On
average, 70 per cent of work experience placements lead to a graduate job
offer, according to research conducted by the University of Manchester and the
University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology Careers Service.
The
research gathered the experiences of 66 graduate employers including Accenture,
ExxonMobil and HSBC, who recruit university students for year-long or summer
placements.
It
found the most popular reason for offering work experience was recruitment into
graduate roles (80 per cent).
Of
the proportion of students offered graduate roles, an average of 70 per cent
accepted.
Scott
Foley, survey co-ordinator, said this highlighted the confidence that both
employers and students have in work experience in determining their future
employment relationship.
"The
survey highlights just how important work experience has become to graduate
recruiters, not just as a development tool, but also as a recruitment method in
its own right," he said.
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"Recruiters
are using work experience as a way of accessing graduate talent early, and the
results show that they stand a very good chance of gaining student commitment
ahead of the ‘milkround’ in their final year," said Foley.
