Are They Fit For Purpose? Exploring Managers' Experiences of UK HR Graduates & Employability Implications: A Pilot Study

The purpose of this research is to expand on existing understandings of graduate employability through exploring the lived experiences and perceptions of key informants, in this case, those with direct line management responsibilities for graduates. The context of this research is focused on Human Resources (HR) graduates, a discipline that has seen little qualitative inquiry across the Higher Education (HE), employability and HR literature, and which is currently dominated by skills-led approaches. This paper will outline the theoretical and conceptual standpoint on ‘graduate employability’ underpinning this study, and will proceed to provide an overview of key findings from five semi-structured initial interviews with direct line managers of HR graduates. Exploring the experiences and perceptions of these individuals is aimed at providing a platform for understanding individual constructs of ‘HR graduate employability’ and ‘skills’. Moreover, this research works towards developing a more in-depth ‘picture’ of HR graduate employability through gaining insight into the nature of the interactions between managers and graduates, in line with Holmes’s Graduate Identity Approach (GIA). Ultimately, a re-conceptualisation of graduate employability in the context of HR graduates will act as a contribution to knowledge.