What you study is more important than where you study, according to new survey of graduate employers

Employers tend to value a graduate’s skills, the subject they studied and vocational experience gained during their degree ahead of grades achieved or where they studied when hiring new staff, according to a new survey conducted by CBI Economics.

Commissioned by University Alliance, of which Coventry University is a member, CBI Economics conducted a survey of 252 UK employers across all business sectors, sizes and regions. The research establishes what employers look for when hiring graduates and the importance they place on different skills, qualifications and experiences.

As students receive exam results this week and make decisions about their future, it is hoped that this report will help them feel confident that their choices will support their future careers.

Key findings from the report:

The most important factors in determining graduate success on the jobs market are:

• Enthusiasm for the role they apply for (important to 68% of employers)
• Transferable skills such as communication (important to 55% of employers)
• Relevance of the subject studied (important to 52% of employers)
• Whether they have gained vocational experience during their degree (important to 42% of employers).

The least important factors to employers are:

• Which university graduates have studied at (important to 8% of employers)
• Specific projects completed during their degree (important to 4% of employers).

Graduates with degrees that include vocational experience as part of their course (such as internships, placement years or employer-informed projects at university) were deemed to have substantially better performance throughout the recruitment process. 85% of employers believed vocational experience enhanced performance at interview.

Where there were preferences for university type, employers favoured graduates from universities with specialisms in relevant subject areas and universities that specialise in vocational degrees, such as professional and technical universities, 42% of employers saying it was somewhat or very important to them if a candidate had attended a professional and technical university.

Respondents included graduate employers across a range of industries, from advanced manufacturing to the public sector. They were asked about what factors they considered most important when hiring graduates, both overall and at specific stages of the application and interview process.

The report, titled ‘To what degree: Understanding what UK businesses look for in graduates’ also asked employers to describe the extent to which they collaborated with universities to design course and curriculum, to set coursework and projects for students, deliver scholarships or specific workshops and seminars in certain areas. 27% of employers contribute to university course content, material and delivery. The study found strong appetite amongst employers for even more collaboration.