Graduate News & Advice
Good looking candidates are favoured by bosses
Milkround News, 24 August 2010
Two thirds of bosses have admitted they are more likely to choose the most attractive candidate for a job.
Research by Hirescores.com revealed the unsurprising fact that employers will often choose good-looking candidates when picking new recruits.
The website wanted to investigate the reasons behind an employer's decision to hire certain people over others and polled more than 1,250 bosses. When asked "would you hire a candidate who had equal academic strengths as another, but was better looking?", two thirds said yes, with a further nine percent admitting they had hired some based purely on the way that they looked.
The question "do you think that those who are more attractive make better employees?" was met with a yes from a third of bosses and just over half of these admitted they thought the most attractive employees were likely to be the most confident in the workplace.
When asked the multi answer question “what factors would make someone more employable to you?”, 81 percent said they believed the ability to do the actual job was the most important factor in hiring a candidate.
The top five factors that affect a candidate’s employability are:
1. Ability to do the job (81 percent)
2. Qualifications (73 percent)
3. Social skills (71 percent)
4. Physical appearance (67 percent)
5. Hygiene (61 percent)
Lisette Howlett, HireScores.com managing director, said: "It's very important to look at all the factors when you're looking to employ someone, regardless of what job it is for. The hiring decision needs to take everything into account: motivation, attitude, short and longer term business needs and whether the candidate has the best ability to do the job."
London most cost effective student city
Milkround News, 16 August 2010
Despite the perceived cost of studying in London, England's capital city has been rated the most cost-effective student city.
The 2010 NatWest Student Living Index analysed weekly student expenditure, including rent and living costs, against earnings from part-time work.
London finished top for the first time, with studrnts earning on average £5,024.40 per year - nearly £170 a week on hourly wages of just less than £10. Dundee, in second, had the students working the most hours, averaging 16 hours each, though their earnings were just £6,52. For the second year in a row York was rated the least cost-effective while students in Southampton were found to work the least, averaging 11 hours a week.
The poll of 2,500 undergraduates from 25 university cities also found 22% of students were choosing their university on factors such as the cost of living, proximity to home and earning potential in the location. The number of students basing their decision purely on fee costs rather than academia has rise to one percent from 0.6 percent in 2009.
Some 28 percent of students have received less money from their parents in the last 12 months while 46 percent claimed to have received none. The average weekly expenditure has dropped from £200 in 2009 to £185 in 2010 while rents have risen by an average of £312 per year.
The 2010 NatWest Student Living Index Table
| Rank |
City |
Rank 2009 |
| 1. |
London |
(New entry) |
| 2. |
Dundee |
(17) |
| 3. |
Manchester |
(5) |
| 4. |
Plymouth |
(13) |
| 5. |
Glasgow |
(3) |
| 6. |
Birmingham |
(11) |
| 7. |
Portsmouth |
(15) |
| 8. |
Cambridge |
(8) |
| 9. |
Oxford |
(9) |
| 10. |
Newcastle |
(16) |
| 11. |
Bristol |
(6) |
| 12. |
Sheffield |
(New entry) |
| 13. |
Liverpool |
(2) |
| 14. |
Nottingham |
(19) |
| 15. |
Leeds |
(12) |
| 16. |
Reading |
(4) |
| 17. |
Edinburgh |
(10) |
| 18. |
Cardiff |
(14) |
| 19. |
Brighton |
(1) |
| 20. |
Norwich |
(18) |
| 21. |
Exeter |
(New entry) |
| 22. |
Southampton |
(New entry) |
| 23. |
Leicester |
(7) |
| 24. |
Belfast |
(New entry) |
| 25. |
York |
(20) |
Students Wanted Now!
By Ian Thomas 30 Jun, 10 StudentTIMES
Lattitude Global Volunteering has a wide range of Gap Year volunteer programs, which are ideal for gradutes looking for a challenge after University.Graduates are welcome in all of our gap year volunteer work programs. If you are looking for a particular challenge using your hard own university degree, Lattitude has a number of programs which will provide a particular challenge.
If you want to experience something different from the norm and really make a contribution to the people you are working with after University, then these placements could be just what you are looking for. They will also look great on your CV and give you that edge in interviews, which others just won't have.
Each Lattitude gap year program offers the kinds of challenges and experiences that can be worthwhile (and life-changing) for graduate volunteers. However, we have here picked out certain programmes where the additional skills picked up at university can be particularly useful.
Community Care with Physiotherapy in India:
We have a limited number of placements within our Community Care programs in India where volunteers can use their Physiotherapy skills in Care Homes and Orphanages.
English Teaching in Malawi:
Malawi is able to offer graduate volunteers a range of placements where their specialised skills will be fully utilised. Volunteers undertake whole-class teaching in both primary and secondary schools. We also have placements in a refugee camp and in schools for children with special needs.
Community Care placements in Mexico:
A certain number of our caring placements in Mexico are reserved for graduate students who speak Spanish to a high level.You will be teaching English in a University and working with disabled children. This is a perfect opportunity for language students to get to know Mexico, working in a role where your language skills will be fully utilised.
Science Teaching in Tanzania:
We are able to offer a unique teaching program for science graduates and specialists. You will be teaching in primary and secondary schools, where you will teach the whole cirricullum but be concentrating on the teaching of science.
Teaching in Vietnam:
English We have a number of programs where our volunteers teach English to University and School pupils. This will give you the opportunity to teach English at a high level.
Other placements that may be of interest:
Summer placements: Our shorter, summer placements are ideally suited for graduates who wish to take a placement between academic years. We have departures in May to Thailand and Vietnam, and in June to Tanzania.
Other Physiotherapy placements: Physiotherapists will be able to use their skills and training to offer vital help in schools, hospitals or with non-governmental organisations. We have physiotherapy placements in South Africa and Tanzania. We will also be able to discuss possible arrangements with hosts in other regions, so if there is a particular country that you’re interested in, please get in touch with us and we’ll see what we can organise.
Graduate support: We’re aware that placements overseas can be a brilliant way to test out or develop a new career by seeking work experience overseas. We are committed to helping graduates on our programmes to achieve their goals, and are happy to discuss what support from us would help you in your placements. For example, should you require additional mentoring in your role, or help with references for after your placement we’ll be more than happy to help. Just drop us a line to discuss what help you might need, and what your interests are.
Experts offer help entering the graduate jobs market
Milkround News, 01 July 2010
Graduates looking for work this summer were given advice and guidance in a live online debate at www.thetimes.co.uk.
Career experts answered questions brought about by the continuation of a highly-competitive graduate jobs market despite 100 of the biggest employers recruiting nearly 2,500 more university-leavers so far this year than they did in the whole of last year.
Martin Birchall from High Fliers Research revealed the level of competition is fierce: "Sadly with applications running at an average of 45 per vacancy, it's inevitable that selection processes have become more demanding in order to sift out the best candidates. Virtually all the major employers now have a three or four stage recruitment process."
Business features editor for The Times, Carol Lewis, added graduates were making it harder for themselves by apply for too many jobs in a rush to find any work they can. She said: "One of the big problems is that graduates are using a scattergun approach and applying for loads of jobs at lots of different companies rather than focusing on a few companies."
Internships, work experience and placements were highlighted as ideal for graduates to gain skills that will impress recruiters and set them apart from their peers. Martin Birchall added that degree subjects were becoming less important among graduate recruiters now too, meaning showing you have the ability to fit into a business quickly is critical.
He said: "One of the key things about the current graduate job market is how few employers recruit from specific disciplines any more - around 80 percent of vacancies are for 'any degree', which means accounting firms etc are just as likely to be hiring arts students as those with a business background. Most major employers would prefer to train their graduates from scratch."