PwC chairman presents Queen’s University Degree Plus awards

PwC Northern Ireland regional chairman, Paul Terrington presented Degree Plus awards to over 300 Queen’s students yesterday [28 June 2012].

PwC in Northern Ireland sponsors the Degree Plus programme, which helps Queen’s graduates differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive graduate labour market through working to key employability skills in parallel with their degree course.

Telling the successful students that Degree Plus gave employers greater certainty that candidates have much more than just an academic qualification, he said that 400,000 graduates would be looking for jobs in 2012, in the tightest labour market in a generation:

“Last year an average of 55 graduates applied for every banking job; 62 for ever vacancy in the retails sector and 294 graduate applicants for every graduate vacancy in the Consumer sector.

"Employers increasingly look for graduates who can demonstrate they have the team working, communications and reasoning skills essential for modern work environments; and just having a degree is no longer enough to demonstrate that.

“Degree Plus brings confidence to the graduates, some certainty to potential employers and helps Queen’s University develop programmes that reflect the future needs of employers and helps equip graduates with the professional and life skills to become the global citizens of tomorrow.”

Contact details
Email: John Compton
Tel: +44 (0)28 9041 5663