Latest graduate salary survey results
Posted: May 31, 2012 Filed under: Graduate jobs news 1 Comment »
Each year gradireland asks leading graduate employers to take part in our annual Graduate Salary and Recruitment Trends Survey. We use this survey to track trends in graduate recruitment, employer attitudes, salary and intake data and a host of other useful indices, which we then use to inform and shape the advice content in our websites and publications as we seek to give the best support to students and graduates in their career search.
The findings for 2012 were published recently and, notwithstanding the fact that there are still graduate opportunities available across all sectors in Ireland, the results continue to paint a fairly grim picture for the current generation of Ireland’s students and graduates.
Continued retraction in the graduate jobs market
Graduate intakes continue to decline: the median number of vacancies across all graduate employers fell by one employee per employer from 2011 to 2012. This means that the current high levels of graduate and youth unemployment are unlikely to improve any time soon, making it even harder to carve out a graduate career in Ireland.
Graduate salaries are declining in real terms
Most graduate starting salaries are the €24,000–€26,000 range. This has remained unchanged since 2009, down from €26,000–€28,000 in 2008, suggesting that salaries are stagnant or in decline, which reflects the trajectory of the Irish economy.
Work experience and internships continue to dominate the graduate recruitment agenda
80 per cent of graduate recruiters offer internships. 44 per cent of these intend to increase the number of internships offered during 2012, a 10 per cent increase from 2011. 83 per cent of graduate employers surveyed pay students on internships, although rates of pay are declining. The most common rate of pay for a graduate internship is €1,400–€1,600 per month.
Work experience is more important than postgraduate study for the majority of graduate employers
One third of respondents apportion more value to relevant work experience than to postgraduate qualifications when considering graduate applications. Only 10.7 per cent weight postgraduate qualifications more heavily than relevant work experience.
2:1 degree or above is increasingly important in getting a graduate job
58 per cent of graduate recruiters demand that applicants expect a 2:1 degree or above. This has increased from 38 per cent in 2010 (51 per cent in 2011) and reflects the increasing competition for places on top graduate programmes.
Most graduate jobs are in companies in the accountancy/financial management and IT sectors
62 per cent of all graduate jobs are in companies in these sectors (but jobs within these companies are spread across many job roles).
Skills shortage are of great concern to graduate employers
49 per cent of all graduate employers surveyed cite a skills gap in IT and technology as their main impediment to graduate recruitment.
[...] we know from our surveys of graduate employers, work experience is the key to building employability skills in the eyes of Ireland’s graduate [...]