Sales opportunities for graduates - graduate jobs

Graduates seeking a career in sales may find it easier to land a job than they expect, analysts said, as gloomy projections about unemployment levels may be obscuring the full picture.

A study by the Association of Investment Companies last week said 55% of students fear they will be unemployed when they graduate, with 32% adding they would focus on pay levels to help them pay down debts rather than sticking to their career vocation.

However Graduate Recruitment Bureau co-founder Dan Hawes said a lot of worry stemmed from the decision to focus on employers' graduate recruitment schemes, which represent about 18,000 jobs.

He said: "There are lots of other jobs that aren't necessarily on schemes but require a degree."

"This is the big picture stuff that doesn't get widely reported, and it does create panic among graduates when they see that the recession is affecting the recruitment of graduates."

He added that there are thousands of recruiters looking for people with degrees to fill roles in sales teams.