International employers view Trinity graduates among the elite

Posted on: 25 November 2016

Graduates from Trinity College Dublin are among the most employable in the world, according to the 2016 Global Employability University Rankings. Trinity is the only Irish university to appear in the rankings, where it sits at number 134. 

This unique ranking was provided by 1) surveying a panel made up of recruiters from 20 countries, who were at a management level and had experience of hiring graduates, and 2) by surveying 3,450 managing directors of international companies.

The survey effectively asked what recruiters look for in university graduates, before ranking universities based on the number of votes they received from international respondents.

Importantly, Irish recruiters were not included in the first panel. As a result, Trinity’s presence in the Top 150 shows just how highly its graduates are valued by international employers, because it secured its votes solely from the managing directors of large, internationally recruiting companies.

These companies were free to cast up to 10 votes for universities whose graduates they valued highly, and they were also allowed to vote for those coming from local (national) universities as well as those from other countries. 

The rankings were designed and commissioned by the French Human Resources consulting agency, Emerging. They are a valuable tool for employers, but also for students in choosing their university.

Commenting on the results, Director of the Careers Advisory Service at Trinity, Sean Gannon, said: “Employability is not simply the ability to get a job directly after graduation but is a measure of present and future career success. That success draws on a wide range of knowledge, skills and attributes which are developed not only in the formal curriculum but through the wider student experience.”

“In light of the likely challenges facing the Irish economy in the years ahead this ranking underlines the importance of the current work on curriculum reform in the College with the emphasis on the development of 21st century skills and key graduate attributes.”