12:20am Monday 20th April 2009
By Ben Barnett
Students can still land their dream jobs during the recession by being prepared, not pessimistic.
A Bradford student union leader called for undergraduates to hang tough today after the results of a survey showed the majority of students feared for their employability after university.
According to the findings by OpinionPanel on behalf of the National Union of Students (NUS), 86 per cent of students in Yorkshire and Humber are “concerned” or “very concerned” by graduate employment levels and their likely future job prospects.
But Lloyd Russell-Moyle, 22, secretary and treasurer of the University of Bradford’s NUS branch, said the future need not be bleak. He said: “The majority of our Bradford members are concerned about getting a job because of the economic climate but particularly because of the hype about the problems.
“Statistically, graduates in arts and statistical science degrees as well as those taking an industrial-based degree such as engineering will be hit the hardest, and Bradford will be hit harder because we have a lot of these type of degrees.
“If you are a student at Bradford you are however in a good place to weather any recession because, in terms of employment, Bradford University has one of the highest employability rates for finding work within six to 12 months of graduating.
“Students now need to be thinking what extra can I do educationally, whether it is being part of a group or society, getting work experience and community volunteering.”
Martin Edmondson, chief executive of Graduates Yorkshire, the region’s leading graduate recruitment service, said: “Bradford as a university has done very well in the employment league tables so it is clearly preparing graduates well to take jobs.
“Historically many of the best graduates have been attracted by the bright lights of London, particularly to investment banks, so the knock-on effect for Bradford employers is that they should have a high quality of graduates available.
“The key for students is to be really pro-active and look for any work experience, even if it’s unpaid, because that might be the foot in the door they need to get the full-time opportunity they are looking for.”
The NUS survey found that 22 per cent of students in Yorkshire and Humber are now more likely to enter into post-graduate study immediately after graduation.
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