Graduates told they are lacking the right skills

The all-important skills that employers are looking for in their new recruits are missing in today's graduates, one expert has said.

According to Dan Hawes, co-founder of the Graduate Recruitment Bureau, while the number of people graduating from university with a degree has increased, recruiters are finding it more difficult to identify quality.

'The skills that recruiters are looking for are sparse among graduates: commercial awareness, customer-service skills, teamworking,' he said.

Mr Hawes noted that universities 'aren't producing' the right kind of employees for companies, creating a shortage for recruiters.

'The whole industry has become a lot more competitive,' he stated, with Income Data Service figures indicating that graduate recruitment grew by 18.3% in 2007.

Employers are using more unusual methods to attract possible candidates, such as the use of social-networking sites and campus events.

On the whole, the selection process has become 'more thorough,' Mr Hawes concluded.