MORE than half of all graduates who left university last year are still looking for their first career job.
A study, Graduate Skills and the Workplace, today showed 54 per cent are still searching for graduate-level employment one year on.
Just 28 per cent of graduates polled had secured employment within three months, and a further 12 per cent had found a job within the year. Six per cent provided no answer. The problem may be that one-third of graduates leave university without knowing what they want to do. Only 67 per cent have a career in mind when they finish their degree.
The study, by recruitment company Manpower, looked at 2,140 companies and was supplemented with online surveys of 813 graduates.
It found a clear discrepancy between the expectations of employers and graduates regarding the skills needed for work. Just over half (54 per cent) of graduates believe they will be entering the workforce with the necessary skills, while only 37 per cent of employers are confident they have the right skills for the job.
Buoyant
Greg Teare, operations director at Manpower, said: "Given that we still have a relatively buoyant employment market in the UK, it is surprising that so many graduates are still seeking their first graduate-level job.
"With a gap between the skills levels of graduate jobseekers and the skills levels employers expect, graduates may need to look to alternative means of gaining the skills necessary for their chosen career, particularly as few companies provide graduate training programmes."
Mr Teare said taking on temporary work during the holidays was one way of gaining experience and developing skills across a range of working environments and could eventually lead to a job. "For many job seekers, temporary work often translates into permanent work with that employer or with another employer," he said.
Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters, said: "The transition into employment for graduates is clearly more difficult and uncertain than for previous generations, pointing to the need for graduates to be better prepared to manage the transition while in higher education."
Are you a recent graduate still looking for work? Have your say.
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I graduated last year with a lower second honours degree in economics from a top university. The only job i have been able to get is working in a nightclub for minimum wage. Sometimes I doubt very much whether i will ever have a graduate level job. It's very depressing.
It's soul destroying leaving university. Not only do you leave the most exciting 3 years up to date behind you but you're also slapped with the harsh reality that you're actually trained for nothing and in order to do your dream job you must work happily for free.
Not everyone has the luxury of living at home and not paying any rent thus having to take some rubbish temp job whilst you sort your life out. Then, amidst all this happiness you get your loan bill which is knocking on B#15,000. Great.
When I left University, I walked into a job! Not an ideal one but it was the first rung on the ladder!
I also had to move away from my home town and find it, kept moving and kept finding better jobs!
Now, after attending University and working hard to obtain a good degree in a worth while subject has truely reaped the rewards!
These statistics are again not showing the full story. Of the majority not finding work, what course of study did they undertake?
Lets face it, if you study Sociology or Media Studies, you will not get a job as chartered engineer!
Still, without media studies and sociology graduates I wouldnt have anyone to serve fries with my Big Mac!