As a graduate beginning to look into today's job market it can often be alienating to read the slew of negative reports in the press about job prospects within the current economic climate. Such reports do have a foundation within certain types of statistics, but a recent survey suggests that the cold, hard stats alone can sometimes paint a picture that is more daunting than the reality.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) recently released its latest Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) Survey, with interesting results. While it does unsurprisingly suggest that the recession has made finding secure employment harder for graduates, it also provides some positives.
For instance, the unemployment rate for graduates of 06 and 07 three and a half years later stands at just 3.9%, compared to the overall youth unemployment rate of 20.4% at the time of the survey. In this respect, a clear advantage can be seen to those with a degree level education.
Furthermore, even amongst those graduates of any age who are unemployed, almost half of them stated that despite their current situation they were satisfied with the current trajectory of their career. This brings to light the fact that many graduates who count towards the oft-alarming "unemployed" category are often nonetheless furthering their careers in some other way, such as building a portfolio to further their future prospects. This is most prevalent among arts graduates, about whom the statistics can often be most alarming, and therefore serves as a heartening reminder not to be deterred by the headlines no matter how solid their foundations seem.
