totaljobs group

7 April 2011

Last night at Vinopolis, London, totaljobs.com launched the first of three debates entitled Graduate Answer Time, presented by Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy. The event looked at all of the issues affecting graduates, from tuition fees to getting into work, and the discussion was led by a distinguished panel that included representatives of employers (RBS group graduate resourcing manager Karen Martin, Enterprise Rent-A-Car's European HR director Donna Miller and AGR chief executive Carl Gilleard), higher education (Imperial's Dr Rodney Eastwood for the Russell Group and London Metropolitan VC Professor Malcolm Gillies for million+), careers services (AGCAS board member Stephen McAuliffe) and the student view (NUS VP Susan Nash).

Questions discussed at the event included whose responsibility it is to prepare graduates for the world of work, how the graduate market is likely to change over the next few years, whether certain degree subjects would be likely to die out in the harsher higher education landscape, if more could be done to widen university access and whether the government should do more to stop exploitative unpaid internships.

Following a format similar to BBC’s Question Time, each topic was offered out to the floor, giving attendees the chance to question the panel with their own concerns and issues. Summing up proceedings, Carl Gilleard observed that while there were still more questions than answers, the current shifts in higher education are certain to impact the graduate recruitment sector. He noted that much of the debate had touched on issues of supply and demand, and foresaw a range of new initiatives from employers including a greater focus on school-leaver recruitment and more instances of tuition fees being repaid in full.

Following the success of the first event and the strong turn-out, the next Graduate Answer Time is scheduled for Wednesday 14th September 2011 at London's Sadler's Wells.