19 June 2013 
Matt Sisson, Projects and Membership Manager
More students are making early applications for graduate jobs according to a recent poll of 18,000 final year students. The annual UK Graduate Careers Survey found that 41% of finalists had made at least one application to a graduate employer over a year before the end of their course, an increase from 37% in 2011, 31% in 2009, and just 25% in 2001, the Times Higher reports.
The report also found that students who had obtained work experience during their studies were three times as likely to receive a definite job offer before leaving university than students with no work experience at all. In the press release, Martin Birchall, Managing Director of High Fliers, the company that undertook the survey said that, “Work experience is no longer an optional extra for university students, it’s an essential part of preparing for the graduate job market. Students who just focus on their degree studies without spending time in the workplace are unlikely to develop the skills and interests that graduate employers are looking for”.
