Presentation comes out on top, ahead of 22% who said work experience was the top factor, 20% thinking it was an effective cover letter, 18% qualifications and 17% relevant skills.

(I find it pretty offensive to females to regard them as less intelligent. I’m sure that some of the girls I know from Oxford University studying maths would feel the same, as would my PhD wife).

What happens when less bright pupils get to university? According to Alison Wolf who headed a government-ordered review into vocational education, universities are having to provide catch-up classes because too may teenagers with top A-level grades are not ready to cope with the rigours of a degree.

So, that’s a good reason to make A levels easier then?

Research carried out by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), the Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE) and research agency CFE shows that UK students are less likely to be internationally mobile after graduating than their foreign counterparts, with over 11 foreign students in the UK for every UK student studying abroad, the report finds.

David Docherty, chief executive of the Council for Industry and Higher Education, says: “A global graduate isn’t simply a highly educated young adult who can speak a foreign language. Employers want talented graduates who can work with people from different backgrounds and embrace different perspectives.”

Ernst & Young has received more than 3,200 applications for fewer than 800 jobs; in practice, and allowing for interns from summer 2011 already offered positions, there are only between 480 and 560 jobs available.

At KPMG they have received 7,200 applications for 850 jobs between 1st July and 1st November. By comparison last years applicants for the same period were 4,500.

PwC, which says that it is seeking to hire 1,200 graduates, has said that applications have risen by 90% and Deloitte has indicated that it has experienced a similar increase in applications.

source: The Times

I’m told that one investment bank has already recruited 90% of the planned 2012 graduate intake from this years Summer interns.

In financial services, Stephen Isherwood, the head of graduate recruitment at Ernst & Young, has said that 30% to 40% of its graduate jobs, set to start in September 2012, had already been offered to students who completed internships at the company over the summer. Next year he plans to offer half of the graduate jobs to those who have completed an internship with the company.

One way of increasing your odds for selection, apart from completing an internship, is to select wisely the area of business activity in which you want to work and the part of the country/world you would like to work. Is it imperative that you work in London? This is where the competition will be most fierce, take a look at regional offices and what they can offer. Once you are qualified you will have the opportunity to move within the organisation or to another firm in a location that you find more attractive.

Tesco has today delivered very welcome news for university-leavers as graduate recruitment in the next year will increase by 30% – almost 10 times the national average.

This will see the country’s largest private sector employer welcome 440 graduates to its 17 schemes available across our operations in stores, distribution and head office.

Significantly, with Tesco operating in 14 countries across the world, a number of the UK schemes offer graduates the opportunity to work abroad as part of their training while local graduate schemes are also run across most of the international operations.

Judith Nelson, UK Personnel Director at Tesco, said:

“It’s a challenging time for graduates but, as other firms cut back on hiring, we remain committed to offering opportunities to talented young people. Those opportunities are available across our business from Commercial and IT to store management.

“Our focus is providing the skills and training for a career for life and the sky really is the limit for new recruits who work hard. Our current chief executive Philip Clarke was a Tesco graduate trainee – we aim to find the Philip Clarkes of tomorrow and provide them with the skills and training they need for a long and successful career.”

As the economic climate continues to challenge many firms in the UK, national graduate vacancies are expected to rise by just 3.6%.

The global member firm network has identified a need to take on about 250,000 new hires over the next five years, and graduate recruitment plays an essential role in meeting the firm’s long-term global growth strategy. New hires will be integrated into all of KPMG’s functional areas – audit, tax, advisory, and internal firm services.

In the UK, KPMG expects to recruit roughly 3,000 graduates and school leavers over the next three years, and around 7,500 new hires over the next five years.

“While KPMG’s firms plan to hire a large number of new graduate employees, it’s important to note that our focus is about more than simply high volumes – it’s about recruiting top talent to drive our growth now and into the future,” said Iain McLaughlin, head of recruitment at KPMG in the UK.

“To attract the best, we offer new graduates the opportunity to work alongside talented professionals, solving complex client issues and making a difference to some of the world’s most prestigious organisations.”

Rachel Campbell, global head of people at KPMG International, says: “Globalisation is increasingly affecting our clients’ world, so ensuring our future leaders have a strong understanding of global business complexities is critical to our business.

“Through our global campus recruitment and ongoing talent development programmes, KPMG’s network of member firms will be prepared with a workforce to meet our clients’ needs anywhere in the world to drive forward our high-performance culture.”

“Globally, we are seeing a revitalised labour market, with students seeking international work experience,” said McLaughlin. “The competition for top talent is fierce. To attract the best, we offer programmes that place students at the heart of our business to fully develop their global mindset, which will in turn enable them to realise their full potential and help us to deliver on our business goals.”

The IT graduate employer has just reached its target for the second quarter of 2011 by recruiting 618 graduates in the past seven months.

Graduate trainees are offered a 12-16 week programme in project management, application support, development, testing and infrastructure. Graduates then become fully fledged IT consultants and are placed within one or more of FDM’s 200 blue-chip clients for a minimum of two years.

The group add that its Wall Street office has now reached full capacity and it will be extending its employment opportunities across Asia in the near future.

Ireland’s graduate recruiters have provided an insight into what they look for from their graduate employees.

The gradireland Graduate Salary & Graduate Recruitment Trends Survey 2011 revealed half of Ireland’s recruiters demand a 2.1 degree classification or above but just 15 percent accept a 2.2.

But the most important evidence employers want to see from candidates is the demonstration of their skills with 54 percent claiming too few jobseekers show evidence of the skills they need to succeed. Recruiters pointed to the soft skills they found in short supply among graduates: communication (57 percent), managing own learning (29 percent) and independent working (28 percent) topped the list.

In terms of hard skills, writing skills need to improve with 44 percent of recruiters highlighting it as lacking among graduate jobseekers. Administration and organisation (31 percent), speaking a foreign language (31 percent) and leadership skills (30 percent) are all in demand too.

A “can do” attitude and good communication skills are more important to employers than academic qualifications, according to a poll of business owners by Virgin Media Business.

The survey of 5,000 company heads found that 85% felt a “can do” attitude and good interpersonal skills were the most important attributes for new hires. This compared with only 27% who placed academic qualifications at the top of their list.

Does this mean that HR systems are not reflecting what business owners want? If so, that would be surprising. Perhaps what the business bosses are really saying is that once they have recruited top graduates as their future leaders the competencies they want them to display are good interpersonal skills and initiative.