London - British students, whether they be at school or university, are having to re-think their goals and dreams as the country slips deeper into recession and jobs become harder to come by.
Rajan Patel, a 20-year-old economics student, had initially expected to have a job with an investment bank when he graduated from the prestigious London School of Economics (LSE) later this year, but he is now having to sort through his options.
"I did a placement over the summer last year" with American investment bank Goldman Sachs, he said in the LSE's Three Tuns student pub.M
"I thought it went reasonably well and I was quite hopeful I could get a job from that straight away.
"Given the situation had changed, given the economic climate, that was no longer possible - I was not offered the job I hoped to get," said Patel, originally from Essex, southeastern England.
Soon-to-be graduates in Britain are now giving increased priority to careers or options they had not previously considered - several are applying for jobs with the civil service, while others who can afford it are reviewing Masters programmes.
That trend was confirmed by Fiona Sanford, head of the LSE's careers service, which attracts recruiters to the university's campus and helps students find jobs.
Bigger effort to find jobs
Sanford said that the job market for recent graduates had radically shifted, especially for those who were planning on embarking upon careers in finance.
"For many students it's a complete change in the way that you think," she said. "Students from prestigious universities have had employers queuing up to hire them."
"The boot is on the other foot and students have to make a much bigger effort to find where the jobs are."
Various studies have confirmed that the heady days of a university degree putting students on the path to their dream job in Britain are over - at least for now.
High Fliers, a research company that specialises in graduate recruitment, estimates that large companies have cut their hiring of recent graduates by 17% as a result of Britain having fallen into recession.
Just 13% of future university graduates questioned, meanwhile, remain confident that they will find their dream job, with half saying they are willing to accept any job offer.
Fewer vacancies, a lot more graduates
"There is understandable panic on campus that this is shaping up to be one of the worst years in decades to be graduating from universities," said Martin Birchall, High Fliers's managing director.
Most students have gone job hunting much more quickly this year and there is a real apprehension that best jobs have already gone."
The deterioration in the job market is most visible in the Britain's battered finance sector - Morgan McKinley, an international recruitment agency specialised in finance, saw a year-on-year decline of 65% in the number of jobs offered in the industry last month.
"There are a lot fewer vacancies for a lot more graduates - the advice I would give to graduates is flexibility," said Andrew Evans, the firm's managing director.
Sanford added that if it was "possible to plan not to enter the labour market before 2011 that might be a sensible plan."
With the labour market in the condition it is in, university students are increasingly looking at the public sector, which is continuing to hire, as a viable option, according to High Fliers.
The British government has established a national programme of three-month internships to help students find their first job, but critics of the plan point to the low pay promised to trainees as evidence of the fact that the programme will have little overall impact.
Unemployment nationwide climbed to 6.1% in November, the highest level in a decade, though the figure remains below the European average of eight percent, as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
- AFP