Graduates who can figure it out land highest-paid jobs

Students hoping to land the highest paid jobs after graduation should study subjects based on numbers rather than words, suggests an analysis of graduate salaries published this week.

Graduates of numerate disciplines, such as statistics or economics, are commanding mean salaries of £22,828, the latest Graduate Market Trends report reveals. Overall, mean graduate salaries remain static at Pounds 18,362.

The report shows that management consultancy offers the highest mean salary at £22,418.

The highest salary is £45,000. No details are given about the company offering it, but the report says the highest salaries are for recruitment consultants with a "proven track record" and commercial analysts in the energy sector with two years' commercial experience. The lowest salaries are Pounds 10,000 - for a project coordinator/manager in a laboratory and sales positions in a recruitment company.

London and the Southeast remain the hot spots for job-seekers. Nearly a fifth (17.3 per cent) of jobs were in London and one in ten was in the Southeast. Engineering and technology graduates were most in demand, comprising 11.9 per cent of all vacancies.

The report is based on analysis of vacancies advertised between May 2003 and April this year on a website run by careers company Graduate Prospects.

Although the site is used mostly by recent graduates, it is aimed at all graduates. As a result, says the company, while the salaries are indicative of what recent graduates can earn, the mean salaries quoted in the report tend to be higher than average graduate starting salaries.

Mike Hill, chief executive of Graduate Prospects, said: "That salaries for graduates remain static should reassure those concerned about the employment prospects of graduates."

Details www.prospects.ac.uk