AGCAS Community - Recruiters and Partners

Graduate Success Project: AGCAS findings launched

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:09:27 GMT

AGCAS has launched two major outputs - a project report and a new website - from the BIS-funded joint AGCAS/AGR Graduate Success Project, which explores how graduates from a range of backgrounds make the transition to the job market.

The aims of the project were to encourage employers to think seriously about social mobility, to investigate graduate and employer perspectives of the graduate employment market and to increase awareness of the Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) amongst employers - and promote its use as good recruitment practice.

The report presents the project's main findings and highlights important issues that have implications for various stakeholders, including policymakers, HE institutions and careers services, employers, and students and graduates themselves.

SME research - GTI survey live

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:50:18 GMT

GTI Media is about to start a major research project with STEP to survey the views of UK small businesses towards graduates and the opportunities for them to have productive careers in smaller businesses. The project team hopes to establish contact with organisations that have taken graduates on before (for either permanent positions or work experience), or those which are thinking about doing so in the future - and invites AGCAS members to help promote the survey amongst the small businesses HE careers services have contact with.

Graduate labour market still on the up

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:41:51 GMT

Heads of higher education careers and employability services tend towards believing that the graduate labour market was more buoyant in the first quarter of 2013 (January to March) than at the same time last year. 93.1% of those surveyed by AGCAS reported that, in their experience, the graduate labour market was the same or more buoyant (41.4% better, 51.7% same) compared with 3.4% who believed it was less buoyant. 3.4% said they did not know.

Nottingham leads UK-Indonesia careers initiative

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:09:03 GMT

The University of Nottingham recently held an event designed to support Indonesian students based at universities across the UK who return to their home country to work after graduating. The event, organised by the Careers and Employability Service and the International Office, reached out to Indonesian students in Britain and encouraged them to take future opportunities in business with Indonesian and British companies.

APD Communications win TARGETjobs AGCAS award

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 07:51:27 GMT

APD Communications was announced as the winner of the AGCAS Award for Excellence in Careers Service Engagement at the 2012 TARGETjobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards ceremony in London on 3 April. APD was nominated by the University of Hull Careers and Employability Service.

AGCAS welcomes new quality code chapter

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 21:11:25 GMT

AGCAS welcomes the recently-launched revised UK Quality Code for Higher Education Chapter B4: Enabling student development and achievement (QAA, March 2013) and is pleased to have been centrally involved in its production through representation on the chapter's advisory group.

Top speakers confirmed for AGCAS conference

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 12:20:16 GMT

Sir Tim Wilson, author of the Wilson Review, Dave Jarman, Chairman and Director of Enterprise Educators UK, Jeremy Budd, Vice-President of IBM, and Carl Gilleard, Chief Executive at the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), have all been confirmed as keynote speakers for AGCAS Biennial 2013, which will take place 10 - 12 September at the University of Exeter.

Getting Graduates into Careers: Better support for students and careers professionals from The Careers Group

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 10:08:15 GMT

The Careers Group, University of London has released its new website Getting Graduates into Careers - with a new URL, redesigned interface, thousands of graduate jobs, the latest news about their events, and recruitment solutions. The aim is to make job hunting and graduate recruitment easier, faster and better informed than ever before.

TARGETjobs Breakfast News: Getting your message across

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 11:38:53 GMT

AGCAS was represented at February's TARGETjobs Breakfast News in London by Gemma Green, AGCAS Communications Manager. The event included presentations on the changing nature of graduate recruitment, brand values, graduate messaging and campus marketing.

Summary from the AGR Financial Services Focus Group

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:00:33 GMT

The AGR Financial Services Focus Group met in February 2013 at a Lloyds Banking Group office in London. The meeting was attended by Graham Philpott, Career Development Consultant at the University of Reading and AGCAS Liaison Officer (ALO) for this group, who also put questions from AGCAS members to the group. There were 15 employers present, including investment banks, universal banks, insurers, professional services and regulators.

AGCAS announces shortlist for TARGETjobs employer award

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:44:51 GMT

Six employers have been shortlisted for The AGCAS Award for Excellence in Careers Service Engagement. They were all nominated by higher education careers services. The award is one of the prestigious annual TARGETjobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards.

AGCAS announces official partnership with GTI Media

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:00:06 GMT

AGCAS, the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services, the voice of HE careers and employability professionals, is delighted to announce that, with immediate effect, it will be working with GTI Media, publishers of TARGETjobs, TARGETjobs Events and TARGETcourses in the UK, to deliver key careers information to undergraduates, postgraduates and recent graduates.

AGCAS and the CDI

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 19:14:52 GMT

AGCAS continues to hold productive dialogue with the Career Development Institute (CDI) through the AGCAS Director of Professional Development, Tom Davie. The identity of the CDI will be formally established at its AGM on 25 March 2013.

Graduate labour market 'mixed picture' - AGCAS survey

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 11:33:07 GMT

Heads of higher education careers and employability services believe that the graduate labour market was more buoyant in the fourth quarter of 2012 (September to December) than at the same time last year.

HEAR survey findings

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:52:35 GMT

Late in 2012, AGCAS surveyed heads of its member services in order to gain a better understanding of HE institutions' (and particularly careers and employability service managers') experience of and views towards the Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR).

AGCAS' TARGETjobs Award - employer nominations sought

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:59:56 GMT

For the ninth time, AGCAS has been invited by GTI to judge an award at the annual TARGETjobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards to be presented at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London on Wednesday 3 April 2013. Once more, the title will be The AGCAS Award for Excellence in Careers Service Engagement.

Doubling of students using careers services for networking: GTI survey

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:39:30 GMT

Heads of higher education careers and employability services were treated to a sneak preview of important survey findings at their annual conference in Cardiff last week. GTI Media's employability survey was a follow-up to one carried out six years ago and it showed some fascinating changes. Students and recent graduates were asked a series of questions about how well their university (and, specifically, their careers and employability service) had prepared them for life after university.

AGCAS and AGR Graduate Success Project

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:06:33 GMT

AGCAS is currently collaborating with AGR on a joint BIS-funded project implementing recommendations from the Wilson Review related to diversity in graduate recruitment and the Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR). The project's twin aims are to investigate graduate and employer perspectives of the graduate employment market and to raise awareness of the HEAR amongst employers - and promote its use as good recruitment practice. AGCAS is leading on the first of these and AGR on the second.

University of Ulster: Employer-led careers module as part of the BSc Accounting degree

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 10:38:19 GMT

The University of Ulster 20 point, level 5 careers module is completed by BSc Hons Accounting students in Semester 1 of Year 2. It was designed and has been delivered by the Career Development Centre for a number of years with significant employer input as a main feature. This is a compulsory, core module delivered over 12 weeks which contributes to the students' overall degree classification.

What Do Graduates Do? 2012 edition published

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 10:45:42 GMT

What do Graduates Do? 2012 is now available to download. It is a collaboration between the AGCAS Education Liaison Task Group and HECSU: HECSU provides the facts from the DLHE returns; AGCAS writers provide the expertise and articles to make sense of the figures.

AGCAS and the CDI

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 09:01:31 GMT

AGCAS continues to develop an excellent relationship with the newly-formed Career Development Institute (CDI). The CDI has now registered its articles and rules with Company House and is attracting new members, as well as those from the Careers Profession Alliance's (CPA) previous four formative bodies. With the demise of the CPA, the CDI intends to release monthly bulletins and is working on a prospectus to encourage interest in its services.

Insights into engineering

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 12:27:32 GMT

The AGR Engineering Sector Focus Group recently met in Warrington to discuss vacancies and employment opportunities and challenges in the engineering sector. The meeting was attended by David Gilchrist, Careers Consultant at City University London and AGR AGCAS Liaison Officer (ALO) for engineering, who also put questions from AGCAS members to the group.

Student enterprise framework - consultation launched

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 14:55:07 GMT

The National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs (NACUE) has launched a consultation exercise to design a Student Enterprise Framework, which will allow institutions to assess the scale and scope of their student-centred enterprise activities against a recognised, national model. It is hoped that the framework will act as a catalyst within institutions and across the sector for the accelerated growth of student enterprise provision.

The future of higher education in England: Call for evidence

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:16:33 GMT

The Commission on the Future of Higher Education has been established to address the key challenges facing the higher education sector in England over the next 20 years. It is seeking evidence from key stakeholders in order to produce a policy framework that will safeguard and strengthen the position of HE institutions in the long term.

UK's largest employers of graduates revealed

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:43:27 GMT

The Complete University Guide has revealed the employers recruiting the greatest number of UK graduates. Analysis of the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey shows that Boots, the Nottingham-based pharmaceutical and retail group, recruited the greatest number of UK graduates in 2009-10, with more than 520 graduates placed in its various divisions.

The National Health Service is the second largest employer, with almost 500 graduates (excluding doctors, dentists and nurses).

Umbrella careers body discusses membership framework

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 11:10:55 GMT

The Careers Profession Alliance (CPA) will be replaced by the Career Development Institute (CDI) from September 2012 in a change that has the full support of government, the National Careers Council and Careers England. The member bodies of the existing CPA are currently working on a common membership framework for their new organisation.

Gradual shift in the graduate labour market?

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 12:17:23 GMT

The graduate labour market is holding up well compared to the first quarter of 2012, according to university careers and employability professionals. Responding to the regular vacancy survey carried out by AGCAS, 93% of heads of careers services said that, in their experience, the graduate labour market was more buoyant (50%) or the same (43%) in the quarter ending 30 June 2012 when compared to the previous quarter. 79% said it was more buoyant (43%) or the same (36%) compared to the same period last year.

AGR Annual Conference: 2012 report

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 10:18:51 GMT

AGCAS was well represented at this year's Association of Graduate Recruiters' (AGR) Annual Conference at The Celtic Manor Resort in South Wales. The event provides an opportunity for careers and employability professionals to meet and better understand graduate recruiters, and vice versa. For those who weren't lucky enough to get along, we asked a few of the AGCAS delegates what they made of it.

Graduate vacancies set to increase - High Fliers

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 08:56:06 GMT

AGCAS welcomes the latest research from High Fliers, which indicates that the number of graduate vacancies amongst the large employers is set to increase by 0.9%. This is in line with AGCAS' own research, which monitors graduate vacancies from a broader range of employers and also indicates a modest improvement in outlook.

Survey reveals trust in careers services

Thu, 24 May 2012 14:24:53 GMT

High Fliers, in association with The Times, have released their annual review of students' perceptions of careers, career expectations and future aspirations. Over 17,000 final year students from 30 of the country's higher education league table leaders took part in The UK Graduate Careers Survey 2012. The data shows how trusted careers services are, with 93% of finalists surveyed having used the service. It also suggests more and more students are undertaking work experience and internships, supported by their careers service.

TARGETjobs Breakfast News: Apprenticeships

Thu, 10 May 2012 08:15:32 GMT

TARGETjobs' Breakfast News this month focused on apprenticeships. The event took place in London on 26 April 2012.

AGCAS represented at diversity careers events

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:50:34 GMT

Percy Ngcobo, a member of the AGCAS Diversity Task Group, attended various LGBT careers events in the autumn of 2011, including the CASS LGBT Society Careers Panel Networking event, the Careers Diversity Show, and the Inside and Out Investment Banking event.

AGR Graduate Recruitment Conference 2013, Newport, South Wales

Mon, 06 May 2013 20:47:09 GMT

The AGR Graduate Recruitment Conference is the biggest graduate industry event in Europe bringing together over 400 recruiters, universities and third parties every year.

Biennial Conference 2013, Exeter

Tue, 29 May 2012 11:03:40 GMT

Beyond the rhetoric: enterprise, engagement and employability

The premier event in the HE careers calendar, AGCAS Biennial 2013 is a three-day conference comprising three stand-alone days. The conference is aimed at anyone interested in careers information, advice and guidance, employability and/or the graduate labour market. The conference will be held at the University of Exeter, 10-12 September 2013.