Graduates need to meet strict recruitment conditions from employers who are receiving an overwhelming amount of applications for a dwindling number of positions, research has suggested.
More than three quarters (77.5%) now request a 2:1 degree as a minimum requirement, the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) bi-annual survey found. This is an increase on 66.7% last year.
The AGR survey represents 199 recruiters - the big, well-known firms - offering 17,900 vacancies on graduate schemes but did you know that there are thousands more jobs with these employers and many others that are NOT on a scheme!These jobs might not be well advertised and offer fast track promotion to management but they all require a degree with little or no experience., "said Dan Hawes co-founder of the Graduate Recruitment Bureau.
"This slice of the jobs market often gets overlooked as they do not come under "graduate schemes" and as such gives a skewed view of the graduate jobs market. My message to graduates is look at the big picture, do your research, target niche areas and tailor your CV. What you read or hear about the graduate jobs market may only be the tip of the iceberg as many jobs for graduates are not advertised and remain in the hidden jobs market.?????
About a third (33.5%) of recruiters now ask for relevant work experience, doubling last year's 15.2%, the survey said.
The average number of graduates applying for each position has increased from 49 last year to 69. The increase is not only influenced by a fall in the number of jobs available, but because graduates from the past two years who failed to find work the year they left university are also applying for this year's vacancies.
The study found that those looking for banking and finance jobs, insurance and actuarial jobs, consultancy jobs, construction jobs and accountancy jobs would have more vacancies to apply for this year.
But vacancy decreases in investment banking, the public sector and telecommunications are all predicted, along with law and legal jobs, engineering jobs, retail jobs and IT jobs, the survey found.
Salaries are also frozen again this year, with new graduates earning ??25,000 on average - the same as in 2008.
