Expert says graduate recruitment up in May

The number of job opportunities open to graduates has increased during May, according to one expert.

Mike Hill, chief executive of Graduate Prospects, said that since Christmas, the number of immediate start vacancies has been "tremendous" and that recruitment figures for university leavers looking for work in the last week has exceeded the entire month of May 2009.

However, he warned that the graduate job market will remain competitive for some time to come with a backlog of candidates from this year and unsuccessful applicants hit by the downturn last year jostling to secure a job.

The expert noted that the finance sector has been "extremely buoyant", while retail, engineering and consulting are all showing encouraging signs, but the construction industry is not faring as well.

Get our essential daily HR news and updates. Instagram This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Email Weekday HR updates. Unsubscribe anytime. This field is hidden when viewing the form Optin_form This field is hidden when viewing the form Optin_date Year Month Day This field is hidden when viewing the form Batch_Newsletter

Data from the Confederation of British Industry and recruiter Harvey Nash revealed that only six per cent of employers are planning to impose a freeze on graduate recruitment in 2010, compared with 38 per cent of firms doing so last year.

By Ross George