It has been an interesting year with continued fluctuations in the graduate labour market, which (according to the OECD in their 2023 Employment Outlook), remains tight with some signs of easing after a decrease in the number of vacancies. Despite this, the UK is still above pre-pandemic levels. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is likely to have a significant impact, and we are expecting generative AI to impact the graduate recruitment process. Competition for graduate jobs is likely to increase, as according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) the labour market is loosening as candidate availability increases. The number of placements vacancies has fallen, which is reflected in our own numbers. The IT industry is particularly affected by slow hiring and layoffs. We continue to provide a hybrid service for our students, in reflection of an increasing number of graduate employers using a hybrid model of working or working from home; 75% of IT businesses and 59% of professional services businesses, according to the ONS.
The external focus on employability is being driven by several policy developments in HE, which include:
• Agile supply and demand for staff in specific employment sectors; eg. technology, health sciences, sustainability and green jobs.
• The Graduate Outcomes survey which is centrally managed by the Higher Education Statistics Agency with the obligation on the University to maintain contact with graduates and collect contact details over a 15-month period after graduation. The following three areas of reporting use this data:
• OfS B3 Student Outcomes
• The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)
• Access and Participation Plan (APP) targets
• Greater government scrutiny on the employability and salary outcomes from degree programmes.
• The growing importance of employability outcomes in the National Student Survey.
Our mission is to develop talented, adaptable, and highly employable global students and graduates.
We achieve this by delivering transformative professional development, career management skills with a growth mindset, supported through work-based learning, online courses, awards, and placement schemes. Through effective coaching, we enable students to identify and leverage self-growth opportunities, develop skills and personal agency for their career regardless of their background, degree, or aspirations.
Student engagement has been our biggest challenge over the last year, particularly in PTY numbers and our key strategic themes for Employability and Careers seek to address this:
• Expanding our reputation for global and employable graduates (84%+ into highly skilled employment)
• Build on our PTY programme and develop a broader employability offer to students
• Embedding inclusive practice in our services alongside EDI initiatives
• We will provide access to appropriate, highquality, caring and co-ordinated careers support services to all students and recent graduates.
• Support the objective from the Education strategy of embedding employability as one of five key attributes in the curriculum
Membership of professional bodies
• Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS)
• AGCAS Task Groups: Employer Engagement; Researchers; Health & Related Professions
• Institute of Student Employers (ISE)
• ASET – Work Based learning and Placement Learning Association
Conferences attended
• AGCAS Heads of Careers Services Conference
• Institute of Student Employers; Student Development Conference
• AGCAS Annual Conference for HE Careers and Employability Professionals
Staff development and training
• ASET (Work Placements) workshops
• Career Coaching
• Introduction to Careers Guidance
• Writing for Impact
• Mental Health First Aid
• Recruitment Practices and Talent Management: Bridging the Gap
• Level 7 Apprenticeship in Career Development
• AGCAS/Warwick PG Diploma in Careers Education, Information and Guidance
• Chartered Institute of Marketing ‘Digital Copywriting’
• Level 4 Apprenticeship ‘Marketing Executive’
We equip our students for a successful entry to a workplace transformed by the emergence of virtual recruitment processes and hybrid working. We have seamlessly realigned our definition of a suitable placement to keep pace with a changing world and ensure our students are the best equipped to contribute positively to their placement providers.
Highlights for the year include:
• The Student of the Year was awarded in categories for Sustainability, Trailblazing, Resilience and Inclusivity, in addition to Faculty awards.
• The PTY Returner’s Survey had 217 responses (26%). 95% of respondents felt more employable as a result of their PTY.
We cultivate an Employer Engagement focus across the University, building strong, mutually beneficial relationships with businesses, industry, and wider local and international communities to develop highly sought-after graduates. In a fast-changing recruitment environment, we have kept abreast of trends and employer needs, feeding back this intelligence to our team and the students and graduates we support.
• Hybrid engagement for 22/23 however we saw a return to more on-campus events this year complemented by virtual sessions.
• We worked with over 400+ employers across all our events
• Held 64 employer-led events including skills sessions, in addition to 7 sector and diversity focused panels, careers fairs and employers drop-ins.
• 3,731 students engaged in our employer-led events calendar
22-23
• 1,349 students attended.
• Average attendance was 31 students per event across the year.
We also held several careers fairs throughout the year, most notably the successful return of our flagship Autumn Careers and Placements Fair which was held “in-person” for the first time since October 2019. In addition, we held a Public Sector Mini Fair for the first time and a Graduate Jobs Mini Fair in May as part of our Finalist week.
• 128 Employer exhibitors
• Over 1800 students attended
“Definitely really helpful event, gave a lot of ideas and help on career pathways, good opportunity to speak to the recruitment teams.”
“Really well organised, great eventKudos to the organisers”
“So many employers, helpful peopledefinitely recommend”
“Busy, engaged students, great space.” Enterprise
“Asking lots of questions and very engaged - we were very happy with it, good organisation.” Mazars
This mini fair was held on campus in May for employers who were recruiting live graduate roles from a range of different industries. Targeted at our final-year students, it gave them an opportunity to meet and network with graduate employers with live roles for after they graduate.
• 27 Employer exhibitors.
• 432 Students attended.
We have run this Panel a number of times in the last few years in response to the gender imbalance in the technology sector. The panel aims to encourage and empower female students to consider careers in the technology sector. We had some inspiring female panellists and excellent role models for our students from Electronic Arts (EA), HSBC, Dell and IBM.
The week features a suite of sessions and events specifically designed to support our international student cohort. Featuring Microsoft, HSBC, Penningtons Marches Cooper The week’s sessions included:
• Working in the UK following your studies
• Finding a placement as an international student
• Cultural diversity in the workplace
• Alumni International student employability employer panel
Over 150 International students attended the sessions during the week
Finalist week was a targeted and focused opportunity for our finalyear and masters students to have some tailored support, meet with employers and attend sessions to support them before graduation. The week featured Hays, EY, CGI and Teach First.
The week’s sessions included
• Preparing for the Graduate Careers Fairs
• Graduate Jobs Careers Fair
• Alumni Speed Networking Event
We provide a comprehensive 1-1 support service to students, offering a variety of different appointment types to suit the changing needs of students and graduates. Maintaining high standards is core to our mission as a department and this is reflected in the student experience strategic objective of providing access to appropriate, high-quality, caring and co-ordinated support services to all students.
1,215 CAREERS APPOINTMENTS
135
559 Q UICK QUERY APPOINTMENTS OTHER APPOINTMENTS*
333 WORKSHOP SESSIONS DELIVERED IN DEPARTMENTS
“The Careers Consultant was extremely helpful. They answered all my worries and questions, and completely made me feel more comfortable in the steps I am taking in my career journey.”
25 CENTRALLY DELIVERED WORKSHOPS
“Very friendly service. The Careers Consultant was relaxed, personable and friendly to talk to. Really uplifting and confidence-boosting appointment with lots of helpful advice and potential leads for exploration. I look forward to the next appointment!”
NUMBER OF CAREERS APPOINTMENTS SPLIT BY DEPARTMENT (INCLUDES; CAREERS ADVICE, QUICK QUERIES, LINKEDIN CHECKS)
This open course, specifically targeted at prospective, new and first year students, launched in September 2021 and is still attracting new users. It is designed to help students identify their strengths and learn how to use their time at university to explore career options and prepare for future job roles.
The Student Engagement team provide firstline careers triage to students via OneSurrey, helping them to navigate Surrey Pathfinder, book appointments, find careers resources and provide basic CV/LinkedIn advice.
We also reach out to students at open days, fresher’s fairs and events throughout the year and have increased student engagement by running online campaigns throughout the summer and improving engagement with our social media platforms.
With the cost-of-living crisis, it was more important than ever for us to organise a part time jobs fair and this year we held it in Rubix on October 4th
• 28 employers exhibited
• 486 students attended
‘There were lots of students - all were very interested in working for us in various hospitality roles . Good turn out and good response. Ideal for the part time flexible jobs we have available for students.’
(Employer quote – Profiles Personnel)
‘Very helpful and insightful. Showed me a lot of opportunities that I hadn’t known before.’
(Student quote)
Newsletter average open rate: 42%
Highlights
68% Tell your Graduate story
67% Final Year Call - HEAR (Employability Award)
67% You are invited to: The Ritz London Skill Session and Brasserie Bar Co Drop In
65% Exciting graduate job opportunity at Surrey
Surrey Pathfinder: Graduates approved for an Alumni account: 6,743
45% of students engaged
22% of graduates engaged
Total number of students and graduates engaging with the platform: 10,389
Careers blog - 9,450 visitors
Placement blog - 2,353 visitors
Post impressions - 26,000 Post engagement rate - 1.84%
1,812 followers
172 link clicks from tweets
2,125 followers
524 posts
699 followers gained 3146 followers overall 105,039 impressions
3,072 link clicks
86 LinkedIn appointments attended
Completed 5+ Instagram takeovers of University account
Including: Placement Q&A’s
Highlight: Grew our Instagram channel and doubled our follower count
• Fifth year of running the Employability Award programme, with the number of students engaged rising to over 600.
• With 55 completers this year (and 24 completing the Award Plus in addition), we saw some high-quality reflections at the end of the programme.
• Three Final-Year students received ‘STAR’ awards for their excellent achievements.
Survey highlights (73 survey responses in total):
• 46% of students were from ethnic minority backgrounds, demonstrating a good uptake from WP students.
• 89% agreed or strongly agreed that they feel more confident they will be successful in achieving their aspirations.
• 93% agreed or strongly agreed they understand the key skills needed to progress successfully.
• 93% agreed or strongly agreed they would recommend the Employability Award to other students.
• The Career Mentoring Scheme remains a targeted initiative, supporting undergraduate ethnic minority students, care leavers and estranged students.
• This year 28 students took part, and we successfully integrated 16 mentors from PwC.
• Positive feedback from the survey particularly highlighted support with time management and the helpful approach adopted by mentors.
“Engaging with the skills assessments and interview training sections has been very beneficial, as they have significantly enhanced my confidence in my own ability and demystified the recruitment process. The Final Reflection section has pushed me to articulate the value of what I have been engaging with in a professional sense. The Employability Award has made my study more tangible in terms of potential professional outcomes.”
“Completing the Employability Award helped me realise a lot of the transferable skills that I already had."
“My Mentor was extremely helpful and patiently supported me in figuring out my goals and ambitions.”
“I have organised my time better and have a work-life balance because of my mentor’s advice.”
• Liaised with the Disability and Neurodiversity team to coordinate our partnership with EmployAbility.
• EmployAbility provide both staff and student training, student resources and one-to-one student support.
• The staff sessions were well attended with representation from across the university. Student uptake for the three sessions remained low; we will look to expand online resources next year as an alternative.
• Third year of delivering the Mentoring Circles project with TMC Pathfinders. This initiative runs in semester two and is targeted towards Final-Year and PGT students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• 14 students worked across three Mentoring Circles, discussing shared career interests and gaining valuable sector knowledge, networking opportunities and support from each mentoring circle/group.
• Feedback from students remains very positive; 100% of survey respondents said they would recommend taking part in the project.
• A funding bid has been submitted to continue delivering this project in 2023, expanding the offer to include First and Second Years in semester one.
• We have continued to place students on the Rise programme with upReach – a comprehensive career support programme offering students 1:1 careers advice, mentoring, industry insights and access to internships and graduate opportunities.
• 15 upReach ‘Associates’ have been successful in securing opportunities with employers, ranging from internships to graduate roles.
• Associates had to meet upReach’s criteria (low socioeconomic background) and Surrey’s ethnic minority student focus.
• New spaces available on the scheme due to successful outcomes will be filled by First and Second-Year students in the autumn semester.
• Care leavers and estranged students continue to have access to a specific Careers Consultant, with targeted opportunities being promoted were appropriate.
• This continues to work effectively, with students booking multiple appointments for ongoing support.
“I think the mentoring circles project is a great idea as it helps students who may be feeling a bit overwhelmed to look at their career choices after university. This helped me identify my own strengths and how to present myself to a potential employer... I feel like I have been provided with some valuable advice that will help me greatly in the future.”
“Since I started with upReach, my skillset has improved and expanded, and I now feel more confident in navigating my career progression and achieving my goals. I am ready to step into the real work life thanks to upReach.”
The Graduate Outcomes survey is the biggest annual social survey in the UK and captures the perspectives, current employment and further studies of university graduates at 15 months after leaving. All graduates who completed a higher education course in the UK between 1 August 2020 and 31 July 2021 were invited to take part in the latest survey.
of Surrey undergraduates are in work or further education
95% of undergraduates are in graduate level roles (as opposed to roles not requiring a degree)
88% of graduates agree that their current activity is meaningful
2
81%
88% said their current activity fits with their future plans
This strategic workstream is designed to give our students an ‘employability head start’ to their future graduate career.
In addition to the success of our PTY and other placement programmes, we wanted to create other avenues to extend opportunities to more students and recognise that not all students will do a PTY.
It has been well evidenced that graduates from widening participation groups fare worse in the graduate labour market than their peers. In fact, our data from the Graduate Outcomes survey shows that there is a 10.5% gap for Asian vs white students and a 3.3% gap for black vs white students when securing highly skilled employment. More broadly, students who enter the University from a lower socioeconomic background (SEC 4-7), are showing an 3.5% gap into highly skilled employment.
Our data also shows that although our female graduates have a 2.5% advantage in securing highly skilled employment, there is still a £2,664 salary gap.
To build on our longstanding success we will broaden our employability offer to students by:
• Sustaining the success of our PTY programme
• Widening opportunities for work experience through summer and graduate internships
• Increasing employment of graduates in roles at the University
• Create tailored employer engagement opportunities for students, which reflect industry needs/trends and drive PTY/graduate hires
• Growing uptake of SurreyConnects – the place for alumni student networking and mentoring
Embedding of employability as one of five key attributes in the curriculum, and to instil a lifelong learning ethos for long term career resilience
We will sustain or improve our graduate outcomes:
Graduate Outcomes 2020/21 put Surrey’s graduates 12th in the country (against other higher education institutions for UG, Home students) for graduate level employment, with 95% finding work or going on to further study after graduating.
• We will address the graduate Black, Asian and minority ethnic employment gap
– Current gap (according to 20/21 GOs) for Asian vs White graduate level employment is 10.5% and for Black vs White is 3.3%. Our progression target for the Office for Students is to reduce the gap to 1%.
Introduce:
• Summer Internships with a specific focus on final year undergraduates from underrepresented groups and international students. Over 80 fully funded internships were completed in summer 2022. 100 internships have been offered for summer 2023, with a further 50-100 available in summer 2024.
• Surrey Graduate Internships scheme to employ graduates for 12 months in dedicated roles in professional services through a Graduate Development Programme. 10 centrally funded roles were offered for 2022-23.
• PTY will continue to thrive through the strong collaboration with Directors of Employability in Schools/Departments.
• Increase student take up of the Employability Award – our online employability course that allows students to work at their own pace and use experiences from their extracurricular activities while at Surrey to reflect on their progress against a Professional Skills Framework
• Work in collaboration with the Doctoral College and Innovation teams to join up opportunities and promote widely with employers and students.
• Further develop our relationship with companies on the Surrey Research Park, with initiatives designed to extend their employment of students/graduates.
• Embedding of employability in the curriculum will be an integral part of the Curriculum Design Review.
• Work with Advancement on support from potential donors and alumni for placements and internships.
• We will support the graduate employability of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds
– Social Economic class 4-7: GOs graduate employability has a gap of 3.5% from the total. We seek to reduce this gap.
• We will support addressing the gender pay gap
– Surrey students present a £2,664 pay gap from the 2020/21 Graduate Outcomes survey.