Graduates without work experience will struggle to find jobs this summer, despite an increase in vacancies, research has suggested.
Three-fifths of employers are warning that graduates who have no previous work experience have little or no chance of getting a job offer, according to a study by High Fliers Research.
Around a third (32%) of this year's graduate vacancies are likely to be filled by applicants who have already worked for the employer as an undergraduate, and in some sectors, such as investment banking and law, this rises to 50%.
The study says: "Many recruiters commented that irrespective of the academic results that a graduate had achieved, it would be very hard for an applicant to demonstrate the skills and competencies that they were looking for if they'd not had any prior work experience."
The report, called The Graduate Market in 2011, analysed graduate vacancies and starting salaries at Britain's 100 leading employers. It found that employers expect to hire 9.4% more graduates this year than they did last year, with three-fifths of firms expecting to recruit more people than in 2010. But graduate recruitment has yet to recover to 2007 levels, it says. A quarter of entry-level vacancies at the UK's top employers were cut during the recession in 2008 and 2009.
Vacancies at high street banks have risen by a quarter, the study found, while there are also more job opportunities at city investment banks and accounting and professional services firms. But recruitment at many public sector firms has been cut. Half of employers questioned for the study said they had received more applications from graduates in the early part of this year's recruitment season than they did last year. In 2010 overall, employers received an average of 45 applications for every job - this could be higher this year.
Martin Birchall, managing director of High Fliers Research, said: "Today's report includes the stark warning that in this highly competitive graduate job market, new graduates who've not had any work experience during their time at university have little or no chance of landing a well-paid job with a leading employer, irrespective of the university they've attended or the academic results they achieve."
Employers have been marketing their vacancies at between 10 and 20 universities in the UK, the study found, with Cambridge, Warwick, Manchester, Oxford and London institutions including Imperial, University College London and the London School of Economics the most often targeted, the study found.
For students seeking to boost their employment chances, almost all of the UK's top graduate employers are offering work experience programmes in the 2010-11 academic year. In total, 10,665 places are available. Graduates who do find a job are likely to earn around £29,000 on average, but a quarter of programmes will pay more than £30,000 and seven organisations are offering at least £40,000.
Universities Minister David Willetts said: "Whilst we welcome signs of an improvement, the job market remains competitive for new graduates, as it does for everyone, and graduates need to work hard to maximise their chances of success. However, a degree remains a good investment in the long term."
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