It's still not easy to get a graduate job, but there are definite signs of optimism returning to the market, according to this year's annual Graduate Trends Survey released today by GTI.
Evidence that major employers are feeling better about the future is borne out by the significant rise reported in the number of internships and work experience placements on offer. And starting salaries have risen in all sectors - another sign of returning confidence.
The survey is based on statistics compiled over the last five years from eight titles in GTI's market-leading TARGET series of careers magazines.
This is a significant annual snapshot of major employers' views, with around 550 of the UK's major graduate recruiters taking part.
The major findings of the survey are:
- There is a small but welcome improvement in the graduate recruitment market this year and considerable optimism that this will be translated into more graduate vacancies next year.
- In an encouraging development for students, work experience opportunities increased in nearly every sector.
- After a fall last year, the average number of applications received by employers has risen in most sectors.
- It's a bumper year for starting salaries, with increases reported in all sectors.
- Certain mainly financial employers showed a marked reluctance to reveal their exact starting salaries.
Chris Phillips, GTI's UK and Ireland Publishing Manager, comments:
"After a few fairly flat years, there are welcome signs of confidence returning to the graduate recruitment market. Employers are relatively upbeat about the number of vacancies next year and, in nearly every sector, they're investing in more vacation placements and internships. This is not the sort of action undertaken by employers seeking to retrench. And this year, more so than previous years, city recruiters are being coy about revealing their starting salaries - always a reliable sign that competition for graduates is increasing."
The results are good news for the sector ahead of the publication of AGR's Graduate Recruitment Survey (Summer Review) to be launched next Tuesday 12th July 2005. Members will be sent a free copy, non-members can purchase a copy for £200 + VAT from the AGR office.