Cambridge students rising to rigours of job market

As the economic downturn continues to squeeze business’s balance sheets, so the opportunities for jobs become fewer and more competitive – something that is not lost on students completing their studies this summer.

Gordon Chesterman, Director of the University of Cambridge’s Careers Service, has certainly noticed a single-minded attitude in this year’s cohort.

“Our service saw 2,100 students visit us in one week alone in the Michaelmas term,” he says.

“The recession has given our students a wake-up call. We are finding that they are coming to us earlier for advice, and that we will need to continue our support over the summer and well into the autumn. Additional resources have been made available to help our recent finalists looking to change from un- or under-employment to full employment.”

However, he says that employers still greatly value a Cambridge education. A recruitment event at the university last week saw some 30 leading employers turn up to meet more than 450 finalists still seeking graduate-level employment. And the Careers Service website is actually advertising vacancies with more employers than this time last year.

Meanwhile, a recent survey by High Fliers Research, which canvassed more than 15,000 final-year students at 30 universities across the UK, found that Cambridge had the highest proportion of students securing at least one job offer.

As for the future, Mr Chesterman believes things may remain tough. “The jobs escalator has slowed. Talented unemployed students, or those returning from a ‘gap year’, will be competing for jobs with next year’s final-years.”

The message is clear: the days when a good degree and impressive work experience would secure that job in an accounting firm, bank or newspaper are on hold. But with perseverance, talent and making regular use of a good careers service, opportunities still exist.