BY THIS time in the academic year more than three quarters of the major employers have decided which new graduates are to join their 2005 intake at the end of the summer. Application deadlines at many of these organisations passed more than six months ago and most interviews and selection events were completed by Easter.

This might sound discouraging for the estimated 75,000 university-leavers who have just completed their degree courses across Britain and have yet to start applying for graduate jobs.

But this is one of the better years for graduate employment — vacancies have increased for two seasons running now — and a number of well-known employers still have many opportunities for last-minute job-hunters.

One sector that is certainly still open for business is accountancy. During the past two years the number of jobs in the profession for new graduates has increased by more than 60 per cent and the latest survey from the Association of Graduate Recruiters confirms that accountancy is the single largest private-sector recruiter of graduates in the UK.

Ernst & Young may be the smallest of the Big Four professional services firms featured in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers but it has nearly doubled its graduate recruitment since 2003. About three quarters of its vacancies are for trainee accountants to work in the firm’s audit and assurance business, but graduates are also recruited for posts in other areas, including financial services, tax and corporate finance.

The firm is advertising a good range of vacancies at many of its UK offices and business groups for recruits wanting to start in August or September. Most positions do not require either an accountancy or finance degree, but a 2:1 and the equivalent of at least three Bs at A-level are essential.

Deferred job offers may also be available for those who would rather begin working in the autumn of 2006.

What does it do? Ernst & Young is one of the Big Four international professional services firms that dominate the British accountancy market. It employs about 7,500 staff and partners across the UK but has a worldwide workforce of more than 100,000 in 130 countries.







For what jobs does it employ graduates? The firm is set to hire about 540 graduates this year to work in three main areas — audit and assurance services, corporate finance and taxation services — with other opportunities in areas such as economic consulting, real estate and technology.





Where are the graduate jobs? It has offices in 19 UK cities but about half of the recruits are likely to start in London.





What are they paying? Typically between £17,500 and £25,000, depending on job type and location.







What is the competition like? More than 12,000 hopefuls applied for the firm’s graduate vacancies last year.





Martin Birchall is editor of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers

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