Graduates leaving university this summer have been told that they face the toughest jobs market in a decade.

There are growing worries over job shortages, with unemployment in the UK standing at two million for the first time since 1997. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has reported that 60 per cent of the top 124 graduate employers have cut their planned intake this autumn. A study by High Fliers Research, the graduate recruitment research company, has found that a record 52 per cent of university finalists regard their job prospects as “very limited”, the highest since the survey started in 1995.

High levels of debt have exacerbated students’ concerns. Having invested an average of £15,000 on their degrees, tens of thousands of final-year students are set to leave university with significant sums to repay.

Not surprisingly, these worries are damaging university-leavers’ confidence in their ability to find work. Many are suffering “career fear”. Moreover, conversations with graduates as part of the interview process for our 2009 intake has flagged up some worrying trends. One is the concern among applicants that jobs are almost non-existent and, if they do exist, are unobtainable. The danger is that some students will believe there is no point putting themselves forward for jobs, creating application apathy. Graduates must avoid the trap of career paralysis that is triggered when panic sets in and inaction takes over.

The perception of the drop in graduate jobs is much bigger than the actual market shrinkage. According to High Fliers Research, the financial services sector, previously a key growth area for graduate jobs, is expected almost to halve its graduate recruitment this year.

Professional services firms are often classified as part of the financial services industry, which creates erroneous perceptions that big cuts in graduate intakes in financial services includes cuts at graduate recruiters such as Deloitte. Yet our graduate intake has not changed significantly in the past few years and on July 1 our application process will open for 2010, with vacancies for 1,000 graduates.

University-leavers who have not secured a job need a clear message: the search for work is far from hopeless.

Graduates can take practical steps to secure a job. First, never underestimate the importance of good research. Be quick to identify areas of work that are of interest. Second, for those in their first and second year at university who may be fearful of the future, do not wait until the final year to start the process. Often companies assess candidates on a first-come, first-served basis. The first candidates to apply, pass the assessments and hit the benchmarks are offered a role.

Students leaving university this summer who have not secured a job and those entering their final year will be anxious about a challenging job market. But while there are fewer vacancies, the scale has become exaggerated. Students will have learnt at university to research their subjects and present their findings based on facts and well-argued debate. Now more than ever, those skills will be needed for them to secure their first graduate jobs.

— Sarah Shillingford is the graduate recruitment partner at Deloitte.

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