'Majority of graduates' use web to find work

Eight out of ten graduates use the internet to search for work online, a new report has revealed.

A study conducted by Reed Employment has found that businesses which advertise through print could be "wasting" resources as 89 per cent of university leavers claim they only use the internet.

It found that eight per cent apply in person and just three per cent check newspaper job pages regularly.

Furthermore, 80 per cent of the graduate respondents consider themselves "avid" users of social networking sites.

Stephen Harrison, operations manager at Reed Graduates, said the "Facebook generation" is clearly much more receptive to information offered via the web.

"To attract top graduates, businesses will need to rethink the ways in which they recruit ensuring that online recruitment and perhaps even social networking sites are included," he added.

Last year, an article in online publication Personnel Today claimed that sourcing talent through the internet will be an increasingly important factor for human resources departments.