As the academic year draws to a close over 14 million eager new graduates will be entering the job market, all looking for their first young professional role. However, new research commissioned by job app Job Today has revealed that nearly half (40%) of senior managers believe that there aren’t enough jobs for young job seekers – an issue expected to be amplified when Britain is due to leave the European Union in October.
Job Today quizzed 519 hiring managers, CEOs and entrepreneurs on what they believe to be the biggest challenges that young professionals will face entering the job market for the first time, as well as providing their expert knowledge on how new graduates can nab themselves that coveted first professional job.
Following the result of the British referendum in 2016, the graduate job market saw the UK’s most prestigious graduate employers downgrade their graduate hiring plans, and a 10% decline in private sector organisations recruiting graduates by the end of 2017. This has led to many hiring bosses believing that new graduates may face a similar struggle to the 2008 recession graduates – who on average took eight months to secure their first professional role – in securing their first graduate role.
New young professionals are set to face another setback in their already competitive job search as a third (33%) of hiring managers believe that new graduates don’t have enough job experience to land their first role – which may suggest that while university degrees are important, actual work experience is vital in order to be able to get a foot in the door to the real world of work.
As new young professionals fight for that coveted first role, they can be eager to prove themselves and their professional worth leading to more than a quarter (27%) of senior managers being apprehensive about first jobbers ability to manage their work-life balance.
With this in mind, Job Today asked Britain’s business leaders about the traits and skills they look for in prospective young professionals starting their career. Self-confidence came out as the most sought after trait in a new job seeker with almost a third (29%) of hiring managers saying they looked for this skill in a prospective employee. Problem-solving (23%) and time management (21%) were discovered to be the most sought professional skills in new young professionals – suggesting that new graduates need to be able to show hiring bosses they are organised individuals with initiative in order to impress hiring bosses.
Despite the findings of the research, Polina Montano, co-founder at JOB TODAY has a different view.
“There has been a lot of concern about the job market amongst Brexit negotiations, but with 86,000 fewer EU nationals in jobs in the UK last year, we’re actually seeing that at this crucial time people have an abundance of jobs to apply to, and are taking advantage of applying for more jobs than ever.
“Getting a foot in the door at the start of your career can be a challenge; learning vital skills through work experience and training courses can really help your personal development and secure that job you want,” explains Montano.
“Last year, JOB TODAY launched Job Academy, an initiative aimed at providing job seekers with new market standards of online and practical training courses to help them gain the knowledge they need, in the industries they want to work in.”
