By their first year however, 79% of graduates had considered the job they might want after university, a result of their developed understanding of the options available to them with their degree choice. From a low 19% to high 79%, it seems that graduates start getting serious about their career choices quickly after beginning university. Stephanie Fernandes of the IET thinks it is good for graduates to start thinking about leaving university and their prospects as soon as possible: 'the better informed you are the easier it will be and there are many career guides available to equip students with information to get a head start in the hunt for the right position'.
The report also found that 42% of graduates 'thought that the media had made them believe they wouldn't be able to find a job after graduating', however, this was practically evenly split between being both a positive and negative thing, 17% believing that the frightening media positively influenced their motivation to get a job and 18% believing the opposite. Understandably, the current economic climate is having a huge effect on graduate career confidence, with only 4% of those in the study feeling optimistic about the economy as a whole. These statistics - which have changed drastically over the past few decades, are a clear result of the economic crisis we are living in.
Kate, GRB Journalist
