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Students to find job market more competitive

Students graduating from university this year might find it harder to get jobs, according to Deloitte. One of the UK’s largest private sector graduate employers, Deloitte has seen a 22% increase in the number of students applying for graduate positions starting this year.

This year the company opened applications three months early to enable students to start applying during their summer holidays and by October, when applications would normally open, almost 2,400 students had already applied.

Following an influx of graduate applications for its graduate scheme, Deloitte is set to recruit around 20 graduates to its Newcastle office later this year.

John Charlton, partner at Deloitte in Newcastle said: “This year we have seen a marked increase in applications for our graduate positions, which maybe a reflection of a tightening job market. Whilst Deloitte is offering a similar number of graduate roles to last year, economic uncertainty has led some graduate recruiters to reduce the number of jobs they have available. This leads to greater demand for the roles on offer.”

For students graduating in 2009, John has the following advice: “The traditional autumn recruiting season has moved forward, with a large number of students applying for, and securing, their graduate job in the summer before their final year. Our advice to students graduating in 2009 is to think ahead about their career choices and to start applying for roles from July this year.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .