Huddersfield student Thomas Shaw published an article in the 2020 edition of Fields, our open access student research journal. We asked him to tell us about his research, his article and his experiences.

My research area focused on a comparison of perceptions of Employability between Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Undergraduate Business students.

The article evaluates thoughts of SMEs and Business Students, drawing on topics including the most important candidate employability attribute, personal attributes and skills required for SME employment and skills shortages amongst students. The article found that SMEs and Business students’ perceptions of employability do not align, and that the gap has continued to widen.

The reason for the selection of this research area derived from an introduction to the subject by Dr. Ruth Brooks (Head of Undergraduate Management) and a fascination to discover what it is that employers really want from students. I opted to conduct a placement year with an SME within the Business and Finance sector; allowing me the opportunity to ask questions, gain contacts and skills and to experience my research first-hand.

If you found this interesting and want to learn more, why not have a read of my journal article?

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