Why employers are interested in where you got your degree

Going to the “right” university has a distinct advantage in the job market, a survey of employer attitudes carried out by Saturday Nation has shown.

It disclosed, for the first time, that Kenyan employers have preferences for graduate jobseekers, largely based on previous experience with graduates from the institutions in question.

The survey among top recruitment agencies, professional institutions and human resource executives revealed a preference for graduates of the University of Nairobi (UoN) in many fields, partially attributed to the fact that most senior executives are drawn from the pioneer university.

However, the findings placed other universities — some private or recently established — among the favoured.

Engineering

Graduates of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKuat), for instance, are most favoured when it comes to engineering while Strathmore Business School scores highly in accounting and auditing.

Feedback from employers and employment agencies indicate that UoN graduates have an upper hand in the job market, followed by those from Kenyatta, JKUAT, Moi and Maseno in that order.

“From where I sit, Nairobi and Kenyatta remain ahead of the pack,” said a consultant with employment agencies.

This implies that in an interview for the same job, a graduate from Maseno University is highly unlikely to be hired if candidates from Nairobi and Kenyatta with similar qualifications and experience sought the post.

According to the employers and recruitment agencies, preference for UoN graduates is largely informed by three factors: its ranking in Africa, reputation as the oldest in Kenya and the fact that a high number of senior managers in blue chip companies are alumni of the institution. Nairobi is the top university in Kenya and is ranked 23 in Africa.

It is second to Dar es Salaam in the region, which is at position 21, while Makerere University in Kampala comes a distant 53. The only other public universities in Kenya ranked among the top 100 in Africa are Egerton (29), Moi (71) and Jomo Kenyatta at position 97.

“The top leadership of most employers is made up of graduates of from the University of Nairobi,” says a human resource expert who did not want to be identified for fear of antagonising colleagues.

“The graduates also constitute a larger number of applicants and they cut across a variety of courses. Similarly, most of them are likely to meet our minimum entry criteria than those from other campuses,” said one human resource director.

However, the employers’ choice is also pegged on the courses studied. Some universities are perceived to train better professionals in specific fields.

For instance journalism graduates from UoN are rated high, followed by their counterparts from Maseno, Daystar and Moi, United States International University and Baraton, in that order.

Headteachers interviewed said they were more comfortable with graduates from Kenyatta University especially in art-related courses and those from Kenya Science Teachers Training College, now a campus of the University of Nairobi.

They prefer the diploma teachers from Kenya Science to degree holders due to what they described as their “thoroughness” and participation in sports.

But on languages, especially English, graduates from Catholic University have earned the confidence of school heads, ahead of those from the University of Nairobi.

The market, nevertheless, rates teachers from Nairobi second to KU followed by Moi and Maseno.

The Teachers Service Commission says it does not discriminate when hiring.

According to Mrs Nkatha Murungi, the commission’s spokesperson, TSC recruits teachers from all public universities who meet set requirements. Maybe those hired by private schools or school boards can be subjected to this discrimination but not TSC.”

The same is said to apply to civil servants. Public Service Commission chairman Titus Gateere says they are only careful to ensure those hired are from institutions accredited by the Commission for Higher Education and recognised by the Inter-University Council for East Africa.

“If a university is not very well known, we ask the Kenya National Examinations Council to equate it to our local university.”

In marketing, accounting and arts-related courses, candidates from USIU are more attractive to employers, with Kenyatta University graduates in tow.

According to Ms Caroline J. Kigen, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya chief executive, students from “private institutions such as USIU seem to be very confident and articulate and therefore may have an advantage in job interviews.”

And on business management, individuals trained at the UoN walk tall in the job market as well as those from Strathmore and Kenyatta universities in that order.

Similarly, the Nairobi graduates dominate human resource departments in key companies, followed by those from Kenyatta.

Perhaps this explains the argument that preference for University of Nairobi graduates is driven by alumni.

Ms Kigen says accounting training is standard across various institutions but graduates of public universities “lack social skills in terms of confidence, ability to present one’s ideas and answer questions critically during interviews.”

“While their papers and grades may be very good, they are unable to sell themselves during interviews.”

However, employers have raised complaints over the inability of some of the fresh accountants with degrees and CPA certificates, who cannot perform “simple tasks”.

“They cannot perform a bank reconciliation, which is a very basic accounting function as they do not know how to read bank statements and some have never even handled cheques,” says Ms Kigen.

To address the anomaly, the institute plans to develop a policy paper that will require all CPA graduates to attain at least two years experience before being registered as accountants.

“This will ensure that they will have the opportunity to apply their theory and appreciate its value to the work place,” Ms Kigen explains.

Best in careers

Employers said graduates from Kenyan public universities were solid in terms of experience, exposure, creativity and versatility.

A Nairobi-based firm that conducted a three-year talent review of graduates concluded that those from public universities are “creative, ambitious, and fully engaged in being the best in their careers.”

“They are mostly creative and show their ability to think out of the box. They come ambitious and driven. You find that most of the recruited candidates have already started venturing into their own small businesses, part time jobs or internships before they graduate,” said another expert.

But graduates from foreign universities, particularly in the US and UK, are preferred for jobs at high management level due to their perceived interaction with developed markets.

“They bring in a wealth of new experience from their respective international work exposure,” says Ms Catherine Wahome, an associate human resource director at Deloitte, a recruiting agency.

However, employers have an axe to grind with graduates from some Indian and Ugandan universities.

“We are selective ... we consider only those from reputable or well-known institutions ... graduates from Kenya tend to fare better than their counterparts in Uganda and Tanzania,” says a senior official in a top city company.

The survey involved filling out a questionnaire sent to human resource directors and employment agencies as well as professional bodies’ chief executives.

More interviews were done through phone calls and face to face in areas where the respondents did not want to appear on record. Employment agencies represented their clients’ views besides their own.