This record examines the impact of internships on graduate labour market. The view of the report is to find out what skills, knowledge and attributes are basically needed by graduate students to execute their professional work in the functional job field in today's job market.
The record then draws the main element themes in what graduate employability is and what employers needs are in relation to graduates. Although non internship applicants find it more difficult to enter the job market, they may have chances because employers look after "soft skills" from a candidate such as good communication skills, team work and also critical thinking.
The report concludes by analyzing career potential clients that graduates follow after doing an internship, if they thought we would follow an accounting career, or other sectors, they need to think of medium and permanent prospects in order to find a desired job.
Introduction
In recent years, there's been rapid growth of higher education in UK. It has got important and deep effects on labour marketplaces because employers need today highly educated employees.
Internships provide working experience when a pupil has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what they is learning throughout the experience. Doing an internship provides opportunities for students to gain work experience and companies help them to obtain a job in the future. Internships bring in students to the world of work and allow them to gain business experience, skills and knowledge that are necessary to achieve today's labour market. They allow students to hook up their experience from the work place, with the theoretical knowledge they have explored during college or university.
Definition of Internship
An internship signifies a formal program that delivers practical experience when a pupil has intentional learning goals and shows positively on what he or she is learning throughout the experience. Doing an internship provides opportunities for students to gain work experience and companies help them to get a job in the foreseeable future. Also "Employers are usually more concerned with your projects experience than your requirements and internships tend to be the only way to get the task experience you will need to secure employment, so they may be a essential part of your curriculum vitae. Many employers like or require people who've done an internship or relevant work experience and in lots of the more competitive job markets it is vital to create you apart from the others. "
However, some internships are unpaid and universities profession development centres are asked to avoid advertising unpaid internships on their websites, because interns cannot afford to work for weeks, and in some cases - months, without having to be paid.
Benefits and prices of any internship
According to Job Services Centre, the great things about doing an internship "enable you to gain a much better point of view of post-graduation occupation by applying the ideas and ideas" students developed during their seminar classes. Also students can develop an individual work ethic and also investigate their career interests and prospective career goals. An internship alleviates the development of professional associates, which can help students in the future for reference another company. By doing an internship you can develop some skills and knowledge that help students to choose from an array of possibilities about their future profession. (Careers Services Centre, 2010-2011)
The graduate labour market
Graduate labour market offers information to students about any careers in the marketplace, what recent graduates did, average earnings that graduates can get and also graduate recruitment styles. It is helpful to understand what employment in a genuine life is and recognizes student's options for future career developments.
University of Wolverhampton (2010) says: "The graduate labour market today is much more complex. Advancements such as increased global competition and innovations in technology imply that the workforce needs to be more highly skilled. " This has resulted in many changes such as the importance of a degree when trying to get a job, higher education is expanding and then for today's market there a wide range of students with a diploma, which they increase competition within popular areas.
The graduate labour market proceeds to boost and many vacancies that employers are promoting are filled with graduates that have already worked for just about any of their organisations, through work placements, internships or holiday schemes.
Graduate labour market - Accounting
For those graduates that contain the right diplomas, the current job market for accounting is very strong. Employers do not require a particular major of filed or research, but they tend to be focused on "soft skills" such as communication, teamwork, control and critical thinking. Accounting graduates find excellent opportunities in private areas because they can work for an organization; develop the knowledge about its business and the financial sector. "Regardless of the restricted labour market and strong demand, accounting graduates face rough competition, as top-tier firms expect skills beyond the sheepskin. Individuals must demonstrate technical knowledge and intangible features, such as presentation and presenting and public speaking, effort, computer literacy and social abilities. "
Definition of employability
[Employability is] a set of accomplishments, skills, understandings and personal qualities that produce graduates more likely to gain occupation and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the overall economy. (Yorke, 2004)
Since the recession the graduate labour market had become progressively more competitive, which is even harder for students to get a job with no any experience. You will find few vacancies on the market, which are filled up rapidly. Students also consider that they wouldn't have attended university giving the fact that the marketplace is very competitive. Although, they like to go to university since it is a distinctive experience, where you develop a series of skills and knowledge for a subject they like.
According to Times ADVANCED SCHOOLING, "students were less sure higher education got prepared them for the world of work, however, with 35 % disagreeing or strongly disagreeing that college or university had equipped them well for occupation. " (David Matthews, 2012)
Post-internship vs. non-internship candidates
Most undergraduate students know that having an internship represents a good opportunity for a full time job offer. Those that don't have the possibility to do an internship, will be likely to have less experience and for that reason harder to get into the work market.
According to Birchall's latest research (2012), people with no experience "possessed little or no chance of on offer a place on the graduate training programmes. Even more strikingly, almost three-quarters of graduate vacancies publicized at investment banking institutions and half the training contracts made available from major laws firls this year are likely to be filled by previous interns. " Also, companies have a tendency to recruit applicants who curently have worked for these people.
Career path
The accounting industry is so different because is very difficult to identify the types of accounting jobs that a graduate may take. Based on their studies they could work in any industry in accounting. There is certainly public accounting where graduates can "work for just about any sized firm, ranging from a big, international CPA firm to a small local accounting practice. Inside the firm, they could work in such areas as audit, taxes and management consulting. "
With government graduates could work for a specific company. Plus they may work in duty, money and again IT or interior audits. Also they can "produce a way to success at either the federal government, talk about or local level. Non-profit organizations and education also offer many diverse opportunities. " (American Institute of CPAs, 2012)
Skills, knowledge and aptitudes
Internships provide students opportunities to build up skills, knowledge and aptitudes within the place of work environment. Most students benefit from advanced schooling support and direction to find a good internship/positioning.
Today careers are incredibly different and students find with difficulty a job without experience and "the most important task for graduates is to manage their connections with work and with learning. This involves skills such as negotiating, action planning and networking, put into qualities of self-awareness and self-assurance. These are the abilities required to be "self-reliant" in job and personal development; skills to manage processes alternatively than efficient skills. They are simply as valuable in education as at work, so that as valuable to organizations as they are to individuals. " (Rose and Jonathan, 2012)
Traditional jobs remain but, there is a huge increase in the number of graduates, which means that there are fewer jobs with graduate training programs. "AGR associates recruited around 80% of graduates designed for work. Today the number is 50%. "( The Association of Graduate Recruiters, 2012). Graduates have to be flexible and adjust to new situations. To be able to get yourself a good job, a graduate needs transferable skills such as working well in a team, good communication skills and self-reliance skills that are "enabling skills that will be essential for graduates to make it through in the current labour market. They are the skills to manage a lifetime's progression in learning and work, somewhat than to do the task itself. They can be process skills alternatively than useful skills. "
The complete graduate needs 4 major types of skills such as - do it yourself reliant having the ability to take care of their personal development; they need to be good team players having management skills, IT and display skills; they have to be specialists which helps them to be an expert at something (e. g. marketing, accounting, duty, IT, etc); as well as have to have standard skills and knowledge (e. g. problem solving, critical thinking, basic accounting and finance).
Career prospects
Being an accountant requires to complete many jobs, preparing financial claims and also record business transations. They also calculate financial costs, develop IT systems to observe financial performance.
Post internship graduates have many opportunities to find a good job which is because they have got fresh thinking, new knowledge to businesses and analytical skills. They have got a number of choices to think as a medium term prospect for their job, as finishing ACCA or long-term leads such as considering a profession in accounting as an auditor or a chartered accountant, working for the government or being self-employed.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Employers expect graduates to really have the self-discipline, knowledge and complex competence in order to demonstrate a broad range of skills and features including critical thinking, team working, communication skills and problem solving. Internships help students to build up these skills that permit them to find the desired job, to progress in their work and for that reason to help in the success of the firms that they benefit and donate to population and the current economic climate.
Universities have to develop employability skills more comprehensive, through their programmes including practical assistance and coaching strategies that allow students to have a much better understanding in what employers expect from them, and how they should display their skills to them.
