Graduate employers 'not keen on the Hear'

The Higher Education Achievement Report details specific module marks and extracurricular activities in an attempt to give a more rounded view of an applicant than a simple degree class.

But according to the Graduate Recruitment Survey 2013 Summer Review, more than a quarter of employers had not heard of the Hear, and of those that have, just under a fifth said they would use it during recruitment.

Of those employers who had heard of the Hear but decided not to use it, almost two thirds explained that they were happy with the recruitment tools they already use.

Twenty-three per cent said the Hear was “new and untried” while 13 per cent said it contained too much information.

Some companies also said that it would be too difficult to use because not all universities had adopted it.

The Hear has the backing of Universities UK, but has not been universally embraced by institutions, with the universities of Oxford and Cambridge both deciding against adoption.

The survey, commissioned by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), also predicts a drop of 3.9 per cent in graduate vacancies this summer.

This contrasts with another recent survey, The Graduate Market in 2013, which found that vacancies were up 4.6 per cent this year on 2012.

The report is based on an online survey of 209 members of the AGR, who are generally large firms that have specific recruitment programmes for graduates.

david.matthews@tsleducation.com