GRADUATE EMPLOYERS URGED TO SCRAP 2.1 DEGREE REQUIREMENT

Milkround News, 05 March 2010

Graduates who do not get a 2.1 could be given more job options as employers are urged to broaden their minimum degree requirements.

Personnel Today reports PricewaterhouseCoopers has opened a new job route for those who just missed out on the required 2:1 degree qualification, npower is considering ditching degrees and switching to IQ and emotional intelligence tests while Enterprise Rent-A-Car has moved away from assessing graduates based on academic qualifications.

Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters told Personnel Today a 2.1 degree was a "very crude tool" for assessing candidates. He added: "The difficulty is that particular criteria is flawed and you will be missing out on some very good talent by using an arbitrary degree classification cut-off point.

"I would call on employers to start looking at this now. For employers it's important that when you are going to invest many thousands of pounds in graduates that you recruit the ones that have the potential to develop as you want them to and are likely to stay the course.

"So from the business perspective, it's helping to improve return on investment. Good retention depends on good selection."

Source http://www.milkround.com/news-careers-advice/221381/Graduate-employers-urged-to-scrap-2-1-degree-requirement

Interesting if you ask me !!