The dweebs who did loads of work experience are going to walk into grad jobs

The key to bagging a top grad job after uni hinges on doing work placements at the firm before, a new study says. 

A third of plum jobs are offered to grads who bothered to apply for tedious work experience schemes – which means you should have spent your summer in a stifling office instead of interrailing with your mates.

The High Fliers study of the grad market in 2015 predicts recruitment prospects will soar to the highest in a decade.

More than four-fifths of the UK’s leading recruiters now offer paid work-experience schemes for students and grads, with a record 13,049 available this year.

Two-thirds of employers like PwC, Deloitte and Teach First have paid internships set aside for finalists during holidays.

But an increasing number of companies have places for eager freshers.

So those with no work experience on their CVs are more likely to fail in their applications and have “little or no chance” of getting a grad scheme, half of the recruiters said.

High Fliers research boss Martin Birchall said: “It’s great news that students leaving university this summer who’ve paid higher tuition fees for their degrees will be emerging into the most buoyant graduate job market for over a decade, with a wider choice of graduate vacancies at the country’s most sought-after employers and better starting salaries.

“And there are a record number of opportunities too for first and second year students to get paid work experience this year – Britain’s top employers will be providing more than 13,000 paid internships, vacation work or course-based placements in 2015.”

Overall the UK’s leading employers plan to expand grad recruitment even further this year, with eight per cent more vacancies predicted than last year.