Graduate recruitment and the single European market

This article investigates changes in graduate recruitment strategies brought about by the Single European Market (SEM) in a sample of UK-based organisations, and compares them with approaches being adopted in France. French and British managers were surveyed on many aspects of graduate recruitment for the SEM, and both groups saw the likely impact of the SEM as significant. But there were differences by nationality: French companies were more active in recruiting graduates from other countries and their managers were more likely to believe that new skills, knowledge and attitudes would be required in the European graduates of the future. The results of this study have a number of implications for educational policy-makers as well as employers.