newspapers. This is one of the main methods used by local companies and is an avenue for graduates. Not only does this show the jobs becoming available locally, but it also provides students with the opportunity to begin researching the local job market in advance of their graduation. The local newspapers in Worcestershire are as follows with the days when the jobs pages are released: (see figure 41)
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Figure 41: Newspaper job advertising across Worcestershire
Newspaper
Day
Berrows Worcester Journal
Wednesday
Bromsgrove Advertiser & Messenger
Wednesday
Droitwich Spa Advertiser
Wednesday
Evesham Journal
Thursday
Kidderminster Shuttle, Times & News
Thursday
Express and Star (Wolverhampton)
Thursday
Malvern Gazette
Friday
Redditch Advertiser
Wednesday
Worcester News
Wednesday
Worcester Standard
Thursday
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GRADUATE CASE STUDY: WORCESTERSHIRE
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Pamela Statham @ Botanix Pamela Statham, a University of Birmingham biochemistry graduate, began work in October 2005 on the Graduate Employment and Training (GET) programme with Graduate Advantage. Her main role is in researching and developing new hop-based products and preservatives for the company and exploring the market for the new products.
“I am really pleased with this role as I am being allowed the freedom and responsibility to research the new products and look at patent laws and the science behind the hops,” says Pamela. “I am looking forward to meeting with clients soon and also I am using the training grant from Graduate Advantage to book on to some interesting conferences here and abroad.”
David Beddie is Pamela’s supervisor and has this to say of Graduate Advantage: “This kind of project is very welcome, particularly for quite small rural-based companies because it can be difficult to link in with graduates from university.
“Pamela has shown great organisational skills and responsibility in getting her research done for the new products that we are developing and all credit to her for the way she has fit in with the team here.”
Pamela Statham working at Botanix
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Herefordshire Fact Sheet Information
Introduction Herefordshire is a predominantly rural county situated next to Worcestershire and Shropshire and sits on the border with Wales. The county has a rich history of business within the food and agriculture sectors, and is now attracting a range of other businesses. The main urban area is Hereford with several other attractive market towns such as Ledbury, Leominster, Ludlow and Ross-on-Wye scattered across the county.
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Graduates into Work In terms of employment and the focus on graduate retention, Herefordshire attracts the smallest number of graduates. This is due to the rural nature of the county, which leads to a smaller number of businesses in comparison to other counties across the region. There are fewer businesses, fewer people and therefore, fewer jobs.
The chart below shows the breakdown of where graduates find work in Herefordshire and it follows a similar pattern to the other counties in the West Midlands with ‘Health & Social Care’ and ‘Education’ being the leaders in terms of graduate employment with 33% and 23% respectively.
Figure 42: Graduates into Employment by sector in Herefordshire 2005/06
1% 6% 1%
6%
6%
1%
Manuf acturing
0%
Construction
1%
Retail/Wholesale Hotels/Restaurants
13% 33%
Transport/Communication Finance Property Leasing Business Public/Services
9%
Education Health/Social A gric/Mining
23%
Other
Source: HESA DHLE 2005/06
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The actual figures for graduates into employment in the various sectors are shown in Figure 43 below:
Figure 43: Graduates into Employment by sector in Herefordshire 2005/06
Sector
Graduates
Health/Social
118
Education
83
Property Leasing Business
47
Public/Services
32
Retail/Wholesale
22
Manufacturing
20
Other
20
Construction
5
Agric/Mining
4
Hotels/Restaurants
2
Finance
2
Transport/Communication
1
Source: HESA DHLE 2005/06
As with Worcestershire and Shropshire, there is an increase in small businesses with little reliance on rapid transport network moving to the region. This is typically companies dealing with new media, web design, IT consultancy and other businesses that use the internet as their main form of communication.
These are businesses where graduates wishing to stay in this region or to move from elsewhere could focus their attention. It is interesting to note that even though Herefordshire is widely noted as an agricultural county, there are very few vacancies for graduates reported in this particular sector; something on par with other regions in the West Midlands.
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Commercial Overview Herefordshire has the lowest reported figures across the West Midlands in regards to the volume and density of businesses across the county:
Figure 44: Businesses by sector across Herefordshire
Industry Sector
Number of Businesses
Real Estate/Business
2,031
Wholesale/Retail
1,851
Construction
960
Manufacturing
688
Other
669
Hotels/Restaurants
586
Health/Social
446
Transport/Communications
358
Education
252
Financial
107
Public/Services
71
Source: HESA DHLE 2005/06
The largest percentages for businesses are similar for Herefordshire as for other counties with ‘Real Estate/Business’ and ‘Wholesale/Retail’ at the top of the table and representing the majority of businesses in this county. There are a high proportion of companies within the ‘Manufacturing’ sector in this county and this could be something of interest to graduates looking into management positions within manufacturing companies. It is also interesting to see that the number of construction companies is quite high. This could be an area that graduates from across the West Midlands could consider and relocate to begin their career in this industry.
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Transport Links in Herefordshire Much of Herefordshire is rural with a limited public transport network. Towns such as Leominster, Ross-on-Wye, and the main city of Hereford are well connected, but many businesses are situated outside the urban areas on industrial estates or parks. Graduates without their own transport are encouraged to focus their job search on the main towns.
The train network connects the main towns of Hereford, Leominster, and Ledbury. The following journeys taken from National Rail Journey Planner give an indication of travel times from Hereford city: •
To Worcester: 45 minutes
•
To Ledbury: 15 minutes
•
To Bromsgrove: 60 minutes
•
To Birmingham: 90 minutes
•
To Leominster: 10 minutes
•
To Telford: 75 minutes
The recommendation of this report is that graduates looking to make the most of the career opportunities available across Herefordshire should be prepared to travel far and wide and therefore have access to a car.
Salary Information One of the main attractions to graduates looking for work, alongside the nature of the job description, is the salary. These will vary widely between different regions, different companies, company size and position in the market. However, a guideline can be given at this point that could help in setting realistic salary expectations. The section of graduate salaries in this report gives further information.
One of the methods used by companies when setting salaries is to review job descriptions and salary rates alongside similar positions advertised by other companies in the local press and through recruitment agencies. This is a good tip for graduates who would like to assess the salary range in a given area.
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Job Searching Graduates taking a pro-active approach to searching for jobs are advised to undertake research of the local area and make speculative applications to businesses. A useful starting point in Herefordshire is the following website, which is a free online business directory for the county. http://rotherwasonline.co.uk/
Local Jobs Pages One of the best ways to find jobs and to keep in touch with the jobs market is to view the recruitment pages in the local newspapers. This is one of the main methods used by local companies and is an avenue for graduates. Not only does this show jobs becoming available, but it also gives students the opportunity to begin researching the local job market prior to graduation.
The Hereford Times features a jobs section every Thursday.
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GRADUATE CASE STUDY: LEOMINSTER
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Pinstone Communications are a small public relations consultancy specialising in agriculture & the environment based in Leominster, Herefordshire. Wishing to grow their client base, they took on Law graduate Helen Turner in the position of Account Executive.
The company is very small, so Helen was able to start working on important projects straight away, learning ‘hands-on’ the background to stories and identifying the allimportant ‘story hook’ for a newsletter piece or press article. She also prepares press releases, interviews people for testimonials and copy writes newsletters. Supported by training courses provided by the Chartered Institute for Public Relations, Helen is concentrating on the development of her technical writing skills whilst developing her network of press contacts.
Helen is keen to highlight the virtues of working for a small company: “It’s great to work somewhere so personal — I see all my work in print and get the credit for it. I imagine that isn’t so common for people who have joined a big company.”
Director Catherine Linch has found real advantages to taking on somebody fresh from university. She says: “Taking on a graduate meant I could employ someone fulltime, as opposed to an experienced professional on a part-time basis. Employing Helen has meant I can now share the workload and concentrate on attracting new clients so I can grow the business.”
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Staffordshire Fact Sheet Information
Introduction Staffordshire is the northern-most county in the West Midlands, but reaches all the way down to the Black Country. In the north, the largest urban areas are Stoke-onTrent and Stafford, with Lichfield and Tamworth to the south nearest Birmingham.
Graduates into Work There is no change in this area compared with all of the other counties with ‘Health & Social Care’ and ‘Education’ accounting for the vast proportion of all graduates finding work in these sectors with 32% and 26% respectively.
Figure 45: Graduates into Employment by sector in Staffordshire 2005/06 1% 1% 4%
4% 7%
Manufacturing
1% 2%
Construction Retail/Wholesale
2% 32%
Hotels/Restaurants Transport/Communication
10%
Finance Property Leasing Business Public/Services
10%
Education Health/Social Agric/Mining
26%
Other
Source: HESA DHLE 2005/06
Graduates entering positions within the ‘Health and Education’ sectors are high in this region, as with all other counties in the West Midlands. However, if we look at the
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numbers of businesses in the next section, the evidence shows that the vast proportion of businesses are not in these sectors, but within ‘Wholesale/Retail’ and ‘Property/Business’.
The full figures according to each sector are shown in the table below to show the sectors that graduates are entering and the associated numbers. Figure 46: Graduates into Employment by sector in Staffordshire 2005/06
Sector
Graduates
Health/Social
600
Education
507
Property Leasing Business
203
Public/Services
189
Manufacturing
145
Other
84
Retail/Wholesale
75
Finance
41
Transport/Communication
36
Construction
29
Hotels/Restaurants
18
Agric/Mining
10
Source: HESA DHLE 2005/06
Commercial Overview Despite the fact that ‘Health & Social Care’ and ‘Education’ sectors are the largest employers of graduates, these are not the largest in terms of numbers of businesses. Graduates looking to work in sectors such as ‘Manufacturing’ and ‘Retail/Wholesale’ should be hopeful of positions emerging in these areas. Figure 47 demonstrates the spread of businesses in Staffordshire.
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Figure 47: Businesses by sector across Staffordshire
Industry Sector
Number of Businesses
Wholesale/Retail
8,937
Property/Leasing/Business
8,887
Construction
4,452
Manufacturing
3,616
Other
2,989
Hotels/Restaurants
2,690
Transport/Communications
2,094
Health/Social
1,931
Education
1,125
Public/Services
687
Financial
627
Source: ONS
Transport & Accessibility The major urban areas of Staffordshire such as Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Lichfield, Burton-on-Trent and Tamworth are all easily accessible by public transport with particularly strong rail links. Some of the options by rail for graduates living in Stafford are as follows: •
To Birmingham: 45 minutes
•
To Stoke-on-Trent: 20 minutes
•
To Wolverhampton: 20 minutes
•
To Tamworth: 60 minutes
•
To Coventry: 70 minutes
Alternatively, there are good rail links from the following routes:
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•
Stoke-on-Trent to Birmingham: 50 minutes
•
Lichfield to Birmingham: 45 minutes
•
Tamworth to Birmingham: 20 minutes
These times have been calculated by the National Rail Journey Planner, which is as excellent resource for graduates to research feasible travel distances. This shows that there are a lot of areas for those who choose, or require, public transport in and out of Staffordshire. Obviously, those with their own car will be able to search the more rural areas and widen their search.
Salary Information One of the main attractions to graduates looking for work, alongside the nature of the job description, is the salary. These will vary widely between different regions, different companies, company size and position in the market. However, a guideline can be given at this point that could help to set realistic salary expectations. The section of graduate salaries in this report gives further information.
One of the methods used by companies when setting salaries is to review job descriptions and salary scales alongside similar positions advertised by other companies in the local press and through recruitment agencies. This is a good tip for graduates who would like to assess the salary range in a given area.
Business/Science Parks There are a number of business and science parks within Staffordshire where graduates may find it useful to focus their job-searches. Keele University Science & Business Park is currently under expansion and over coming months will begin to attract new businesses. This would be a good place to look for upcoming graduate positions. Graduates looking to research this park should visit: www.kusp.co.uk
Based adjacent to the Staffordshire University campus at Stafford, the Staffordshire Business Innovation Centre is also a good starting point: http://www.thebic.co.uk/
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Local Jobs Pages One of the best ways to find jobs and to keep in touch with the jobs market is to view the recruitment pages in the local newspapers. This is one of the main methods used by local companies and is an avenue for graduates. Not only does this show jobs becoming available locally but it also gives students the opportunity to begin researching the local job market prior to graduation.
The Sentinel features a jobs section every Wednesday.
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Staffordshire Case Study: MMS
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With a loyal base of national clients, MMS are proof that you do not need to be in the heart of London to win high-profile accounts. This full-service marketing consultancy specialises in the ‘New Homes’ sector and has been located in Staffordshire since it’s inception in 1996. They approached Graduate Advantage when they wanted to add a graduate to their team to strengthen their skill base.
Emma Langford, a European Studies and German graduate from Aston University, was employed for her strong communication, IT and writing skills. It was also clear that Emma’s work placement had given her excellent business acumen. Director Danielle Mitton is delighted in Emma’s capabilities: “Her skills go beyond her academic knowledge; her team-working, presentation and report writing ability is fantastic,” she says. “However, her attitude is what sets her apart; she is flexible, has an open mind, a fresh approach and contributes with creative thinking.”
Emma was looking to stay in the West Midlands and work within a small consultancy. She says: “This was a great opportunity. Within a small company you get a better insight into the processes and you get commercial experience very quickly. You are a big fish in a small pond and your contribution is valued. I also didn’t expect that an independent consultancy would have national exposure — we have clients all over the country.”
The advantages of working within a small business are clear to Emma: “There are more opportunities to learn, increased support and you know all the people in the company,” she says. Her role is extremely varied, from writing press releases to liaising with clients and she is being given more daily project responsibility.
Emma has become a pivotal member of the team and her progression in being supported with a development plan and training fund. Due to the flexibility of the organisation, her individual needs are being identified and met rather than having a ‘one size fits all’ approach; one of the many advantages of working in a SME.
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Warwickshire Fact Sheet Information
Introduction Warwickshire is the eastern-most county of the West Midlands and is often seen as the partner county to Coventry, despite the city’s official status as a Metropolitan Borough. The region is perhaps best known for its link with Shakespeare, with Stratford-upon-Avon a major tourist destination for people from across the world. Main urban areas are Warwick, Leamington Spa, Rugby and Stratford-upon-Avon.
Graduates into Work The chart below gives a visual indication of the spread of graduates finding work in this county. The largest difference compared with the other counties of the West Midlands is that the percentage of ‘Education’ and ‘Health & Social Care’, although still the highest, are not as high as elsewhere. This gives a wider spread between the other sectors. The top three in terms of numbers are still ‘Education’ 22%, ‘Health & Social Care’ 21% and ‘Property, Leasing & Business’ 18%.
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Figure 48: Graduates into Employment by sector in Warwickshire 2005/06
1% 5%
Manufacturing
11%
Construction
2% 21%
6% 1%
Retail/Wholesale Hotels/Restaurants
2%
Transport/Communication
1%
Finance Property Leasing Business Public/Services
18%
Education Health/Social
22%
Agric/Mining 10%
Other
The percentage of graduates finding work in ‘Property/Leasing/Business’ is higher in this region and much closer to the figures provided for ‘Education and Health’. This is interesting and it could mean that the businesses in this area are more accessible to graduates, that they have better systems for recruitment in place, or that there are more of these types of businesses in the area.
Indeed, the figures in the next section based on how many businesses are operating in this county seem to suggest that there is a wealth of commerce, which offers graduates and excellent target market in their job searches.
The full figures are given in the table below:
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Figure 49: Graduates into Employment by sector in Warwickshire 2005/06
Sector
Graduates
Education
240
Health/Social
229
Property Leasing Business
206
Manufacturing
125
Public/Services
112
Retail/Wholesale
72
Other
54
Construction
24
Transport/Communication
21
Finance
15
Hotels/Restaurants
13
Agric/Mining
8
Source: HESA DHLE 2005/06
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Commercial Overview In terms of what type of businesses make up the county of Warwickshire, the figures from ONS can help to give a brief overview:
Figure 50: Businesses by sector across Warwickshire
Industry Sector
Number of Businesses
Real Estate/Business
8,254
Wholesale/Retail
4,835
Construction
2,157
Other
2,014
Manufacturing
1,955
Hotels/Restaurants
1,863
Transport/Communications
1,175
Health/Social
1,080
Education
820
Financial
448
Public/Services
138
Source: ONS
As can be seen, there are a lot of businesses in the area with the highest proportion being, as with other counties, in the ‘Retail/Wholesale’ and ‘Real Estate/Business’ sectors. This means that alongside the other sectors, there is a lot of opportunity for graduates in this region.
Although most graduates find themselves in the ‘Health & Social Care’ or ‘Education’ sectors, it does show that there is a wealth of opportunity within other businesses. Particular interest can be found here for graduates looking to begin a career within the Construction industry, as there are a lot of businesses in this area.
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Transport Links in Warwickshire This county is close to the central Metropolitan Boroughs and links into the Birmingham area are good. The local motorway network is strong for those who can drive and there is a high concentration of businesses around the main arterial routes – particularly the M42 and A45.
Travel options by rail for graduates travelling from Warwick are very good: •
To Birmingham: 45 minutes
•
To Coventry: 40 minutes
•
To Stratford-upon-Avon: 30 minutes
•
To Solihull: 20 minutes
•
To Leamington Spa: 5 minutes
All of these destinations have a good volume of industry and business for graduates. The recommendation for graduates is to research this and look at vacancies in these areas. The fact that the Metropolitan Boroughs are only 45 minutes away and have the highest concentration of businesses and the highest intake of graduates is one that should not be missed.
Salary Information One of the main attractions to graduates looking for work, alongside the nature of the job description, is the salary. These will vary widely between different regions, different companies, company size and position in the market. However, a guideline can be given at this point that could help in setting salary expectations. The section of graduate salaries in this report gives further information.
One of the methods used by companies when setting salaries is to review job descriptions and salary scales alongside similar positions advertised by other companies in the local press and through recruitment agencies. This is a good tip for graduates who would like to assess the salary range in a given area.
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Business Parks The purpose of this short section is to give a couple of options for the more pro-active graduates to use to research their surroundings and find out which businesses are operating nearby and to use this information to prepare some speculative applications. Warwick is well known for the nearby Warwick University and also the Warwick Science Park where many new technological businesses are based: www.warwicksciencepark.co.uk
The Westwood Business Park is also another option: http://www.westwoodbusinesspark.co.uk/
Local Jobs Pages One of the best ways to find jobs and to keep in touch with the jobs market is to view the recruitment pages in the local newspapers. This is one of the main methods used by local companies and is an avenue for graduates. Not only does this show jobs becoming available locally, but it also gives students the opportunity to begin researching the job market prior to graduation.
The local newspapers in Warwickshire are as follows, with the days when the jobs pages are released:
Figure 51: Newspaper job advertising across Warwickshire
Newspaper
Day
Warwick Courier
Thursday
Leamington Courier
Thursday
Stratford-upon-Avon Herald
Thursday
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GRADUATE CASE STUDY: LEAMINGTON SPA
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Life in Leamington Spa . . . with stickmen! Lucy Abbot, Impact Innovation The career ladder in a small business is so narrow you might fall off trying to climb up it! Plus, if you are creative, you should head straight to London — there are no opportunities outside of the capital.
Not so! It is time to blast away these myths, as hidden underneath are opportunities for graduates in thriving small businesses beyond the M25.
Lucy Abbot is a Politics and Philosophy graduate from Warwick University. She chose to embark on a career with Impact Innovation, a creative consultancy in Leamington Spa. Though working for a blue chip organisation undoubtedly has its advantages, Lucy has found that her decision to work for a small business has rewarded her. From the outset, she has had a level of responsibility that has seen her working with companies both large and small and this breadth of experience has accelerated her career. So, we took a coffee break with Lucy and her manager Simon Gardner to find out more about what she’s been up to and her hopes for the future.
Graduate Advantage (GA): You started as a Creative Co-ordinator, what did your role involve? Lucy Abbot: Anything and everything! I provided creative and logistical support for client projects – I was a ‘right-hand man’. Simon Gardner: Source it, get it, put it together and hand it over! Lucy: Lots of cutting, sticking and gluing. Plus information gathering. GA: What are you up to now? Has your job changed much?
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Lucy: I’m still Creative Co-ordinator, but my role has expanded. I’m more active, have more involvement in design, have more creative input rather than building on what other people have done. GA: Now you have been with the business a while, do you think that working for a small company has influenced your career? Lucy: I’ve been able to see how every part of the company works. There’s a lot of camaraderie, you know everything that’s going on . . . you can be really nosey!! GA: Of what are you proudest? Lucy: Good question! Nobody’s ever asked me that before. I’m proud of ‘White Papers’; it’s internal ‘coffee break’ reading. I developed the look and feel of it – it’s great, really different from the work we’ve done for clients. And there’s the stick men phenomenon. (Simon chuckles) GA: Stick men? Lucy: The stick men were designed to illustrate an issue of ‘White Papers’ and have been adopted ever since. GA: Have you had any embarrassing moments? (Simon rolls his eyes and smiles) Lucy: Once, I answered the telephone, “Hello, Graduate Advantage” after I’d been speaking to one of your team! Plus, there was the two days we spent dressed as safari men in London. GA: What was that in aid of? Lucy: It was for a client. We sent several hundred people around London on a ‘service safari’ to find good service in the city.
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GA: What would you like to achieve over the next few years? Lucy: I’d like to become even more involved in client projects. I definitely want to stay here — ‘Onwards in Impact’ – there’s a sound-byte for you! Simon: Lucy could even start a new business line for Impact Innovation; new tools, techniques and approach . . . with stick men. Lucy: Those blooming stick men!
Lucy found her graduate job with the help of Graduate Advantage. Visit www.graduateadvantage.co.uk
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Recommendations Following on from the report and the overview of Warwickshire, there are a few recommendations to make for graduates who are looking to boost their chances of finding the right position. It is clear from different sources and agencies such as Prospects, the Institute of Directors (IoD), Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and others where employers are explicitly telling graduates what is expected of them. They are doing this based on their collective experience of interviewing and employing graduates in recent years and as such, this information should be of great value to graduates. The recommendations are as follows: •
Graduates should research their local area to search for suitable companies for which they would like to work. This should not stop at a simple company name search, but should go more in-depth to look at the company websites, examine their main services or products and see whether they are recruiting.
•
Geographical location is an important point for graduates. The feedback we get from employers is that graduates are applying for positions that are unrealistic in terms of getting to and from work. This may sound simplistic, but there is a lot of value to be gained in the eyes of prospective employers if graduates let them know that they have done this research.
•
Employers are looking for transferable skills in graduates: written and oral communication skills, the ability to work within small teams, time-management and work-prioritisation skills, project management, strong numerical skills and excellent literacy skills. Graduates should not be afraid to emphasise these skills in applications and CVs.
•
Make full use of local newspapers for the job adverts and recruitment pages. Many employers will use newspapers as part of their recruitment process. A high proportion of businesses will also advertise through their websites. This is an area that is increasing and is one place that graduates should incorporate as part of their job search.
•
Many employers are also looking for personality when considering recruitment. The terms ‘personable’, ‘enthusiastic’ and ‘polite’ are foremost in many employers’ recruitment desires.
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•
Research different business parks and industrial estates where many businesses are located. For technological companies, those involved in research and design, many are now attracted to the Science Parks near the larger universities.
According to a survey by the Institute of Directors (IoD) this year there is a top ten most looked-for set of skills when employers consider recruitment for graduates. These are as follows: •
Honesty and integrity
•
Basic literacy skills
•
Basic oral communication skills (e.g. telephone skills)
•
Reliability
•
Being hardworking and having a good work ethic
•
Numeracy skills
•
A positive, ‘can do’ attitude
•
Punctuality
•
The ability to meet deadlines
•
Team-working and co-operation skills
*Source: IoD Skills Briefing
In the process of recruiting on behalf of companies in the West Midlands, Graduate Advantage can corroborate these findings as they more often than not appear on the job description and essential criteria for graduate vacancies.
Graduates would do well to take note of these points as they come from the very companies to which they may well apply for their first position. Once again, the areas where graduates should be able to show their skills from university will be in communication, team working and literacy, which are below the UK average in the West Midlands.
These general recommendations can be used as part of the job-searching process. The clear point from this document is that employers expect applicants to be very good at numeracy and literacy as a minimum. Spending time getting this right in applications and CVs will undoubtedly result in more interviews.
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In terms of recommendations for Warwickshire, in particular, graduates would be advised to do the following: •
Make sure to research the geographical area to see how far it is to travel to the different towns and business parks.
•
Research the local salaries for different positions to gauge the pay scales you are looking at and to make sure you know what to expect.
•
Make an appointment with your local Careers Service for help and guidance with CVs and applications. The local Careers Service is at the Warwick University.
•
Review the local jobs pages regularly to see what jobs are available and to get more information on local recruiters.
•
Pay particular interest to Warwick, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Henley-in-Arden for the highest proportion of vacancies.
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Summary The aim of this report has been to extrapolate the figures provided by such agencies as HESA, ONS and Prospects in relation to employment in the West Midlands region. The focus has been, in particular, on the recruitment and employment of graduates, as the Fact Sheets that follow this report are aimed at final-year students and graduates who are looking for work in this area.
The figures from HESA have enabled a close view on a county-by-county basis of the most active sectors in terms of graduate recruitment. This has been presented against a brief backdrop of the West Midlands as a whole and also with the UK averages, where possible, to benchmark the way that this region is performing.
The data has been selected from different agencies where graduates would not normally look for information relating to their job searches and as such, it is hoped that this will act as a starting point to help them focus their endeavours and give them some further avenues to investigate.
The stark observation in this research has been that the majority of graduates are finding employment in two main sectors — ‘Education’ and ‘Health & Social Care’. In terms of the West Midlands as a whole, this reflects 7,069 graduates into employment, which is representative of 56%. Furthermore, this trend can be seen across every county in the West Midlands with the proportion of graduates entering the same two sectors.
The other sectors that appear to be more active in this research are ‘Public/Services’ and ‘Property, Leasing & Business’. These account for a diverse section of businesses and also a varied number of job titles that should be of interest to graduates from most degree disciplines.
The more predictable side of this report is that the majority of all graduates finding graduate-level work are doing so in the Metropolitan Boroughs. When this is looked at alongside the distribution of businesses in the West Midlands, it can be seen as a correlation and an equation of more businesses equal more jobs and vacancies, so this is perhaps unsurprising. However, an interesting point to look at is the fact that ‘Education’ and ‘Health & Social Care’ sectors do not constitute a majority in terms of
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the volume of businesses in the region. There are fewer schools, universities, colleges, hospitals and care homes compared with businesses in IT, finance, real estate etc. One suggestion from this could be that the systems are in place for recruitment into ‘Education’ and ‘Health & Social Care’ that are perhaps not in place for the Private Sector. One reason for this, with ‘Health & Social Care’ in particular, could that many courses at universities are funded through the NHS and Primary Care Trusts. The natural progression from here is to begin a career within these organisations.
This report has shown the numbers of graduates into employment in the West Midlands over 2005/2006, when the HESA survey was conducted. It has shown the most active sectors in respect to where most graduates are finding work and for the whole region and also down to a county level. The findings have also given an overview of the geographic spread of graduates finding work, which has highlighted the vast majority within the Metropolitan Boroughs, which will come as little surprise.
The report shows that the graduate retention in the West Midlands is an ongoing issue and in particular, there is an apparent issue with employers reporting a higher than UK average proportion of ‘Skills Shortage Vacancies’. Furthermore, one of the areas that could be focused on in later studies is that of ‘transferable skills’ and listening to the needs of employers who are paying particular interest to literacy and numeracy in their candidates.
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Key Recommendations Following on from the report and the overview of the Metropolitan Boroughs there are a few recommendations to make for graduates who are looking to boost their chances of finding the right position. It is clear from different sources and agencies such as Prospects, the Institute of Directors (IoD), Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and others where employers are explicitly telling graduates what is expected of them. They are doing this based on their collective experience of interviewing and employing graduates in recent years and as such, this information should be of great value to graduates. The recommendations are as follows: •
Graduates should research their local area to search for suitable companies for which they would like to work. This should not stop at a simple company name search, but should go more in-depth, to examine the company websites, look at their main services or products and to see whether they are recruiting.
•
Geographical location is an important point for graduates. The feedback we often get from employers is that graduates are applying for positions that are unrealistic in terms of getting to and from work. This may sound simplistic, but there is a lot of value to be gained in the eyes of prospective employers if graduates let them know that they have done this research.
•
Employers are looking for transferable skills in graduates: written and oral communication skills, the ability to work within small teams, time-management and work-prioritisation skills, project management, strong numerical and literacy skills. Graduates should not be afraid to emphasise these skills in applications and CVs.
•
Make full use of local newspapers for the job adverts and recruitment pages. Many employers will use the newspapers as part of their recruitment process. A high proportion of businesses will also advertise their positions through websites. This is an increasing trend and is one place that graduates should incorporate as part of their job search.
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•
Many employers are also looking for personality when considering recruitment. The terms ‘personable’, ‘enthusiastic’ and ‘polite’ are paramount for many employers.
•
Research different business parks and industrial estates where many businesses are located. For technological companies, those involved in research and design, many are now attracted to the Science Parks near the larger universities.
These general recommendations can be used as part of the job-searching process. The clear point from this document is that employers expect applicants to be very good at numeracy and literacy as a minimum. Spending time getting this right in applications and CVs will undoubtedly result in more interviews.
According to a survey by the Institute of Directors (IoD) this year there is a top ten most looked-for set of skills when employers consider recruitment for graduates. These are as follows:
1. Honesty and integrity 2. Basic literacy skills 3. Basic oral communication skills (e.g. telephone skills) 4. Reliability 5. Being hardworking and having a good work ethic 6. Numeracy skills 7. A positive, ‘can do’ attitude 8. Punctuality 9. The ability to meet deadlines 10. Team working and cooperation skills *Source: IoD Skills Briefing
In the process of recruiting on behalf of companies in the West Midlands, Graduate Advantage can corroborate these findings as they often appear on the job description and essential criteria for graduate vacancies. Graduates would do well to take note of these points as they come from the very companies to which they may well apply for their first position. Once again, the areas where graduates should be able to show
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their skills from university will be in communication, team working and literacy, which are below the UK average in the West Midlands.
These general recommendations can be used as part of the job-searching process. The clear point from this document is that employers expect applicants to have good numeracy and literacy skills as a minimum. Spending time getting this right in applications and CVs will undoubtedly result in more interviews.
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Next Steps This report is for primary use by careers services and internally within Graduate Advantage for reference and an insight into issues affecting graduate retention in the West Midlands through a discussion of Labour Market Information from different sources.
The report is intended to be a starting point for helping to increase awareness of the West Midlands for final-year students and graduates looking for graduate-level work across the counties. It is recognised that a formal report including tables of data from many different sources might not be the most appropriate method of engaging graduates and will not be accessible enough to encourage the use of the findings.
The next steps for this project are therefore to produce a set of Regional Fact Sheets highlighting the key information of interest to graduate job-seekers. This will take the form of an interactive set of pages through the Graduate Advantage website, which is currently being updated and will be available in January 2009. The Fact Sheets will be arranged to give a more in-depth view of each of the counties: •
Herefordshire
•
Shropshire
•
Worcestershire
•
Metropolitan Boroughs
•
Warwickshire
•
Staffordshire
Each Fact Sheet will contain information on the following: •
Graduates into Work statistics in a visual format
•
Key industry/sector information of actively-recruiting sectors
•
Housing and Salary Information
•
Graduate Advantage Case Studies
•
Transport Information
•
Business Parks and Technology Corridor Information
•
Key Recommendations for Graduates
•
Particular Focus on Transferable Skills and Applications
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The Fact Sheets will be advertised to final-year students and graduates looking for work on the Graduate Advantage database initially, but the links will be available for the careers services to use and disseminate the information. This is the most reasonable method to contact a wide audience and pass on this information in a cost-effective manner.
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References Reports/Documents
‘An Entrepreneurial Countryside: An FSB report into the state of small business in the rural economy’, Federation of Small Businesses, 2004.
‘Graduate Employability Skills: Institute of Directors Skills Briefing’, Institute of Directors (IoD), 2007.
‘Lifting the Barriers to Growth in UK Small Businesses: 2006 West Midlands Executive Summary’. Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), 2006.
‘National Employers Skills Survey 2005: Key findings for the West Midlands ’, September 2006.
‘Report on a Survey amongst Professional Firms in Birmingham’, Birmingham Future, 2007.
‘Speculative Applications’, E Bland, Aston University Careers Service, 2008.
‘Standard Occupational Classification for the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Educations Institutions: SOC (DLHE)’, Rhys Davies, Peter Elias & Ritva Ellison, University of Warwick, 2003.
‘Statistical Press Release URN 06/402’, Small Business Service, December 2006.
‘The new SME definition: User guide and model declaration’, European Commission, 2005.
‘What Do Graduates Do? 2008’, Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HESCU) & Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Service (AGCAS), 2007.
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Data Sources IDBR: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/idbr/idbr.asp
Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, Quarterly Economic Survey: http://www.bci.org.uk/influencing-government/quarterly-economic-surveys.aspx
‘Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey 2005/06’. Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), 2007.
‘NOMIS: Official Labour Market Statistics’, National Statistics, 2007. www.statistics.gov.uk
Prospects ‘What Do Graduates Do? 2008.’ www.prospects.ac.uk
Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA), Skills for Business. www.ssda.org.uk
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