At this time of year, many former students are perfecting their CVs and applying for jobs in the hope of landing their ideal role. However, we know that the current economic conditions are putting graduates in a difficult position. With the increased competition for jobs, for example, employers can afford to be ‘picky’ and look for more than just a degree grade.
This issue has recently been highlighted in a somewhat controversial experiment by Masters student Eric K Auld. After struggling with job hunting himself, he posted a fake advertisement for an Administrative Assistant in New York, where no relevant experience was required, and no details of the company were provided. Amazingly, 650 responses were received within 24 hours. Applicants ranged in education from high school to graduate, with anywhere from 0 to 20 years of relevant experience. Whilst the experiment raised several issues, the fact that many applicants were over-qualified really draws attention to the desperation faced by jobseekers.
It’s clear that graduates need to find new ways to stand out from the crowd, and also be able to bounce back when they suffer inevitable setbacks in their job search. At a&dc, we feel that the key attribute enabling them to do this is resilience, which we define as ‘an individual’s capacity to adapt positively to pressure, setbacks, challenge and change in order to achieve peak performance.’
Higher levels of resilience lead to positive consequences such as reduced stress, a constructive work attitude and improved job performance. In addition, we have found that there’s a relationship between engagement and five of our resilience scales: self belief, optimism, purposeful direction, challenge orientation and support seeking. This suggests that resilience will benefit, not just the individual, but the business as a whole, which is why it is such a sought after quality for HR professionals and employers.
However, worryingly, in a graduate employability survey earlier this year, Ernst & Young tested for 60 strengths and found that resilience was one of graduates’ weakest skills. This perhaps isn’t surprising as with little work and life experience, many graduates lack the opportunities to develop this quality, but they would be at a distinct advantage if they could.
Resilience isn’t a fixed characteristic – it can be enhanced over time – so it’s our job to shape new recruits and increase their resilience. This may be as part of the onboarding/graduate training programme through workshops, mentoring programmes, feedback and coaching techniques, or a combination of methods.
We need to remember that today’s graduates are our future leaders, and their levels of resilience will affect the success of our country in years to come. If we deal with the issue of resilience early on in their career, they will have the skills needed to tackle the long term challenges.
