10 things every graduate should know before they start job hunting | Money | The Guardian

10 things every graduate should know before they start job hunting | Money | The Guardian:

Illustration: Guardian

If the 370,000 students set to graduate from UK universities this summer know just one thing, it's that the party is over. Figures from employment website Totaljobs show one in three graduates is claiming jobseeker's allowance and a quarter of graduates haven't had a single interview.

Huge numbers of roles posted on graduate "job boards" are, in fact, lengthy unpaid internships – and research from Incomes Data Servicesfound that those lucky enough to find paid work will discover their starting salary is 2% lower than it was for the class of 2011.

Certainly, 2012 is a tough year to graduate – but there is still a great deal that jobseekers can do to boost their chances of finding employment. Frustratingly, it seems little of this advice is reaching them – of the hundreds of recent graduates I met while writing How to Get a Graduate Job in a Recession, few felt confident about tackling the task ahead.

Many say they found their university careers service uninspiring and unhelpful – that's if they made it through the door. So what are the things the class of 2012 really needs to know?