A man sat in a office looking to camera Photograph: Hero Images/Getty Images
Ask an employer what they think about hiring a current student and they may not sound keen. Surely, university leaves no time for a full-time job? And focusing on degree studies must be a distraction from work?
Yet, more companies are discovering that undergraduates involved in distance learning have the flexibility, skills and attitude to make fully engaged, enthusiastic and able employees. And they are more likely to stay and grow with an organisation long term, too.
Finding – and keeping – talented workers is a challenge for organisations of all sizes and sectors. Two out of three UK employers complain that they are unable to find recruits with the right skills, recent Open University (OU) research found. But it is not just knowledge and competence that is lacking in many hires. Limited work and life experience is often cited as the thing that troubles employers the most about new employees, according to findings from the Institute for Employment Studies and the Higher Education Careers Services Unit.
For Sian Saunders, co-founder of creative agency Daydream Designs in Holywell, north Wales, working with the OU has enabled her to build up an eight-strong team of loyal, motivated and talented designers and tech experts. Several joined the business through OU match-funded work placements and one is just starting a degree in applied software through the OU, having already worked full-time for the company for four years.
“You want people with the right aptitude and attitude,” Saunders explains. “In design, you need fresh minds and up-to-date skills and we’re creating our own homegrown talent by supporting learning on the job. Someone who’s willing to study as well as working already demonstrates they have what it takes. You’re more than halfway there.”
Julia Simpson, area director for the Thames region at the Environment Agency, also appreciates the benefits of employees committed to developing themselves beyond office hours: “It is important to us at the Environment Agency to be a life-enhancing place to work and we believe that part of this means enabling our employees to develop their skills both within workplace and outside opportunities. Studying with the Open University is one way to achieve this.”
There are many ways for employers to tap into undergraduate talent, both face-to-face and online. “We have participated in Open University initiatives involving their students and have attended online careers fairs,” Simpson adds. “We also hosted an insight day for Open University students in the Environment Agency’s Thames area, which has resulted in two people being employed by us.”
Three out of four students of the OU earn while they learn, holding down jobs alongside their studies. And, since distance learning often attracts a more diverse demographic with a much wider age range than traditional higher education, OU undergraduates are often balancing study and work with family commitments, too. These are people who have to be self-starting to succeed. They must manage their time with rigid efficiency and they need to maintain high levels of motivation to keep all of the balls in their lives in the air on a daily basis.
Emma Laws, senior employer engagement manager in careers and employability services at the OU, says: “Employers say the extra life experience OU students bring to a business is very different to that of other recruits. They’re committed, organised and have tenacity and determination.”
When asked why they are pursuing an OU degree, many students say they hope to change careers, moving into a new industry or job role. Nicola Joyce is employability and external engagement manager for the OU in Northern Ireland, working with companies, large and small, to connect students to placement opportunities. One thing she points out to would-be employers is that hiring an OU undergraduate could mean they gain an employee who is passionate to succeed, as well as someone who has strong local links and ties, so he or she could be with an organisation for the long haul.
“You can’t teach passion, but our students have decided where they want to be and are prepared to do what’s necessary to get there,” Joyce adds. “That can translate into an incredibly committed and valuable member of staff who will stay with a business and grow with it. Also, unlike traditional university students who do a work placement for a year then leave a job to go back to studying, our undergraduates can stay on. There’s continuity, plus these employees continue to develop through their studies while they’re working for a business. Often, employers haven’t heard the OU story or even realised they could hire a full-time worker who’s gaining extra skills and knowledge in their own time.”
OU undergraduates are not only resilient and driven employees who are good at organising themselves and their own work tasks. They can also prove to be better managers. Recruiters have told government researchers that employees with greater life experience are often better at handling the people they work with.
Simpson agrees with this. “The Environment Agency offers a variety of flexible work options,” she says, “which make it easier for employees to find the time to study. Combining studying with employment benefits us as their employer as we gain the valuable skills they have already established from their life experience and during their studies, while we also assist with enhancing their skills and knowledge within the environmental public sector.
But Saunders does encourage bosses to be understanding of the pressures working students are under and help them to arrange their workload to everyone’s best advantage. She concludes: “As an employer, you need to recognise what an undergraduate has to achieve and how that fits into the work of the business itself. You’re applying learning to real life, so the two worlds need to be joined together with the person flourishing and the company benefiting from the degree-learning rather than suffering from it. You need to develop a roadmap of how that individual will progress, then you can harness all of that new knowledge, enthusiasm and talent.”
Empower your business. It’s easy and free to tap into the diverse talents of OU students and alumni through the OU’s OpportunityHub
