Speaker: Verity Stokes, Director at Angela Mortimer Plc / Katie Bard Recruitment and University of Birmingham alum (BA Medieval Studies)
In general, what I would say makes Birmingham graduates specifically attractive is their curiosity. Um, they want to know about others—they’re interested in not just their own discipline but something broader than that. They want to learn from the people around them, both the academics and their peers.
This transfers extremely well into a work environment. It's really useful when you're working on projects and collaborating to make things happen, as well as when you're working from a client perspective. That solution-seeking approach, rather than just problem-solving, from that curiosity.
And I would say, coming on from that, is their ability to lead on the answers. They come to a conclusion and then lead forward with it.
The Graduate Attributes are a brilliant way of expressing things that all employers are looking for. This is nothing new—I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and I can definitely tell you that these types of attributes were wanted 40 years ago and will still be wanted in 20 or 40 years' time. The difference is that, as the focus has become more around the academic rigours of what you're doing at university, what we're looking for is more than that.
A degree is great—if you’ve got here, we know that you're at Birmingham, and you're brilliant. That’s a given. What we want, though, is the next level. We want you to be curious. We want you to be interested in others. We want you to be leading the discussion. We want you to be engaged in the digital world and aware of how that’s changing.
These attributes are all part of what I think makes a Birmingham graduate particular and why companies absolutely seek them out. But they are also absolutely intrinsic to your experience here. Your degree is essential, but these things are going to get you that job, and going to get you a career longer term.
For me, the exposure I got when I was a student here—and I did all kinds of different things—really helped me to enjoy having those conversations with people and being open to the discussions and the narratives that they would bring with them. That social engagement is much bigger than, yeah the lovely warm feeling it gives you inside when you're doing it—but also directly attributes to what employers are looking for.