Optimism after the annual Graduate Recruitment bash

Jason Frank reports from the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) Annual Conference at the Celtic Manor Resort in Wales.

I must admit I ventured off to the annual AGR Conference in Newport for the umpteenth time with more than a hint of cynicism - but then as a northerner who's nudging forty I venture into most things with cynicism, so don't read too much into that. How do I feel sitting on the train coming back from Newport? Well, to be honest, I can't help feeling unusually positive about the experience, although I'm not totally sure why. It's even more surprising given that the overall picture for graduates, higher education, and to a lesser extent graduate recruiters is looking pretty bleak - particularly with George Osborne in his current mood. So, why do I feel uplifted? Was it the obligatory C-list comedian taking the mickey out of our profession (which like most professions seems ridiculous to outsiders), or was it the pudgy Elvis impersonator? Well I'm not ashamed to admit that I really enjoyed both, but there was definitely more to it than that.

Was it the content and the learning? Well, as with most conferences the days were over-padded with 'networking' time between exhibition stands, but there were some good sessions and discussions that I really enjoyed and learned from. I listened to Howard Davies (whose CV defies belief - what drives people like that to be so relentlessly busy and successful?) talk eloquently about the higher education sector; a fellow agency gave a really well thought out presentation on the subject of research; and there was a lively, informed debate around the role and value of social media in one of the sessions I attended. The content and presentation of The AGR Summer Survey were also impressive and interesting, as was the discussion afterwards (for us graduate recruiters and agencies anyway). So, I guess on the whole, even though I missed quite a bit of stuff through the usual calls to the office, I learned something and have come away with a mix of interesting questions and ideas.

But I'm not sure it's the learning that's behind my positivity. At a time when more and more professional and personal interactions seem to be digital, there was something reassuring about a good old-fashioned conference. There seemed to be a sense of kinship and optimism - 'Dunkirk spirit' almost - in what continue to be difficult conditions, with the ominous threat of more difficult conditions ahead. And I may be imagining it but it seems to me that the quality of the average graduate recruitment client and agency-side professional has gone up in the last 18 months or so. Have the recession and redundancies sorted the wheat from the chaff, or have they forced all of us to be simply better at our jobs for fear of losing them? I'm not sure, but either way it adds up to a promising future for graduate recruitment, particularly when you add the fact that major graduate recruiters seem to have recognised that closing down graduate programmes, as they did after the last economic meltdown, is a recipe for disaster. On the whole it seems that the graduate recruiting profession is pretty well equipped to meet the predictably unpredictable challenges ahead.

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