Against the backdrop of higher fees, rising debt and recession-pinched budgets, it's hardly surprising that the number of stay-at-home students has increased over the past few years as undergraduates try to save money by opting for a course near to home and living with their parents.
One of the less well-known effects of this has been on graduate employment and recruitment. According to Donna Miller, European HR director for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, it's become even more important for employers to visit to campuses around the country if they want to attract the best, most diverse, pool of graduates.
"So many graduate employers still focus on the top 10 to 15 universities. We put a lot of investment into our talent acquisition team so we can go out to every university; we firmly believe we can find great graduates anywhere, it is just about getting involved on campus and speaking to those diverse populations," she says.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car will hire around 750 graduates this year. Its popularity as a graduate employer is highlighted by the fact it gets approxiamately 22,000 applications for its programme and was voted Graduate Employer of the Year in the annual TARGETjobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards this week. They also won the diversity recruitment category.
The TARGETjobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards are the world's largest student-driven graduate awards – 23,000 students vote for the winners. The awards ceremony took place at London's Grosvenor House hotel this week and attended by around 1,000 people.
A small team of students, mainly from Enactus, the not-for-profit students' and business organisation, also met at The Guardian's offices to adjudicate the seven student panel awards, including the Rising Star Award. Three new awards were included for the first time this year – best apprenticeship programme, best school-leaver programme and apprentice of the year – highlighting the growing importance of vocational training as an alternative to university.
The students who voted were also polled by research institute, trendence, to gauge the changing temper of the graduate jobs market. The research showed that, even though employers stress the climate is improving, graduates themselves remain gloomy and braced for an intense bun fight when it comes to landing a job.
Nearly three quarters expect it to be tough this year to find a good graduate job, with nearly 22% expecting to have to go abroad. Nearly two thirds are worried about their future career and four out of 10 have less trust in employers generally because of the economic crisis.
Yet it is also clear that most students are not prepared to compromise on their principles and still hold other factors – such as commitment to diversity and equality, ethical and moral stance, and opportunities for community or volunteering activities – in high esteem when deciding on a future employer. Indeed, 83% of the graduates polled said they would expect a company they applied for to promote equality, regardless of social, ethnic, national or religious status.
"A commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion is key for us to address educational inequality," agrees Elin Morris, associate director of graduate recruitment at Teach First, which was among those firms shortlisted for the diversity recruitment award. "We have seen more and more graduates looking for opportunities to make a difference," she adds.
Almost all employers agree work experience and internships are vital to unlock the door into employment. Likewise, in the trendence survey nearly half of those polled (rising to 57% among law students) were prepared to work for nothing if it meant getting a good internship.
According to Miller: "People need to be more creative. Getting on an internship or a work placement is now essential. The days of being able to come out with a first or 2:1 and automatically go into a graduate job are long gone. Competition now is so strong that being involved in a leadership role in activities on campus or having internships under your belt will really help set you apart," she adds.
But as Emma Judge, head of UK graduate resourcing at BP, explains, if you haven't managed to get on a formal programme, don't panic. BP, winner of this year's energy and utilities category, is hiring between 220 and 230 graduates and Judge stresses that, while there is a high conversion rate from its internships, a lack of one doesn't necessarily rule you out.
"You may have plenty of other experience that's relevant. So it may be a case of talking to your careers service about how best to portray that in a relevant way," she says.
Employers will often look for intangible qualities – such as attitude, mindset and outlook – as well as paper-based skills or qualifications, advises Louise Burdett, university recruitment manager at GlaxoSmithKline, winner of the scientific research and development category.
"One of the things we look for is potential to learn and develop. At the moment, the challenge for employers is finding the right students to fill the jobs, students who can demonstrate employability and work experience. The key word for us is potential, and that can be as much about mindset and attitude as about what specific work experience you have done," she explains.
"I'd advise resisting the temptation to blanket apply for jobs," says Jacqui Bernuzzi, graduate recruitment and development manager at law firm Baker & McKenzie, which was also shortlisted in the diversity recruitment category.
"We tend to find the better applications come from people who have really focused on where they want to go and why. These candidates will research the organisation to see that it matches their values and outlook; they will engage with it at campus events and then tailor their applications accordingly," she explains.
The Rising Star of the Year Award
The winner of this category of the TARGETjobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards was voted for by a panel of undergraduate students. Here, three of this year's finalists advise graduates about how to stand out from the crowd.
Jodie Bamforth, 24, (overall winner), English teacher, Teach First graduate programme
After graduating in English literature from Newcastle University in 2010, I spent a year teaching in China with the British Council before joining the Teach First programme in 2011.
You do a six-week intensive training programme, after which you're assigned to a school, so it can really feel like you've been thrown into the deep end at times. I'm currently employed at Parkwood Academy in Sheffield. The school has a high percentage of students for whom English is an additional language so it's quite challenging but hugely enjoyable.
For me, it's not just about teaching in the classroom, it's about giving support outside too. For example, I've organised a local poetry competition for year seven students. I have also recently been involved with the Teach First Challenge, which involves bringing together graduates from the programme to speak in public and potentially win money for their school. We won £100 to take disadvantaged students to Whirlow Hall Farm Trust to help them with their employment skills.
The jobs market is still quite hard, so you have to think what will make you shine. It's no longer enough to rely on academic ability; it's about what other things you've done too. It's just being passionate about what you want to do and really envisaging yourself in that role, thinking about what you could offer – and being persistent.
Graham Dickson, 23, asset development graduate scheme, RWE npower
I was in the third year of my sustainable development and management degree at the University of St Andrews when I answered an advert about a leadership competition looking for students interested in sustainability. The idea was to create a project that would have a positive impact on students, and the prize was a trip to the Arctic Circle.
My team's idea was to hold a conference at St Andrews. We managed to get the WWF, Greenpeace and the Sustainable Development Commissioner to attend, among others, to lobby world leaders around sustainability. We also ran a global petition that reached students in more than 80 countries and was backed by the likes of Sir Menzies Campbell. It won and I soon ended up dog sledding in the most northerly part of Europe where I met Kerry Riley, resourcing specialist at npower, who was one of the sponsors of the competition. So in a way I got my job through extreme networking.
The day after I came back I got a call offering me a place on a two-month summer internship. The only problem was that npower didn't have a sustainability graduate scheme at the time – but they created a bespoke one, which I joined after graduating in May last year.
As well as my regular work, I now mentor other students and go out on to campus quite a lot to promote the competition that got me into the company. I've also recently done a second trip to the Arctic and developed a microsite so people could follow the journey.
You need to think how you are going to add value and differentiate yourself. You need to look at your previous experience, internships, work with societies, you name it. It's important not just to write, "I was president of the tennis club", for example. Tell them what you actually did to make a difference and make you stand out from everyone else that's graduating with a good degree from a good university.
Michael Wilding, 25, executive trainee, HSBC
I'm currently in my final placement of four, working in European loan management. I did geography at Southampton University, graduating in 2009, and then did a master's in management before starting at HSBC in 2010.
For me, the key has been a combination of ensuring you deliver on what you're being asked to do, but also being prepared to take on more responsibilities. For example, in my first placement I managed to save £20,000 by improving how we dealt with customer correspondence. I also led a project team that delivered a new risk management IT system across the group.
I do a lot of extra-curricular activities. I've led a team of peers in organising domestic and international fundraising and volunteering events, which has raised more than £185,000 to date, primarily for The Prince's Trust. Not only is this all good to do in itself, it teaches you great people and management skills and allows you to get to know other people within the business.
I'd say the jobs' market is little different to how it was when I joined HSBC. So it's important to demonstrate that you have not just the right skills, but the right attitude and behaviours. You need to demonstrate dependability, adaptability and ambition.
TARGETjobs National Graduate Awards 2013 winners
• Graduate employer of the year: Enterprise Rent-A-Car
• Most popular graduate recruiters:
Accounting and financial management – PwC
Banking, insurance and financial services – HM Revenue & Customs
Construction, civil engineering and surveying – Atkins
Consulting – McKinsey & Company
Consumer goods – manufacturing and marketing – Unilever
Energy and utilities – BP
Engineering, design and manufacture – Rolls-Royce
Investment banking and investment – Goldman Sachs
IT and technology – Google
Law – Allen & Overy LLP
Public sector – NHS Graduate Schemes
Retail – John Lewis Partnership
Scientific research and development – GlaxoSmithKline
• Best use of social media – Tesco
• Best apprenticeship programme – IBM
• Best school-leaver programme – Barclays (retail business bank)
• Apprentice of the year – Stavros Georgiou (HSBC)
• Best student marketing campaign for organisations recruiting fewer than 50 graduates per year – Wragge & Co
• Best student marketing campaign for organisations recruiting more than 50 graduates per year – Deloitte
• Best graduate recruitment website – RBS
• Best undergraduate internship/vacation programme – Ernst & Young
• Diversity recruitment award – Enterprise Rent-a-Car
• Innovation on campus award – Deloitte
• Rising Star – Jodie Bamforth, Teach First
• TARGETjobs special achievement award – Carl Gilleard, Association of Graduate Recruiters
• AGCAS Award for excellence in careers service engagement – APD Communications Ltd
The Guardian was media sponsor of TARGETjobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards. This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To get more content and advice like this direct to your inbox, sign up for our weekly update and careers ebook.
