You shouldn't need a first-class degree to succeed A couple of years ago a friend of mine announced that he was going to drop out of his degree, just weeks before his finals. Because he didn't want to get a "Desmond." The thought of graduating with a "Desmond Tutu," or 2:2 grade, he felt, would have been of even less benefit to him than not graduating at all. At least the second option meant he got a head start in the job hunt. Following the latest report from the Association of Graduate Recruiters, I can see where he was coming from. The report suggests that the labour market has become so saturated by graduates that the easiest way for employers to sift through them is to ignore those who fail to obtain first-class honours in their degree. A further study by High Fliers Research noted that 70 percent of employers have 2:1 as their minimum requirement. The problem is a multidimensional one. Take the unprecedented number of graduates, coupled with the fact that many top companies stopped running their official grad schemes during the financial crisis. Add to this the fact the number of graduates with first-class honours has more than doubled in the past 10 years, and the problems faced by all but the most gifted candidates becomes clear. The numbers are so skewed that there are now over 70 applicants for every graduate job, and that number doubles in sectors such as investment banking and retail. But all this raises the question as to what exactly a first can guarantee for an employer. When many graduates, particularly from the arts and social sciences, go into employment not directly related to their degree course, the only thing that top honours can guarantee graduate recruiters is academic ability. This is an achievement in itself, but by no means the unambiguous promise of a successful career. It might not only be recent graduates who are missing out then, but employers too. Such a heavy focus on academic attainment seems to ignore other important credentials, so-called "soft skills," such as willingness to learn, leadership ability, interpersonal skills and creativity. Top graduate employers of course also test for these things by means of detailed online application forms, psychometric testing, individual interviews and group problem-solving scenarios, in order to gauge applicant competency in other fields. But as long as the majority of employers request a 2:1 as the absolute minimum at degree level, the business acumen and creativity of graduates with 2:2 or below, nearly 40 per cent of graduates, will remain ignored and they will be left at the first hurdle.