Finally there is a light at the end of the graduate recruitment tunnel and it just so happens that the utilities industry is providing it.  This light, that the utilities industry is offering, is that it is the only industry reporting an industry wide graduate recruitment rise seeing vacancies rise by 7.1%.  These stats have been revealed by our good friend (and this time he really is!) Carl Gilleard, the chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), while discussing the AGR’s bi-annual survey of the jobs market.  Whilst the utilities industry maybe on the overall number of vacancies for graduates has fallen 24.9%, but this does not mean that there aren’t any at all as Carl reminded us: “It is important to look at this in context and to point out that very few employers have abandoned their graduate recruitment programmes altogether and most are likely to reinstate recruitment levels at the first sign of an upturn in the economy”.

For those of you with an iPhone there’s some great recruitment related application news.  Now Apps and i’s and phones are all double dutch to me, but my office monkey’s seem to think that this is a big deal.  The good people over at 1Job.co.uk have got their iPhone’s out and their app thinking caps on to come up with an app that will give you access to every single vacancy on their probably extensive database and the very best news?  It’s FREE!  We gave creating a Facebook app ago, why not check that out?

The good folks over at Tesco have decided to ignore the trends, probably because they’re loaded, and they’re continuing to recruit graduates.  That’s right my job hunting friends, Tesco has seen a 61% increase in graduate applications for its 15 2009 graduate scheme vacancies.  The bad news is that the application deadline for this years scheme was in September 2008, but the 2010 one is still open!  There is redemption at hand though if your dream is to wear the Tesco blue as they’ll be continuously recruiting graduates for their normal vacancies in commercial divisions like buying and merchandising.  My good friend (and potential Mrs Hanson number eight) Hayley Tatum, the Operations Director at Tesco, said between flirting: “At Tesco we are very aware the recent economic climate is having a detrimental effect upon today’s graduates and the talent of the future. We have always identified the skills and opportunities graduates bring and for this reason we have remained committed to our graduate recruitment process.  In recent research conducted by Tesco we highlighted the earning potential for a career in retail and we encourage today’s graduates to consider all options when leaving university. We witnessed incredible demand for graduate schemes this year and places had to be increased for many.”  If you’re interested in working for Tesco check out this video.

I have a secret to share with you: DON’T LIE ON YOUR CV.  I know it seems like common sense but my bestest best friend, Chris Cater, deputy founder of the Graduate Recruitment Bureau say so and his as much as recruitment expert as I am vaguely senile. Chris was commenting on the latest Department of Work and Pensions survey which revealed over a quarter of people have lied on their CV. Now as a graduate you’re employment history and experiences maybe a little patchy, but that’s ok.  You’re expected to have years of experience steering the ship, you’ve been drinking far too much at university for such activities.  Employers have a finely honed nose for bullshit these days so you’re best off keeping it straight and telling the truth.  Any graduate recruiter will be more interested in what you’ve been doing at university to care if you once double the daily sales record at Greggs.  Still worried about CV writing, well check these videos out, they should help you a long.

There’s good news on the horizon for my Twittering friends.  If, at this very moment you’re facing your book and my-ing your space you’re more likely to find a job.  Yes, yes it’s true and my good friend Harvey Nash from Work and Pensions has some research showing that a quarter of employers now use social networking sites in the process of recruitment.  Now on one hand this is fantastic news if like me you’re the model facespacer and your profile is recruiter friendly, but if like Johnson you’re facespace is dedicated to documenting your deviancy, you may want to reconsider its content.  Especially as 44% of recruiters believe that social networks will play a larger and larger part in the recruitment process. It’s not all bad news if your MyBook is beyond saving and has become a festering den of sin.  My other good friend Shafiq Lokhanwala, chief executive officer of Nuview Systems has started to warn of the potential legal pitfalls of using social network profiles by employers to influence their recruitment process.  As Shafiq cautions the recruitment industry, a ClickaJob spokesman said “Like it or not, it’s a fact of life that you’re entirely responsible for what you say and do”.  The whole sphere of social networking and recruitment is obviously still very much in its infancy and we’re working the bugs out, but for all those graduates out there it might be worth checking your profile is not open to everyone.