Does the average employer know what unis are in the Russell group?

OP

Original post by TheThiefOfBagdad

Depends if the employer is your local corner shop or JP Morgan Chase & Co.

In the context of graduate employers. Edited OP to clear it up.

Reply 3

Original post by Keyhofi

Do you think your average graduate employer could tell you how highly a random university ranks? Or could they accurately name every Russell group uni?

Just wondering.

No, but they are probably capable of googling the university you went to.

Reply 4

OP

Original post by Doctor_Einstein

No, but they are probably capable of googling the university you went to.

Do you think an empoyer who maybe shortlists 50 graduates for interview will google every single one of their universities? Is this a productive use of their time?

Reply 5

Original post by Keyhofi

Do you think an empoyer who maybe shortlists 50 graduates for interview will google every single one of their universities? Is this a productive use of their time?

If it were me, I would google the list of top universities once and print this out to have near me while I l look at the candidate's universities.

Reply 6

TheThiefOfBagdad

13

Original post by Keyhofi

In the context of graduate employers. Edited OP to clear it up.

Sorry, that was really pedantic of me.

I would imagine that a lot the people doing the hiring were once students themselves and as most, if not all, students these days are aware of the RG university rankings it's safe to assume that they are too.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 7

callum_law

6

I don't think many of the RG purists on TSR could list all the RG unis. Some are pretty random universities. I think most people could, if you gave them a list of unis, identify the good ones (maybe because a friend went there or they have heard the particular unis being discussed in good light). Employers are humans and do very much the same thing.

Reply 8

OP

Original post by Doctor_Einstein

If it were me, I would google the list of top universities once and print this out to have near me while I l look at the candidate's universities.

Interesting. But it is likely your candiates are applying from a range of degrees - for example if you are an accountancy firm - so you would need a separate list of university ranking for each subject. Rankings are also based on a lot of factors that do not directly relate to the quality of teaching, for example the quality of research at the uni or student satisfaction. These factors make rankings less reliable. Also, a skilled graduate from a mid-rank university can be better than a good student from a top university. Rankings also do not show you how well the graduate will fit into your company.

Reply 9

Original post by Keyhofi

Interesting. But it is likely your candiates are applying from a range of degrees - for example if you are an accountancy firm - so you would need a separate list of university ranking for each subject. Rankings are also based on a lot of factors that do not directly relate to the quality of teaching, for example the quality of research at the uni or student satisfaction. These factors make rankings less reliable. Also, a skilled graduate from a mid-rank university can be better than a good student from a top university. Rankings also do not show you how well the graduate will fit into your company.

Ok, well if you are wondering if an employer will know off the top of his head the rankings of each university for each individual subject, the answer is almost certainly no.

Reply 10

OP

Since most universities drift around on the rankings over time, the 'good' universities employers grew up with when they went to uni 10-30 years ago may not be the same as the good universities these days.

Reply 11

Duncan2012

Absolutely not. They'll probably just know Oxbridge, several of the older universities plus wherever they went to university.

I doubt most people could list all RG universities.

Reply 12

domonict

17

Depends on the size of the company and the interaction between the HR dept and the department/line manager who has requested the post be advertised.

HR is a professional dept in most big companies and they concentrate on ensuring that the advert is written in such a way to be "legal" and take care of the admin of recruitment.

They pass the applications on to the actual department who may circulate the forms amongst other colleagues all of whom may make comments to form a shortlist for interview. So if a non RG uni has a good course, or an RG has a bad course, it may be better known by that dept.

Reply 13

Moonstruck16

5

Original post by Doctor_Einstein

If it were me, I would google the list of top universities once and print this out to have near me while I l look at the candidate's universities.

Are you going to print out the rankings every single year?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 14

domonict

17

Also, someone suggested 50 candidates for interview?

In my experience, for one specific post, more likely 6-8 for interview.

Reply 15

Original post by Moonstruck16

Are you going to print out the rankings every single year?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Na mate, only every 2 years. Year to year the changes are usually quite small and therefore the changes can simply be annotated on the existing doc.

Reply 16

OP

Original post by domonict

Also, someone suggested 50 candidates for interview?

In my experience, for one specific post, more likely 6-8 for interview.

Hmm? I've seen positions where there have been hundreds of interviewed candidates.

I guess it all really depends on the competition for the job.

Reply 17

Duncan2012

Original post by Doctor_Einstein

Na mate, only every 2 years. Year to year the changes are usually quite small and therefore the changes can simply be annotated on the existing doc.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, pretty much no-one has the time or need to do that. As long as it's not 'the University of the New Age' or 'Internet Correspondence College of Nigeria' or something then most companies will be satisfied with University of insert-name-of-British-city-here.

Reply 18

Duncan2012

Original post by Keyhofi

I've seen positions where there have been hundreds of interviewed candidates.

Really? Hundreds of people were interviewed for a single job? Care to name the position/company?

Reply 19