Job Seeking Graduates need to make ësmart choicesí

Students scanning the graduate employment market before their finals have been urged not to despair by one of Northern Irelandís top recruitment experts.

The head of Northern Irelandís leading recruitment agency, Grafton Recruitment, advised graduates that although overall graduate recruitment will be down by 17% on last year according to the industryís leading survey, the ëGraduate Report 2009í, some sectors were still growing.

Grafton Recruitment Managing Director, Cathy McCorry, said:

ìEverybody recognises the market is unquestionably tougher for new graduates, but you have to look at it sector by sector. There are still great opportunities out there and students need to make smart choices and target their efforts on those sectors where demand is still growing.

ìAt a UK-wide level the sectors preparing to recruit the most graduates in 2009 are accountancy (20.9% of total graduate jobs), the public sector (13.5%) and the Armed Forces (12.8%).

The Grafton boss argued that in a Northern Ireland context this was particularly positive news as the public sector accounts for 30% of all local employment. She said that as a result there would now be 51% more entry-level positions for graduates in the public sector.

Ms McCorry added: ìManaging graduatesí expectations is a challenge for everyone involved in the Education and HR sectors. There are simply fewer jobs, because many companies donít have the budgets they had 18 months ago.

ìWith employers being more selective and cautious, candidates have to work harder to market themselves and showcase their talents. It seems obvious but spending extra time on CVs and job applications can really pay dividends, as well as focussing on transferable skills and being flexible in your approach and expectations.î

She concluded that whilst overall the news may not be positive it was important not to overstate the difficulties: ìWe need to keep things in perspective, the market has dipped, not crashed. Graduates should be encouraged the fact that entry-level vacancies at the UKís leading employers are still a steady 25% higher than in 2003î.