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Business

New study shows employers value job ready graduates

08 July 2014

 

Teesside University’s work to support local companies is being used in a national campaign to showcase the positive impact of university-business collaboration.

Teesside University is backing the campaign by the University Alliance, an organisation which represents top universities for employability in science, technology, design and the professions.

The Alliance has published a report, ‘Job Ready: Universities, employers and students creating success’ which shows employers value job ready graduates – especially when they get to work with them before graduation.

The report is based on in-depth interviews with more than 50 small and large employers, including British Airways, IBM, Marks and Spencer and Bank of America, and captures a snapshot of the 21,000 interactions with business that Alliance universities undertake each year.

It shows employers are putting graduates at the heart of their strategies to innovate and grow.

Last year, Teesside University was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for world class excellence in higher education, particularly for its work with enterprise and business engagement.

Billingham-based 1600 Systems turned to Teesside University for help hiring a graduate programmer and advice on building a new piece of software.

Director Mark Coleman said: 'What we’ve done is to significantly enhance things from a technical point of view in a number of areas of this project and so the product has been improved because of the graduate and the advice of the University.

'As a result, I believe it will be more positively received by customers and will provide for greater sales.'

Waterstons, a Durham-based IT company, also worked with Teesside University on recruiting several graduates.

HR Officer Lesley Renteurs said: 'The University has been really helpful and proactive. The students are enthusiastic and always keen to come and meet us and discuss roles and opportunities with us. And the careers team are excellent. The people that we have taken on have been a real success, they are motivated and know what they’re signing up for.'

The report highlights that a partnership approach between universities and employers helps to ensure course content, and therefore skills learnt, are relevant and kept up-to-date and can be flexible to change alongside the changing demands of local labour markets.

Alliance universities undertake considerable collaboration with employers. Half of all sandwich courses - where a year or more of a course is spent outside of the university, working directly for an employer - are delivered at Alliance universities where up to 70% of courses are professionally accredited.

Professor Steve West, Vice Chancellor of the University of the West of England and Chair of University Alliance, said: 'When it comes to both the quality and the job readiness of our graduates, Alliance universities are competing with the best in the world. This comes down to our deep commitment to deliver excellent practice-based learning for our students giving us the reputation of being the leading employer-facing universities.'

Libby Hackett, Chief Executive of the University Alliance, added: 'What we see is that by building close relationships, such as those described in our new report, universities and employers can maximise talent, plug skills gaps and create progression routes for people from a wide range of different backgrounds.

'This is a core strength of Alliance universities, the leading universities for employer engagement.'

The interviews highlight that both universities and businesses have a role to play if they are to make their partnership a success.

Professor Cliff Hardcastle, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Business Engagement), said: 'It is Teesside University‘s stated ambition to become a leading university for working with business.

'It is extremely gratifying that this report acknowledges the valuable work that Teesside and the other members of the University Alliance to develop the partnership between business and universities.'


For more information on the Job Ready campaign click here.
 
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