Graduate training and business needs

Year 2018

Project carried out in partnership between IULM, Adecco Group and Centromarca, with the following objectives:

• Reconstruction of recruitment and selection policies by companies with reference to young graduates
• Reconstruction of managerial vision of this segment of the labour market (characteristics, motivation, preparation)
• Highlighting of perceived gaps in knowledge, skills and orientations between the desired ideal profiles and the actual incoming profiles
• Identification of possible lines of action to fill the gaps identified

An extensive survey was carried out on a sample of companies operating in the main industrial and commercial sectors (engineering, electronics, automotive, rubber and plastic, commerce, transport, foodstuffs, consumer goods) by means of a structured questionnaire. There were 115 responses.

A longitudinal comparison was made with the results collected in the first edition of 2012. The gathering of data in the field took place in the second half of 2018, through a dedicated online platform.

Below is a summary of the main results:

• Confirmation of the centrality of the master's degree as a "plus" on the labour market
• Increased knowledge of languages and new media, to be further strengthened
• Need for more basic investment in knowledge of the business system
• Increasing importance of experience abroad
• Transformation of the psychological contract (from 'relational' to 'transactional') and challenge of the engagement of young graduates
• Still insufficient investment in know-how: the centrality of "soft skills" on which the gap increases 
• Need for new investments in "new tech" skills: social media, big data, knowledge management, web marketing, e-commerce
• Strengthen the university-company partnership, starting from the ongoing growth of Placement Offices