Reading through Life After Graduation, a government-produced brochure sent to every final-year university undergraduate in the UK last week, you could be forgiven for thinking that it was very much business as usual for those about to make the transition from their student days to the working world.

Apart from fleeting references to a “difficult labour market”, the brochure is determinedly upbeat, describing the rich variety of employment and work experience that university leavers could consider. What it fails to do is indicate how many graduate level vacancies there really are for the Class of 2009.

Of the few graduate recruiters it mentions by name, programmes such as the Civil Service Fast Stream, the NHS graduate management training scheme and Teach First stopped accepting applications for this year’s intake several months ago. But with 1.2 million employees the UK public sector is huge, meaning that opportunities in professions such as nursing, teaching and local government are always available.

Recent research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development indicates that about half UK employers will not be recruiting graduates this year and those that have been hiring have filled most of their vacant posts. Vacancies with the best-known employers have been cut by a fifth and more than 85 per cent of organisations featured in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers have already completed their recruitment for this year.

Nevertheless, a good selection of graduate roles continues to be advertised, particularly through university careers services. Gordon Chesterman, director of the Cambridge University careers service, says: “We have 610 organisations on our database of employers that have vacancies for graduates. The biggest and best-known recruiters may have finished hiring but there are plenty of small and medium-sized businesses that pay no attention to the academic year and have positions available now. Sectors such as engineering, biotech research, healthcare and the pharmaceuticals industry are still a happy hunting ground for our students.”

About a quarter of the vacancies listed by the Cambridge service are for local employers but there are opportunities nationally with companies such as Atkins, Balfour Beatty and AXA Private Equity, as well as vacancies overseas. There is no national database of vacancies for new graduates, so job hunters should keep in touch with their university careers service over the summer.

Martin Birchall is editor of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers

Top tips to find work in tough times

Be discriminating. Many candidates take a scattergun approach and fire off CVs for every job going. A few tailored letters are better than 100 cut and paste applications.

Research the company. How it sees itself and what values it holds dear are normally available on its website. Identify where your experience fits in.

Be clear why you want the job. If you are not convinced then you will not convince the interviewer.

Be yourself. This applies especially with the assessment centre round. Often candidates are so afraid of doing something wrong that they hold back. If you are too intimidated to contribute, your strengths will not be seen.

Prepare questions. An interview should be a two-way process. Asking questions will help you to engage with the interviewer and show your interest.

Stay positive. Despite the gloom and doom, there are still vacancies out there. If you are open-minded, determined and flexible, you will find work.

Sarah Hopkins is the director of Resourcebank Recruitment. www.resourcebank.co.uk

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