Demand for graduates increasing

Demand for graduates increasing

Despite gloomy economic predictors, employer demand for university graduates is growing significantly.

The number of graduate vacancies on the NZUniCareerHub website to the end of April has doubled compared to the same time last year and nearly 60% more employers were using the website to advertise internships, scholarships and graduate positions.

The website, which is available free to students, is run by University Career Advisers of New Zealand (UCANZ). UCANZ represents Auckland University of Technology, Lincoln University, Massey University, the University of Auckland, the University of Canterbury, the University of Otago and Victoria University of Wellington.

UCANZ spokesperson Liz Medford, manager of Career Development and Employment Services at Victoria University, attributes the growing demand as recognition among employers of the value that graduates add to small and medium sized organisations as well as to larger corporates.

”Smaller organisations have recognised the CareerHub system provides an effective, low cost way of reaching a large number of students targeted to their specific requirements.

“Students are also catching on to this as an excellent way of making contact with employers, even before they complete their degrees,” says Ms Medford.

More than 900 employers are registered on CareerHub and use the services for participating in campus career expos, employer presentations and advertising to specific student target groups or courses.

“The increase in graduate vacancies follows global trends. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers in the US, employers are planning to hire 19.3% more new university graduates this year than in 2010.”

Similarly in Britain, the Association of Graduate Recruiters is predicting that new graduate vacancies will increase by 3.8%. Worldwide, the accounting and ICT industries appear particularly buoyant with organisations such as Deloitte and KPMG planning to hire 250,000 employees globally over the next five years whilst Google intends to recruit 6,000 new employees this year.

More than 19,000 students in New Zealand have registered to use CareerHub and have logged on over 100,000 times this year.

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