Graduate influx addressed at AGR annual conference

Headnote

RECRUITMENT

How HR teams will cope with the expected sharp rise in the number of graduates over the next few years was the central theme of the Association of Graduate Recruiters' (AGR) 31st annual conference in Wales earlier this month.

Latest figures from the University and College Admissions Service show that 450,147 people applied to UK higher education institutions for entry this autumn, a rise of 2.9 per cent on last year.

The Government hopes this number will continue to increase, so that, by 2010, half of all qualified young people - defined as those with two ?-Levels or more enter into higher education.

Having such a large pool of graduates to choose from may seem like an ideal situation for employers, but the sheer number creates difficulties, delegates at the conference heard.

The Royal Bank of Scotland, for example, has received 25,000 job applications for 400 positions over the past two years. "A scary number," admitted Adrian Thomas, group resourcing manager at the organisation.

So how do you sift through that...