Careers Services are Vital for Brighter Future, say Students

LONDON - A recent poll of 10,000 Abintegro student members suggested they are ‘heavily reliant’ on their careers service for advice relating to ‘all aspects’ of selecting and securing a career.

Innovative careers services within universities, business schools and colleges are working tirelessly to ensure tomorrow’s graduates are the most prepared for work. There is no doubt this year’s 400,000 new graduates face tougher employment conditions than their predecessors, but a focussed student who actively seeks advice still has every chance of securing their dream job.

Many forward thinking academic institutions, including The University of West England (one of the UK’s largest universities with over 30,000 students), are introducing a new inexpensive system of tools from Abintegro that ensure each student produces a high quality CV and career plan based on what employers want. The service is based on CBI defined employability skills and feedback from hiring managers at leading UK corporations. Students login to learn about career options, shortlist employers, review and develop the skills sought by their chosen employers and produce a professional, personalised CV. Meanwhile, careers services can review profiles of students, set development objectives, suggest companies to work for and keep track of how many students complete a profile.

Making an informed career decision based on unbiased information is a huge issue for today’s students. Every career or job website is packed with adverts from big brands. That’s fine, but there are a whole host of SME’s and local employers often offering brighter prospects, better working conditions and even better pay. The trouble is how do you find them when they can’t afford the same advert as a PwC or BP? Even the recently launched government scheme for internships - Graduate Talent Pool - is reliant on employers having the resource to place their ads, thus the big brands continue to dominate.

Abintegro offers students the chance to take an unbiased look at over 1,500 employers. Abintegro sources the information and is not reliant upon or aiming to convince companies to advertise or submit a profile. Students can view the full range of employers so they at least have a chance of making an informed career decision.

With the government’s target of 50% of school leavers starting a degree in 2010, the issue of graduate employability is not going away. The government needs to ensure funds allocated to universities end up with the careers departments so the hard working professionals dedicated to helping students find work can continue their invaluable support and equip themselves with the best tools.

About Abintegro:

Abintegro helps academic institutions better prepare their students and graduates for the competitive employment market. The online CV building, career planning and job seeking tools are based on CBI employability skills and feedback from hiring managers at leading UK corporations.

Contact: Tony Heard, Managing Director, Abintegro Limited Phone: +44-(0)203-301-3378 Email: tony.heard@abintegro.com Web: www.abintegro.com/HigherEducation

Source: Abintegro

Contact: Tony Heard, Managing Director, Abintegro Limited, Phone: +44-(0)203-301-3378, Email: tony.heard at abintegro.com