What is HEAR? A quick guide for employers.

HEAR is short for Higher Education Achievement Report, and it’s aim is to better capture the achievements of students by showing the full range of opportunities undertaken at University.  This includes academic work, extra-curricular activities, prizes and employability awards, voluntary work and offices held in student union clubs and societies that have been verified by the institution.

Why do employers need to know about HEAR?

“We are not interested in the degree classification – the whole person is of far more interest to us. We need people who can take responsibility and are able to pitch in as and where necessary.” (SME employer – taken from HEAR.ac.uk)

Well, a simple, standardised report containing verified achievements can provide employers with value added material to help them select and recruit the right candidates, including:

• a more detailed academic achievement records that provide more than the degree classification and enables employers to understand more about the study undertaken.
• non-academic achievements that have been verified can tell you more about the person, their wider experience and their likely fit with your organisation.
• a context for interviews, opening up areas for discussion about the candidate

Currently, 90 universities and colleges are implementing or planning to implement the HEAR. This includes 32 institutions who have already issued 427,000 HEARs to students – and this number is increasing every year.

So if a candidate provides you with their HEAR, you’ll now know what it is and why you should read it.

If you want to know more go to: http://www.hear.ac.uk/

Dr Deborah Watson, Director, Gradsouthwest Ltd.

http://www.gradsouthwest.com

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/deborahwatson