Why do graduates need to be more enterprising?

This was the subject of discussion at Manchester Business School's Research to Enterprise Summit this week.
 
Dave Thomas shared his experiences as a former MBS student and business founder, talking specifically about Winning Pitch’s work with high growth businesses. With increasing competition for academic positions, fewer places on graduate recruitment programmes and a decline in public sector jobs, graduates need to look at new routes to work.
 
Dave presented small businesses as one possible option. They have been identified by the government as the job generators of the future, so have to be taken seriously as an option for graduates. However, small businesses often do not believe they have the training and management provision to take on graduates. Dave outlined Winning Pitch’s views on what a graduate needs to do to convince a small, fast growing firm that they can play a vital role in their continued growth.
 
Following Dave, some true entrepreneurial heavyweights: Jo Fairley, co-founder of Green & Black's talked about the creation of a global brand (and officially the coolest food brand in the UK); Nick Hewer talked about his own career in PR, his work with Alan Sugar and Amstrad’s rise and ultimately how he became involved in the Apprentice; and Levi Roots sang a song, discussed dragon slaying and challenged Jo that Reggae Reggae sauce was in fact the coolest brand…