Local recruitment expert has urged graduates to remain upbeat.

Following the release of the UK Graduate Careers Survey 2010 today (www.highfliers.co.uk/download/Release2010.pdf ) highlighting that students believe they are heading for a “gloomy future”, a local recruitment expert has urged those due to graduate to remain upbeat.

The survey said just a third of students expected to find a graduate job after finishing university, but Neal Lucas Managing Director of the leading executive search and selection company Neal Lucas Recruitment, says students should consider all the opportunities available to them.

Mr Lucas, who is also a member of the CBI Northern Ireland’s Employment Affairs Committee, said:
“The student pessimism reflected in this survey encapsulates the current mood of the executive job market.

“While recruitment has lifted for need-to-fill positions many executives are still remaining in their current roles until the gloom recedes – a case of better the devil you know.   This has a knock-on effect for graduates with many companies freezing their graduate recruitment, including our largest employer the Civil Service.”

“However, there remains a rich pool of talent in the marketplace and many companies are experimenting with new strategies and opportunities for students who are willing to work hard do exist. 

“Compared to the UK market, true graduate positions are scarce as the vast majority of companies are SMEs, which tend to lack formal graduate schemes.  In Northern Ireland most postgrads tend to start in junior positions and then progress up the company ladder. 

“Students should not be downbeat. If they are willing to look there are excellent work-based learning initiatives such as DEL’s Intro Programme, Invest NI’s E2 Programme, the Graduate Acceleration Programme for unemployed graduates, or scholarships from the CBI/IBEC that provide graduates with valuable work experience that will prepare them for positions when the economy recovers.”