More than 70% of employers say they are not receiving enough applications from doctoral graduates. That is the finding of a new report, "Recruiting Researchers: Survey of Employer Practice 2009," by Vitae, the U.K.-funded career development organization for doctorate holders and postdocs. "What we are looking for is first class brains," one employer noted.
Vitae surveyed 104 employers from a diverse mix of sectors, size, and academic orientation, ranging from, for example, QinetiQ and AstraZeneca to Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Office Depot. Nearly three quarters of the companies are interested in recruiting doctoral graduates, but many employers feel they are not adequately reaching this group of potential employees. This could indicate a trend of increasing interest among employers toward doctoral graduates, the report's authors hypothesize, proposing an additional study for 2010 to establish if this is in fact the case.
About a third of companies surveyed say they do actively recruit doctoral graduates, and 73% said they would welcome more applications from Ph.D. holders. Doctoral graduates, then, should take note of this and learn to articulate their unique skills to stand out during the ranking process, the report concludes.
What are those unique skills? David Cairncross, secretary of the CBI Inter-Company Academic Relations Group, writes in the report, "The process of achieving a doctorate develops an enquiring mind, problem-solving abilities and the ability to assimilate new ideas quickly" -- which are all highly valued skills even in a tough job market. The participating employers ranked data analysis, problem solving, and drive and motivation as the skills in which they expect top performance from doctorate holders. Project management, interpersonal skills, leadership, and commercial awareness were generally ranked lower.
"We must ensure that there is awareness on all sides of the very real commercial benefits which can be gained by the U.K. economy from employing an extraordinarily talented and diverse group of people," Cairncross writes.
The full report (PDF) and a short summary of the report are available on the Vitae Web site.
- Sverker Lundin
Vitae surveyed 104 employers from a diverse mix of sectors, size, and academic orientation, ranging from, for example, QinetiQ and AstraZeneca to Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Office Depot. Nearly three quarters of the companies are interested in recruiting doctoral graduates, but many employers feel they are not adequately reaching this group of potential employees. This could indicate a trend of increasing interest among employers toward doctoral graduates, the report's authors hypothesize, proposing an additional study for 2010 to establish if this is in fact the case.
About a third of companies surveyed say they do actively recruit doctoral graduates, and 73% said they would welcome more applications from Ph.D. holders. Doctoral graduates, then, should take note of this and learn to articulate their unique skills to stand out during the ranking process, the report concludes.
What are those unique skills? David Cairncross, secretary of the CBI Inter-Company Academic Relations Group, writes in the report, "The process of achieving a doctorate develops an enquiring mind, problem-solving abilities and the ability to assimilate new ideas quickly" -- which are all highly valued skills even in a tough job market. The participating employers ranked data analysis, problem solving, and drive and motivation as the skills in which they expect top performance from doctorate holders. Project management, interpersonal skills, leadership, and commercial awareness were generally ranked lower.
"We must ensure that there is awareness on all sides of the very real commercial benefits which can be gained by the U.K. economy from employing an extraordinarily talented and diverse group of people," Cairncross writes.
The full report (PDF) and a short summary of the report are available on the Vitae Web site.
- Sverker Lundin
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