One in five said they were disillusioned and 27% were so out of sorts that they were contemplating a career switch, according to the poll for the Teacher Training Agency.
Maths and science graduates, who can command high salaries in industry and the City, were among those most likely to say they made little use of their learning.
Half of those aged 35 and under felt they fell into their jobs and the survey showed that 86% of maths, 76% of music and 63% of science graduates thought they did not make full use of their degrees in their work.
Nearly half of all those poll said they were not being "intellectually challenged" enough and 51% wanted to do something that made more use of what they studied at university.
Career switchers
The Government wants half of under-30s to go through higher education by the end of the decade and insists that most jobs will require graduate-level skills in future.
The TTA has been exhorting potential career switchers to jump off and become teachers and made this the central theme of its current advertising campaign, slugged, Use Your Head, Teach.
Mary Doherty, director of teacher supply and recruitment at the Government agency said: "We know that significant numbers of people have a false start when trying to find the career that's right for them.
"More and more people are coming into teaching as their first choice of second career."
State schools are particularly short of maths, science, English and foreign language specialists.
The survey claimed 40% of graduates had considered teaching as a career, with 34% of foreign language degree holders feeling bored with their current jobs.
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Three out of ten are bored with their jobs. Why should graduates be any different? Not using the skills gained? Start your own business using exactly those skills. See if there is any demand for your services. You should have forgone university and studied to become plumbers or electricians.
I suspect a lot of non-graduates are bored with their jobs too but I suppose they do not have student debt to contend with as well.
Don't be silly - not everyone gets an intense thrill out of being an electrician or a plumber. Going to university doesn't just have the advantage of gaining a very high qualification anyway - it also allows you to find out what type of person you are, what things you like best, and what you're good at, as well as giving you the chance to gain skills and improve existing skills. It's just a shame we get hardly any money to live on.
So three out of ten graduates are bored with their jobs. If investigations were looked into again that figure would be higher. I guarantee that that figure is rising by the minute!
I am an English graduate who now works in telesales. It bores the hell out of me. I am working with school leavers who are earning more than myself from their basic alone.
Teaching looks very attractive but the competition is tough and I have applied twice but failed due the courses being full or the lack of GCSE Maths. It is discouraging to have to struggle and work for three years at degree level with a young child let alone struggle after graduating.
My initial thoughts as a graduate - 'was it worth it?' Plus my student loan is taking a large chunk out of my 13.5 per annum copper.
I have yet to see what has paid off for me.
I totally agree that the rate is actually much higher. I graduated three years ago with a third class honours in law. The work I have found as a checkout operator is extremely monotonous and repetative. It is mental torture. I also have found employment as an nursing auxiliary. I get asked the question why are you not in another better paid job when I tell people about being a law graduate. Both jobs can be mental torture. I feel that my degree was a complete waste of time and money. Yet I still have hope. I am considering a career change. Definitely not in the care profession. Perhaps computing.
A lot of people I know that have come out of university are in non graduate level work such as telesales, administration, retail and bar work. This makes me think that a degree is not worthwhile in getting a better job.
People I know that started work such after school and college that didn't go to universitry are in a better position than most graduates I know.
Is a degree really worthwhile if its not going to get you in a better position than not going to university and starting work after school or college?
If the Government want to increase the number of gradutes by 2010 they need to seriously increase the number of top graduate schemes to make a degree worthwhile.
You work hard for 3 years, stress out over exams and what for? To obtain a degree and become an administrator!
There are so many graduates out there who are doin jobs that people with just G.C.S.E's can do!
We need to place graduates in the top jobs and help them reach their full potential.
Sasha (MSc Computer Science)
Yes, I use my degree every day, as I teach the subject. But the fact is that teaching is a difficult job, it's stressful, and people know it, that's why it's hard to recruit people. Improve the pay and conditions, you might have more luck recruiting and retaining decent teachers.