According to a recent report in the Daily Mail, graduates are now being forced to work in coffee shops and bars due to a lack of suitable grad roles in the market.
The article highlights the experiences of one 24-year-old Cambridge graduate with a degree in modern languages.
Gwyneth Williams, having so far failed to find work relevant to her degree, has since struggled to make ends meet working in a coffee shop in London.
But just how reflective is this of the average graduate experience?
Kevin Brady, spokesman for the job search site AdView, which adds over 100,000 new jobs weekly, told us: “Whilst it was interesting to read the ONS statistics that one in six UK workers are overqualified for their role, it’s important to remember that the graduate jobs market doesn’t always follow general employment trends.
“Moreover, there are often significant regional differences with regards to the quantity and type of vacancies available.
“For instance, based on our databases, the statistics tell us that there are thirty times as many job vacancies per capita in Cambridge than in Sunderland - many being graduate roles.”
But do these less than confidence-inspiring newspaper reports mean that degree holders should give up their job search altogether? Not just yet.
Mr Brady continued: “It certainly does seem as if the graduate jobs market is markedly competitive at the minute. That said, current students could do worse than planning ahead whilst at university.
“Signing up to a wide variety of graduate and more generalist job sites as possible may be a good idea. Another alternative that may be less overwhelming on your inbox could be to look at job aggregating sites that often have hundreds if not thousands more graduate roles than the more specialist sites.”
