What Kenyan employers look for when hiring graduates

Employers want a mix of skills to hire you, a new research whose findings will be released today, reveals.

The research titled ‘State of Graduate Employability in Kenya’ by CPS International shows employers ranked basic skills -- numeracy, writing, reading and ICT skills -- as the most important for graduates to get employed at 78.3 per cent.

This is followed by team working skills (65.2 per cent), the right work-life attitude (65.1 per cent), communication skills (60.9 per cent), planning and organisational skills (54.3 per cent), decision-making skills (45.7 per cent) and the ability to adapt and act in new situations (39.1 per cent).

Others are sector-specific skills (34.8 per cent), analytical and problem-solving skills (28.3 per cent) and foreign language skills as the tenth at (7 per cent).

The study shows that 81 per cent of employed graduates were from local universities while 17 per cent were from both local and international universities.

It further shows that 54.3 per cent of employers perceive graduates from universities with a good reputation and ranking more employable, while 26.1 per cent of employers were not sure whether reputation and university ranks really affects employability.

Asked whether the reputation and ranking of universities has an effect on employability of new graduates, 54.3 per cent of employers said yes, 26.1 per cent of employers were not sure and 19.1 per cent said it does not.

This means graduates from universities that are ranked high and with a good reputation have a higher chance to get employment compared to those from universities ranked low.