However, this year is one of the worst economic downturns for decades, meaning finding a job in your chosen field may be harder than ever.
Ultimately, you may not be able to get the job you were hoping for. One option is to transfer the skills learnt at university and consider a career in local government or the public sector.
University careers advisor Paul Charman and employment opportunities manager Mark Stow explained why local government offers great career opportunities to graduates:
Mr Stow said: “Job security, a great pension scheme and flexibility are all attractive aspects of working for local government. They’re huge organisations and you’ll be able to transfer most of the skills you learnt at university to the jobs available.”
Lincolnshire Police are also keen to employ graduates and despite all new recruits entering at the same level, there are a lot of opportunities to progress.
David Freeman, the senior recruitment officer at Lincolnshire Police, welcomes former students as he believes they can bring a level of life experience other recruits don’t have.
“The skills learnt at university prove very valuable to the job and graduates often find they move up the ladder very quickly. Employment in the police will increase your skills set and there’s a great salary with no danger of redundancy,” said Mr Freeman.
Another avenue to explore is the military, which boasts 143 different career paths in the army alone. The message is that you don’t have to fight to be in the army.
Major Peter Pain from Lincoln’s recruitment office explains: “There are various benefits. You get to travel and see and do amazing things that you’ll never get to do in any other line of work.”
Another career option, and one carrying out a recruitment drive, is teaching. It offers job security and many different roles. Graduate Laura Mabbutt is a teacher, but also works as an artist and finds it rewarding.
She said “I get a real kick out of knowing that I’ve been able to pass on my experience and skills learnt at University.”
The public sector is often overlooked by graduates. However, Mr Stow and Mr Charman explain that in this time of financial hardship the public sector could be the perfect place to work.
Charman said: “Working in the public sector is a great place to develop your skills and gain experience.”