Tesco is targeting its graduate programmes to energise its businesses, insisting its career prospects remain strong, despite the Association of Graduate Recruiters reporting a salary freeze among graduates and a predicted 5.4 per cent decrease in graduate vacancies in 2009.
Tesco says its graduates have the potential to earn a total of £140,000 - excluding all benefits and bonuses - by the age of 25. Of 12 career paths researched, only management consultancy currently provides a higher total earning potential by the age of 25 (£155,000.
With many of the top graduate career choices such as doctors, solicitors and architects requiring training or further study prior to entering the job, graduates following these career paths will have a delayed entry into the job market. In addition, this training can also involve huge costs, which have a hugely detrimental effect on early earning power.
Tesco argues that even careers that provide on the job training, such as accountancy, tend to have lower earning potential (£99,000) due to the lower rate of pay for the years of on the job training.
Tesco itself offers on the job training and experience, meaning that graduates can hit the ground running, while also earning a competitive salary. In fact, a recruit entering the Tesco Graduate Stores Scheme, currently starting on a salary of £23,000, could be earning £47,000 as a store manager within four years.
Hayley Tatum, UK operations personnel director at Tesco, said: “Our graduate schemes are renowned for providing our graduates with a high level of involvement and responsibility from day one, and the fact that training is done on the job allows them to get involved straight away. But, alongside this high level of responsibility come great rewards, and we pride ourselves on providing very competitive starting salaries and a fast track programme that allows our graduates to move up the career ladder at a great pace.
“Following figures from the Association of Graduate Recruiters that some sectors are downsizing their schemes or removing them altogether, we’re delighted to be able to show our commitment to the various graduate roles we have on offer and our continued focus on attracting top graduates to our business. In fact, this year we have experienced an extremely high number of graduate applications, and have now filled all of our September vacancies.”
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