Graduate recruitment employers - opportunity to impress

Graduate recruitment is seldom about the 2:1 and a propensity to smile; as business goes global and competition rises, employers are demanding more. The opportunity to select based on factors including training is increasing in the UK and means that good graduates are fewer and far between.

Finding the right person for the job is becoming increasingly difficult because many applicants lack the skills recruiters require. These include self-reliance, communication abilities, flexibility, self-awareness, organisational skills, self-promotion, decision-making, the ability to build and work as part of a team, problem solving, action planning, leadership, negotiation, adaptability and social confidence, including the ability to network effectively. Namely, anything which shows you're responsible for your own career and personal development; recruiters want graduates to arrive at their first job prepared to seize the opportunities open to them to continue developing.

Acquiring these skills and being able to demonstrate them has become far more important than which subject degree you have - this is often irrelevant as long as it is of a good quality.

Recruiters will inevitably expect an excellent academic record though, including A levels or equivalent. GCSE grades can even be a deciding factor. And in science-based and technical industries you may be expected to have more specific knowledge and skills.

Many employers believe graduates have unrealistic aspirations. They comment that applicants often have an inflated sense of their economic value before they've built up a sound skills base. So don't be arrogant - being educated doesn't automatically mean you'll get a bigger and better job. Use your education to learn more and acquire the knowledge and skills you need to progress.

This is all about managing your own career - the 'babysitting approach' is long gone, with mentoring and other hand-holding approaches things of the past.

Know who the competitors are, where the company stands in the marketplace and what the last financial reports indicate. Read the papers. Be informed. This way you will remain marketable in an increasingly unstable job market.

Employers see many benefits in recruiting graduates; the future potential of those graduates, the quality of their work and their ability to bring 'fresh thinking' into an organisation. Good candidates are hard to find; make sure you're one of them.