Content provided by: GradTouch

A new survey shows what students think about their future working life. Sean Talbot from GradTouch shares key insights.

As we start to move closer to a return to normality, we’ve been looking ahead and thinking about what the graduate recruitment landscape will look like in the future. What will be different? What current changes to our lives will become permanent going forward? And how do students feel about it all?

University students have faced a myriad of unique problems over the last 12 months, which have impacted both their work and their mental health, so we set out to understand a little more about the effect that is having on their ambitions and their optimism for the future.

To find out what the next generation of graduates are thinking, in February 2021 we surveyed 2,878 students across 80 different UK universities, asking them about their future prospects and how they feel about recent adaptations to working life.

We’ve published the research results in the GradTouch Looking Ahead Report, which gives employers a glimpse into the minds of future talent.

Key findings

Students are clearly keen to have their voices heard at the moment and we received a really high number of responses to our questions.

The report tells us that certain elements of our ‘new normal’ are appealing to students, such as working remotely – remarkably, 40% of current students now say they want to do this after graduation, a stat which would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.

Virtual job interviews also garnered a positive response. However, while the practical changes to working culture have been received well, optimism levels appear to have suffered, with only 30% of students choosing a positive emotion when asked to think about their job hunting prospects.

As well as the above, the report asked students questions that will also give employers an insight into what students will be looking for when they graduate, such as what type of employers they’re most interested in and what would make them more likely to apply for a role.

The report can be downloaded for free here: Looking Ahead Report

If you’re interested in finding out more about our report you can contact me on sean@gradtouch.com, or if you’d like to hear more about how GradTouch can help you reach your future talent, you can speak to our Head of Sales at Charlie.pepper@gradtouch.com.