Graduates Lack People Skills Says Research

Many graduates entering the workplace are poor communicators and are less resilient than their more established colleagues.

Talent Q, a people assessment company that helps employers recruit and manage talent, has revealed that many graduate entrants to the workplace are particularly anxious and many suffer from an actual debilitating shortage of confidence.

Employers believe that graduates, who can suffer a real 'blind-spot’ about their lack of workplace survival skills, have at the same time unrealistically high expectations of their new role and organisation.

The UK-wide research, including over 5,000 people, showed that when graduates were compared with the workforce as a whole, they fall down hardest in the several key areas.

They often lack resilience - for example in handling criticism and set backs – they lack confidence, especially in group situations and when dealing with senior managers and when communicating with colleagues, suppliers and customers.

Most significantly, when it comes to the power to persuade and the ability to influence decision-making they lag far behind established colleagues.

They often are unable to take things in their stride and find it hard to be calm and relaxed in work situations.

Alan Bourne, Talent Q Director, said: “Our research illustrates that universities could be doing a lot more to help graduates prepare for the world of work. They enter the workplace with high expectations of their employer, but bring very few of the most essential soft skills.

”Graduates really wanting to impress potential employers should look to demonstrate that they have developed the rounded skills that will ensure they can hit the ground running.

"Some effective ways for graduate to acquire them, and something that is likely to play well with employers, include practical work experience, volunteering and training in relation to these skills – for example with support from careers services.

“We hope this research will help inform universities and their careers services, pinpointing where more development of graduate applicants is required. It’s obvious that the most successful graduates in the workplace will be those that can combine academic intelligence with more rounded personal qualities," he said.

Previously, such a combination of skills would have been found in older graduates, especially those who came late to third level education – although such graduates are now much thinner on the ground since the cost of taking on a university education is now considerable, and often beyond the reach of potential mature students, who often have a home and family to keep and cannot afford university fees.

(BMcC)