New statistics reveal students tend to be honest and get their desired career

43 per cent of recent graduates have found full time employment in the career of their choice since leaving university, according to the results of a study by Endsleigh, an insurance provider partially aimed at students.

A smaller 22 per cent work full time in a profession which was not their chosen career.

The survey was conducted online during April and May 2015 and was completed by 1,448 young professionals who had left university within the last four years.

When it came to landing said job of choice, a minority 34 per cent of participants admitted they would be willing to lie on their CV about the nature of their experience.

A large majority of 96 per cent of graduates said they would be unwilling to lie about their exam results and personal qualifications. This leaves 4 per cent who might be more flexible when it comes to telling the truth.

The results also revealed that 15 per cent of graduates are still looking for a job while 4 per cent stated they have used to the time to go travelling.

Career progression was as the graduates had expected for 31 per cent of those asked. 26 per cent indicated it was progressing better than that had thought it would.

However, a third stated that their career was developing more slowly or even worse than expected.

The research revealed that most students (30 per cent) who had found employment within a year of graduation had starting salaries £12,000 a year or less.

Photo: –Tico– / Flickr

As far as the survey results are concerned, the financial image of post-graduate life appears to become rosier with time.

9 per cent were initially unpaid in their jobs after graduation, falling to 2 per cent when those who had held a job for over a year were asked.

Just under one in three earned between £19,000 and £30,000 per annum in the first year after graduation, with 3 per cent of these graduates earning more than £30,000. This figure rose to 10 per cent when those who had been in employment for over a year were asked.

Approximately a quarter of all graduates questioned expected a salary increase of up to £5,000 over the next five years. Just 5 per cent don’t think they’ll get a pay rise at all over the next five years.

Ann Yip, a third-year graduating in English Literature and Creative Writing, commented on some of these statistics: “Regarding 43% of recent graduates working full time, I don’t think measuring ‘success’ by employment after graduation is realistic.

“Yes, the figure sounds realistic not because a lot of my friends can’t find jobs and are unemployed but because they either prefer to stay in academic study or because they feel that the job market requires something more than an undergrad degree.”

She continued: “On the fact that 34% of of graduates would lie about the nature of their experience; yes, this also sounds true.”

“Nowadays, people are obsessed with doing things for their CV.”

“In order to look better, people sometimes make experiences sound more significant and useful than they really were. Another reason may be that a lot of ‘work experience’ is mostly sitting at a desk doing nothing, so of course students have to make do.”

English Literature graduate Rachel Meehan said: “On the 43% figure, I’d be interested to know who counts as a “recent” grad. As someone who has just graduated, it seems high compared to where I and the majority of my friends graduating this year are at the moment.

“I also know a fair amount of people graduating this year, both with and without graduate schemes and full-time jobs, who have said they aren’t dead set on a particular career and might change their goals in the future.

“I think lying about your results and the nature of your experience are equally dishonest and dangerous. Both can be checked.

“But I have frequently found myself in this catch-22 situation where it seems impossible to get a job or experience without already having some similar experience, and maybe some graduates embellish or make up experience to avoid that situation.”