My wife and I had the pleasure of attending the university graduation ceremonies of two of our sons this week. The ceremonies were very different in nature – while one was relatively small and intimate, the other was large with a party atmosphere – but they were both joyous. And the graduates at both were rightly proud of their achievements and optimistic for the future.
In many ways, though, these students face an uneasy future. The competition for graduate-level jobs has never been higher. One of our sons, Archie has succeeded in joining a finance graduate scheme, but he only did so after making 35 job applications and, for many of them, going through several rounds of human-free, AI-driven recruitment exercises.
Even after gaining a foothold on the career ladder, new graduates continue to face some big issues. While many people welcome the flexibility of hybrid working, I don’t think it’s necessarily the best way for graduates to either learn the details of their new careers or develop post-graduation friendships. And the rise in the number of graduates in non-graduate jobs is leading to a decline in graduate job and life satisfaction, which is bad news for our graduates, their employers and the wider economy.
In other words, the employment experience for our graduates needs to be better focused on the needs of these talented young people and, in many ways, simply more human. For the government, this means that efforts need to be taken to increase the number of high-skilled, graduate jobs. But for those of you employing new graduates, there is a challenge to make the recruitment, onboarding and career development processes as human, personal and effective as possible.
Off The Record: Move On Up by Curtis Mayfield
Take nothing less than the supreme best
Do not obey rumours people say, ‘cause you can pass the test
Just move on up
To a greater day
With just a little faith
If you put your mind to it
You can surely do it