Why do so few graduates ever consider a career in housing?
People leaving school and university often know very little about the housing sector and, even if they are considering a career with a social focus, will often not consider a career in housing.
A recent report of graduates now working in the social housing sector is proof of these concerns. We found that 83% of participants knew nothing or very little about the social housing sector prior to their time on the programme, but 100% of graduates placed with a housing association now would consider a career in housing. Once they found out about it they found it fascinating, but only a year earlier they barely knew it existed.
This is a shame for graduates, who are missing out on a rewarding career with fantastic development opportunities, but it is a real problem for the housing organisations that are consistently missing out on talented people who have the ability and skills to help organisations respond to a rapidly changing social, financial and political landscape.
Housing is a diverse sector, with organisations of all types and sizes, but all are united by their need for excellent talent. Many of the larger organisations have already tried in-house graduate schemes. These can be effective and valuable but, as well as being expensive to set up and run, they aren't set up to tackle the fundamental problem.
So how can housing organisations attract the best graduates? The sector needs to bring the conversation onto campuses across the country and convince talented graduates to choose housing as a career. Fortunately, as with most problems, this also represents a huge opportunity. A sector with 155,000 staff and an annual spend of nearly £14bn has the opportunity to develop an employers' brand which speaks to talented people leaving education and looking for a career which can have a social impact.
There is a fantastic opportunity for housing organisations to work together and articulate what a career in housing can offer graduates. Graduates in particular want to hear this message – with more applicants for each scarce graduate job, housing organisations should be seizing this chance to bring in excellent talent.
The housing sector has a huge opportunity to define itself in the eyes of talented people leaving university, who currently know little about it. Once working within the housing sector, graduates would often consider it a long-term career, but Britain's housing organisations need to get them through the door first.
Rachel Whale is founder of Charityworks, the UK's non-profit graduate scheme, and Amanda Ellingworth is chair of the Guinness Partnership
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