Graduate jobs - what are the options?

University is the key to a better career and the vast majority of students do a degree in order to get a better job. While competition for the best jobs is fierce with many graduates going for the same offers, a wide range of companies offer rewarding graduate positions.

The Times lists its Top 100 Graduate Employers every year, with PricewaterhouseCoopers topping the list for 2008-2009.

Graduate jobs

While the companies and roles may vary significantly, all graduate positions are fundamentally the same; in return for passing a gruelling selection process and working long hours, your employer will pay you an attractive salary and offer excellent opportunities to climb the corporate ladder.

The starting salary for graduates in 2009 was £25,000 according to the Association of Graduate Recruiters.

Students from vocational courses are far more likely to find a graduate position after university than those that studied the arts or humanities courses – and they're usually paid a better wage too.

However, graduate schemes are often flexible and open-minded when it comes to academic requirements and it is often the person, rather than their degree, that wins a sought-after position.

For a position with a leading accountancy firm, for example, a history graduate will go in with as much chance as a maths graduate and will be judged largely on how well they did in the specially-tailored application process, including an exam and several challenging interviews.

Fierce competition and long hours

For positions with the leading graduate employers, including the financial firms KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers, a ratio of 100 applicants for each position on offer is not unheard of.

What many graduates fail to take into account, however, is that rather than subsiding, this competitiveness often increases once they have been offered a job, as they are then surrounded by fellow graduates all with a strong determination to succeed.

While the stated hours of work might be nine to five, Monday to Friday, few graduates would dream of sticking to this and be seen as the first to leave in the evening.

Such sacrifices are seen as acceptable given the pay packet, however, and ultimately the old adage of "you get out what you put in" is never more appropriate than when applied to the graduate job market.