From Flight International 2006;
Survey slams UK graduates
Employers in the UK are facing problems finding enough graduates with good communications and team-working skills, says a survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR).
The survey included data from 222 AGR members, including Airbus UK, BAE Systems and Smiths Aerospace.
It found that, although graduate vacancies were predicted to rise for the third year running, around half the employers surveyed expect to find the vacancies hard to fill.
They cited insufficient applicants with the right skills and graduates having a skewed perception of the industry as the most common reasons for this anticipated shortfall.
AGR chief executive Carl Gilleard says: “For the third year running, vacancies for graduates are predicted to rise, which is great news for the ‘Class of 2006’. Starting salaries are also set to increase, with the graduate recruitment market remaining buoyant and employers continuing to acknowledge the additional contribution to the bottom line that graduates bring.
“Final-year students should be aware that nearly half of recruiters expect to face difficulties fulfilling recruitment objectives – with the largest factor being a lack of applicants with the right skills. Employers are likely to be looking to graduates who can demonstrate team-working, cultural awareness, leadership and communication skills.
link to article here
Now whilst this applies to 'industry' it too would be applicable to the airlines.
So whilst having a degree may 'look good on the CV' (only if youve got a 2.1 or higher), all employers (airlines etc) care about is do you have any transferable skills that you may have learnt/practiced in your degree course like, teamwork, leadership, communication - all of which the airlines look for.