Working with IEMA and Ricoh, an online survey was distributed to final year undergraduates and as well as those who had recently graduated to understand their views about their job prospects and their expectations of their future workplaces and prospective employers.

We received 403 responses from recent graduates and 731 from final year students, who told us:

• A sense of meaning / satisfaction from their work is the most important factor when considering which jobs to apply for (72% recent graduates and 71% final year students).  A good salary / financial benefits came was the second most frequently selected option (63% recent graduates and 59% final year students).
• Just over three quarters of respondents say that feeling valued for the contributions they make would empower them in a new role (78% recent graduates and 76% final year students).  Gaining feedback on their performance and feeling trusted by their manager are also cited as important.
• Most would prefer a flexible working style, with time in the office and other locations where they can be productive (59% recent graduates and 61% final year students).
• Similarly, most say they prefer a mix of communications methods when thinking about how they like to work on a day to day basis (54% recent graduates and 45% final year students).  Only 1% say they prefer to do things over the phone.
• 90% say they are comfortable working with people from different generations.
• Around half would consider handing in their resignation if their working arrangements (55% recent graduates and 46% final year students) or work-life balance (42% recent graduates and 46% final year students) in a new job wasn't meeting their expectations.  Two fifths would consider this if the values of the organisation didn't match their own (40% recent graduates and 43% final year students).

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