Financial climate impacting on graduate career paths

By Chris Malone

Businesses looking to recruit graduates with expertise in their field could find it slightly more difficult than usual, despite the UK still experiencing high unemployment.

A third of final year students expect to leave university this year with more than £20,000 of debt, a report released by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit shows.

This is making some graduates think long and hard about the opportunities they pursue.

According to Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services director Martin Pennington, some students have become more pragmatic and "hard-nosed" in their plans for the future.

He noted that many are reconsidering the roles they will apply for and assessing whether the future earnings associated with such jobs make them worthwhile.

"People would perhaps be applying to things that are not suited to them but are taking them up because that's where they feel the financial rewards are," he said.

"They are saying 'it's going to be difficult, it's going to be competitive, I've already run up a certain amount of debt - I want to make sure I get the pay back'."