The Desmond, the ballerina, the one that wasn’t quite good enough. The terrible 2:2 degree classification that has left debt riddled graduates feeling crushed and at a loss. New evidence has arisen in the recruitment world, however, suggesting that that the once cruel middle ground of degree results might not be the red mark on your career that you once feared.
A recent report by the Guardian entitled: “Feeling depressed about your 2:2 degree? Get over it, employers have” has argued that the real worth of a graduate lies not in their academic aptitude, but in their attitude. Gurpal Minhas, head of customer solutions at Capp, has told the Guardian that for many of his clients, a high degree result doesn’t necessarily guarantee a high performing and successful employee:
“Many organisations are considering the impact of purely screening out applications based on degree grades,” says Minhas. He says that companies are now shifting their mindsets to focus more on behavioural characteristics such as “customer service, drive and passion”.
The accountancy firm Ernst& Young, one of the UKs highest graduate employers, has announced they will no longer request a 2:1 for their graduate application process. The auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has also stopped using A-level grades as a guide of who to hire, as it is becoming increasingly clear that there is “little link between previous success at university and future success in professional qualifications,” Maggie Stilwell, EY’s managing partner for talent, has commented about their decision.
The research has some good news for 2:2 graduates, however this new perspective hasn’t penetrated the entire graduate employment pool, “Our annual survey will be published in September, but our current data shows that three quarters of employers are still looking for graduates with a 2:1 degree classification.” (Stephen Isherwood, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters).
Discovery Graduates has always felt that the true potential of any graduate lies in their behaviour. We, therefore, are 100% behind a far more modern and success driven approach to graduate recruitment.
Discovery Graduates offers employers the opportunity to have an in depth knowledge of a candidate’s behaviour handed to them in a stunningly accurate report. Using the latest knowledge of neuroscience and psychoanalysis, the Parallax Report is an accumulation of raw behavioural data analysed and delivered in a comprehensible and comprehensive way.
So, if you’re a new graduate with a 2:2, or an employer dissatisfied with your current graduate intake, we would recommend taking a leaf out of Ernst & Young’s book, and perhaps consider evaluating the candidate and not simply the academic evidence.
