The Impact of COVID-19 on student and graduate opportunities
As a student or graduate, you will no doubt be considering the impact the global pandemic is having upon graduate opportunities and placements. Therefore, to keep you informed, we have created this page which will feature regular updates on the student and graduate recruitment market during these unprecedented times, as well as advice on what steps you can take.
Please keep checking back; this page will be updated regularly with the latest information available to us.
Despite the constantly evolving situation currently unfolding in early January we wanted to take the time to update you all on the effects of the previous lockdowns on the graduate job market. Whilst there is still a noticeable dip in the amount of vacancies compared to 2019, industries still appear to be making a slow recovery. Small businesses are the closest to their vacancy levels from a year ago with a decrease of only around 6%. Unfortunately, the graduate labour market has taken a hit alongside many of the UKs industries. However, many of the industries that graduates are more likely to enter have fared relatively well in comparison to others. The main exception to this is the Arts sector and whilst it has proved itself more resilient than previously expected during the pandemic, continuous restrictions have led to a depressed amount of new vacancies. Recent projections from luminate prospects are now assuming that graduate recruitment will reach its ‘normal’ peak in 2022 or 2023 and that graduates can expect at least one more cycle of reduced recruitment. The overall job market was still seeing a tentative recovery throughout the festive period with job search engine Adzuna reporting the volume of online adverts up to 83% of levels comparative to last year – a notable increase. This however comes with the caveat that the third national lockdown announced on the 4th of January will likely see another decrease in job postings and opportunities. It is difficult to say whether this impact will be as large as the lockdown in March of 2019 but we will make sure to keep our students informed of the current situation. While there is an expected fall in certain sectors due to the ongoing lockdown it is likely that many of the primary graduate recruiting industries may not fare as poorly as others. This is in no small part due to the flexibility of said industries and their ability to move to at-home work. Labour Market Analytics service EMSI have reported that demand for jobs that can be done remotely has risen by 212%. This shift to remote working is a bonus for our graduates who may be able to find positions that were previously unavailable to them due to location issues. The National Centre for Universities and Business annual State of the Relationship report suggests that ‘It will largely be professional workers – graduates, for the most part – who will be able to take advantage of this increase in homeworking.’ This is incredibly promising for the future of our graduates, showing that whilst the effects of the pandemic may have negatively effected the job market there is hope that due to the innovations and shift towards remote working our new graduates may be in a unique position of having future opportunities opened to them that were previously unavailable. As for work experience and placements for young people, employers have reported a fall in provisions for all types of placements. Due to the amount of uncertainty it is difficult to state what provisions will be in place for students to attain work experience over the next year. With this in mind, the Careers and Employability Team is working to produce and promote work experience and placement schemes for our students that wish to bolster their employability in the current job market. These include the Graduate Skills Builder, Productivity Programme and Workday Scheme all of which are running alongside our other projects such as the Lincoln Award to ensure that our students and graduates are supported in these challenging times. We maintain that it is key for our graduates and students continue to gain support from us to explore their options and focus on transferable skills. As part of this we have created the Finalist Career Launch taking place this Semester to boost employability skills in upcoming graduates. Click the button below to find out more information about the Finalist Career Launch. As the bespoke Careers Service for the University of Lincoln, we promote student and graduate opportunities via our CareerLinc platform. The number of job adverts advertised throughout December 2020 was slightly higher to the number of roles advertised throughout December 2019. For December 2020 the highest proportion of vacancies were Graduate opportunities, schemes or internships. There were 47 placement roles advertised, which shows that companies are still also advertising these opportunities for student placements. Graduate schemes advertised include HSBC, Enterprise-Rent-A-Car, Unilever, BAE Systems, KPMG and P&G. Larger organisations continue to represent the highest number of opportunities listed. The service actively work with local and national employers to continually source student and graduate opportunities.January Update
Graduate Job Market and Placements
Our Own CareerLinc Vacancy Analysis
The University of Lincoln partners with companies to offer graduate internships. These can be sourced by you directly and if you want to work for a particular company, virtually or remotely at this time, you may be eligible for a funded internship. For further details, visit the Internships advice section of our website. New opportunities to meet and engage with businesses through virtual Careers fairs, online events and virtual internships could provide opportunities to engage with companies in a different way. To find virtual events, visit our Events Calendar. The Careers Service is continuing to source and advertise part time roles, placement opportunities and graduate positions, all advertised on CareerLinc. Therefore keep checking for live job adverts, update your contact details and set up email job alerts. For those employers who are continuing with recruitment many are changing their recruitment methods online. These include application screening, telephone interviews, online assessment centres. The Careers team can support with all aspects of application via our remote services. Consider continuing to build your skills throughout this time with our top tips on how to Boost Your Employability from Home. We know that the current climate may be causing you some concerns with regards to your career, and it may be that you need to review your plans – you can still gain support via our services, all of which are available remotely, via the button below; we are here to help you. What you should do now?