Employers say degrees are 'pointless'

One in ten employers believe that degrees are pointless and would rather take on people with practical skills, a new survey has revealed.

A poll carried out by StudentGems.com asked 1,561 managing directors across the UK what they value the most in a potential employee, with results revealing that ten per cent consider a degree "pointless".

In addition, three in five say they would much rather employ an applicant who has practical experience in the industry as opposed to a graduate with qualifications all based on paper.

Sue Harrison, co-founder of StudentGems.com, commented: "With the current economic climate, job vacancies are receiving large amounts of interest and it is becoming more and more competitive - a reason many graduates are struggling to find jobs relevant to their degrees."

Her comments came after a survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters showed that UK university leavers are finding it more difficult to get jobs than graduates from countries such as the US, Australia and New Zealand.

Posted by Chris Hatch