Michelle Blackburn, Chantelle Trickett & Jessica Foster

1. Passion or Profession
Michelle Blackburn, Jessica Foster &
Chantelle Trickett
A review of employer selection criteria
for placement seeking UK Business and
Human Resource Management
undergraduates

2. Overview
• Background
• Aims
• Context
• Module design philosophy
• Literature review
• Purpose
• Methodology
• Findings
• Limitations
• Possible practical implications

3. Background of the research team
Michelle - Module Leader on L4 HR module +
Students as researchers project
Jess - Psychology and Sociology Graduate
(brand new!!!) - assessment requirement
Chantelle - snap :u)

4. Our Aims
To find out whether efforts to include HR skills development
enhanced students' employability.
To find out what employers are looking for amongst HR
undergraduates applying for HR placement opportunities.
To find out how students were marketing their specialist subject
knowledge to potential employers

5. Context
• Over 650 students in the business school on placement every year, nearly
19,000 across the institution
• BA Business and Human Resource Management
• People Management - first year undergraduate module designed to
develop relevant HR skills to support placement applications at L5
• Assessment
• Design and build of a HR intranet site
• Tailored to fictional company context
• Range of specialist HR content eg Recruitment and selection

6. Module design philosophy
• Atkins (1999, p. 276) employer-related projects offer students an
opportunity to develop not only their specialist subject knowledge but
also their 'generic skills and personal attributes in a context closer to
that which [students] will encounter after graduation'.
• Crebert et al (2004, p162) graduates are able to see how their
generic skills develop through approaches that create 'stronger
linkages between curriculum content and ‘real-world’ examples and
applications'.
• Robert and Saar (2012) suggest that discipline related skills
developed while at university have a positive impact upon labour
market returns.

7. Literature Review
• Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) requirement that
universities provide employability statements. Unistats (2015) directs potential
students to universities (and colleges) to these employability statements. Here
they can evaluate 'what each university or college offers to their students to
support their employability, and their transition into employment and beyond.'
• Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) produces the 'Destination of Leavers
from Higher Education’ (DLHE) survey also published by Unistats
• Tomlinson (2007) students recognise that with higher participation rates in HE,
having the degree itself is not sufficient to guarantee future employment. Scott
(1995, p112) notes 'Formal credentials are a less reliable guide' to candidate
selection.
• Stewart & Knowles (2000) suggest employability is a key consideration for
students who embark upon a degree. Holmes (2013) extends this to their families

8. Literature Review
Association of Graduate Recruiters:
• 2015 Winter Survey (2015): 44.8% of graduate recruiters had one or
more unfilled vacancy. Reasons varied but one of those commonly
cited was that recruiters believed that applicants had reduced skills.
• ‘Manifesto' for the new UK Government in 2015 that they have made
'All students need paid work experience as part of their education
experience' their number one priority
Jackson (2010) suggests employers see sandwich placements are a
reliable way of differentiating students, and saving money on
development.

9. Literature review
An education and skills survey conducted by the
CBI/Pearson (2013) found 88% of recruiters indicated
attitudes and aptitudes for work were the most important
recruitment factors, whereas only 67% suggested the
degree subject or relevant work experience/industrial
placement were the most important factors.

10. Purpose
Did the design of the module and its
innovative assessment impact upon
selection decision making amongst HR
placement employers?

11. Methodology
Sample: 10 out of the 12 employers who recruited Sheffield
Hallam University Business and HRM students to their HR
placement programmes. 12 students working for these employers.
(Employers of students recruited to other ‘business’ placements
were not included in the sample).
Private face to face interviews with students and employer
representative at Employer premises

12. What we asked
For students, what part of your university
experience did you share; what skills have you
used; any course changes for future.
For employers, what do you look for in a
graduate; degree type; potential changes for the
module in the future.

13. What we did (continued)
Carried out thematic analysis on interviews
using the guidelines of Andrews and Higson
(2008)
• hard (business) skills
• soft (interpersonal) skills
• Work experience/work based learning

14. Findings - Employers
Framework developed by Andrews and Higson (2008):
Business Specific Issues (Hard business-related knowledge and skills);
20% of the employers valued breadth of HR knowledge/skills
60% sought general degree disciplines loosely associated with HR
20% recruited from any degree discipline
"I'm looking for key words and skills associated with the role and I need them to be able to hit the ground running... I'm looking
for a degree in business with HR or HR with business - I need to know they can get something out of the job." Employer 7
(International Brewer)
_____________
"For interns, the degree needs to be relevant but business and economics is relevant enough for HR.” Employer 3
(International 'Technology Solutions' Provider)
"... Sometimes events management and marketing for the learning and development role. HR stats area more numbers so
finance may be more appropriate” Employer 9 (UK Subsidiary of an International Engineering and Electronics Company)

15. Findings - Employers
Framework developed by Andrews and Higson (2008):
Interpersonal Competencies (Soft business-related skills);
90% of employers selected on the basis of Interpersonal Competencies (soft business skills)
"We are a small organisation so we have a real role and limited capacity to develop someone with general employability
skills” Employer 6 (UK Charity)
___________
"The recruiters can pick from one of 117 characteristics that are relevant to the vacancy...” Employer 1 (International
Automobile Manufacturer)
"Personality and attitude is the key... They might have text book knowledge of HR but it is the right personality and attitude
at interviews that makes a difference.” Employer 2 (International Fast Food Chain)
"Overall more interested in general employability/workplace related skills rather than technical skills as they can be taught
the technical skills in the role." Employer 5 (UK Packaging Manufacturer)

16. Findings - Employers
Framework developed by Andrews and Higson (2008):
Work Experience and Work-Based Learning;
60% of the employers identified previous work experience as a key short-listing
criterion.
"On the CV we look for work experience.” Employer 2 (International Fast Food Chain)
"Work experience is great in CVs...” Employer 4 (International Engineering Conglomerate)
"Our filters are work experience - so voluntary work and sports stuff is also included...”
Employer 8 (International Specialist Automobile Engineering Company)
"Any work experience not necessarily in the same industry, paid or voluntary, with societies in
university” Employer 10 (International Aircraft Manufacturer)

17. Employer summary
Employers: Bigger businesses preferred
interpersonal skills compared to smaller
businesses which wanted hard skills.
Bigger employers were more keen on
employing graduates with a range of degrees
(psychology, law or business). The willingness
to learn and personal drive was important.

18. Findings - Students
Hard (Business) - 5 students used module related information
• S2 / S11- demonstrated website
• S3 / S8 / S12 - spoke about the module assessment
Soft (Interpersonal) - 2 students there on 'personality' alone
• S6 - related transferable skills
• S10 - attitude and skills on the day
Work (and university) experience - 5 student on experience
• S5 / S7 / S9 - using general university knowledge/ assessment
experience
• S1 / S4 - used work experience

19. Findings - Students
• Nearly half the students used the module
experience as part of their selection/
application
• 58% didn't use the module experience!
• 5 students found the module useful as it was
practical when on their placement;
• one-quarter of students wanted more HR in
first and second years

20. Limitations
As a small scale study conducted with 10
employers and 12 students based on one SHU HR
course, therefore it is hard to generalise.
No employers wished to be recorded, making it
difficult to properly interpret results - note taking

21. Possible practical implications
These results begin to suggest that HR programmes that focus
solely on the creation of subject based knowledge (without the
embedding of soft skills and opportunities for work experience) could
potentially disadvantage students when it comes to obtaining year-
long placement opportunities.
Courses need to help students articulate their soft skills
development alongside that of their knowledge which is what we
tend to offer marks for!

22. Thank you for listening!