When Do Students Begin Thinking About The Future?

Only 19% of graduates considered their career before beginning their courses as University a new study has found. 

The study of 1730 students has found that most students put little or no thought into the job roles that may be open to them after they completed their degree. When they began studying though they tended to start thinking about the future quite quickly. 

79% of first year university students considered what job they might do when they finish their course. 

It was also discovered that 42% of those questioned concluded that the media was the main reason why they believed that finding a job after graduation was impossible. 

The report found that 42 % of respondents thought that the media had made them believe they wouldn't be able to find a job after graduating. The students were largely divided as to why this was though with 18% saying it had made them feel demotivated and 17% believing that it had spurred them on to prove the media wrong.

When asked what their biggest dread was in relation to their job search 69% said it was the level of competition being high and 55% said it was simply the fear that there would be no jobs to apply for. 

25% of those asked had a genuine belief that employers were too harsh and criteria for jobs was too strict. This sounds as though the students did not doubt their own skills but felt that they may be overlooked by employers. 

The students also tended to blame the recession and just 4% of those asked said they felt optimistic about their job prospects. 11% said that they may feel better in the future but could not feel positive at the moment. 

Where salaries were concerned the graduates all seemed to feel fairly negative, 54% said they felt very depressed about their options.