A recent report on graduate recruitment in SMEs has received a lot of interest recently as it highlights a mismatch between SME employment levels in the UK as a whole and the percentage of graduates leaving University to work in SMEs.

Leigh Sear, the report's author and CEO of SFEDI Solutions, the standards setting body for enterprise and enterprise support skills in the UK, who presented the report at Gradcore in May and to a delegation of Malaysian enterprise policy makers and entrepreneurs at the House of Lords earlier this month, says: "There is evidence of a mismatch given that SMEs in the UK account for a third of employment and yet only 20% of graduates are employed in SMEs"

It seems that this has been a known gap for around 10 years, so the report questions why things haven't changed in that time. Leigh suggests a few key reasons for the mismatch, he says: "There are tensions on either side for graduates and SMEs. SMEs recruit in different ways to corporates, at different times of the year and via different routes, which don't always fit with when and where Graduates are looking. Essentially there's lack of information on either side about the value of graduates to SME development and the benefits for graduates working for a SME".

There are some potential solutions to the mismatch, he suggests: "Firstly, Universities can raise awareness by actively engaging in their local business communities, some Universities already do this very well. Secondly it's about providing space for graduates and SMEs to get together in a forum where they can understand more about what each has to offer. Thirdly, there's issues of employability, it's not about an ability to write a good CV but about really thinking about graduates communicating what value they can add to a business". With this theme in mind, the IOEE survey this month is called "SMEs and Graduates: Bridging the Gap". Whether you work in Higher Education, in an SME or are currently a Graduate, we'd love to know what you think could help bridge the gap between SMEs and Graduates. We'll share the results with you in next month's issue of Mentoring and Enterprise Monthly.