Dream graduates are a recruitment nightmare

“A real change in graduate attitudes… these young people are clearer in their direction than their predecessors” (Comment, DW 8 July). Sorry, but we disagree here.

I have spent the last however many weeks trawling the shows and interviewing to find a junior designer for my company. What a waste of time.

Who the hell changed New Blood to allow the college to enter the entire course of students? Gone are the days of it representing the cream of the crop, the selected few of the course. As you can always expect, when they have an allocation which they cannot fit, out come those who had no right to appear at the show. When I graduated it was an honour to appear at New Blood as one of six students to represent my course and stand with/ against the cream of that year’s new designers. As a student I would be pissed off – as an employer, it was a nightmare.

With regard to the changing times of graduates, I hope they change much more, much faster. So far, I have interviewed about 15 candidates for the position.

One candidate did not bring any work with them despite being told to; another arrived 20 minutes late due to getting lost; and only three had any knowledge of new media.

This may just be bad luck, but these were picked from the good shows and good courses. So, I will get in there before any student letters complaining about consultancies’ seeming indifference. If they are any good graduates out there, I mean good at understanding design, type and work off-line and on-line, I challenge you to send through your CV and work samples. Or I know of a career opportunity flipping burgers that may be more appropriate.

Benn Achilleas

Director

Neoco Design

New Malden KT3 4JL