THE UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE Last month I talked about the skills gaps of graduates coming out of university and our need to recruit talented, well rounded individuals who’ll stay with our business and add long term value. This is timely as we are just about to start selecting for our third graduate intake and we recently made some changes to our assessment process to better select the attributes we seek, such as dealing with moving goal posts and changing circumstances. In this day and age its essential to be able to quickly adapt. Nothing stands still in the world of business! This third intake will build on an already successful programme. Our first intake is filling important roles across our business and we have retained 90%. I recently met with our latest group of graduates to see how they’re getting on and it’s a delight to see them enjoying new and challenging experiences. Eight months into the scheme, I took the opportunity to ask them the question: ‘knowing what you now know about work, what do you wish your university had taught you to prepare you better for the business world?’ This is what they said:
Wasim Bux (Age 24) Management Studies, University of Leicester At my university a placement was not offered and we were left to pursue our own placement if we wanted to. I feel a placement year is the perfect way to prepare for the ‘world of work’ and really gives you an insight into how companies are run and managed. A placement year could be something Hastings considers offering in the future alongside the existing Graduate Scheme. I think this is the one thing my university experience lacked and when it came to applying for jobs after graduation I felt at a disadvantage to those who had been on a placement. Misty Ryan (Age 25) English Literature and Language, Brighton University For me, university was completely different to any other part of my life. For 3 years you are, in many ways, cut off from the outside world. It wasn’t until I started my first, post university, job I realised how unprepared I was. I think for me the main area of change was the expectation that, you are always aware of what others are doing and looking for opportunities to support others’ goals. Throughout university the focus is very much on what you can do for yourself and your own goals. This is something that the customer representative in my team once made an excellent point about, the change from education to work life. She said; “at school your teachers have to like you, at work people don’t have to like you, and if they don’t 56│ Issue 3 � 2014
they will let you know”. For many students the first job out of university may be the first time they have received feedback for their personal development, which can be difficult and surprising. Amie Sutton (Age 24) Business Management with Human Resources Management, Southampton Solent University I think my university could have focused more on the importance of thinking about life after university. It was not until January of my final year that they started talking to us about next steps and even that was done lightly. For those people who had not thought about what they wanted to do in their career it was a little too late. From my experience particularly in the first and second year I was absorbed in my day to day university world rather than thinking about the bigger picture. I also think particularly doing a HR and Business degree, more case studies of business scenarios could have been used to help relate the theory into reality.
Tim Quanstrom (Age 26) Music, University of Chichester Due to the fact that businesses vary greatly in terms of culture and ethos, my principle wish would have been for University to explore more deeply the common structures of a private sector business, and the subsequent inner workings and relationships between different departments. This could
- Human Resources -
AMANDA MENAHEM HR Director, Hastings Direct Insurance