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Unclogging the Graduate Pipeline and Recruiting the Right Talent
The tech sector’s early-career recruitment landscape is in a state of crisis. While the talent is there, the sheer volume of noise is drowning out the quality. Recruitment budgets are tight, and the surge in ‘AI-enabled candidates’ has created a bottleneck that makes it near impossible to find the right recruits. For a sector that thrives on innovation, the current graduate hiring process has become frustratingly inefficient.
1. AI and Talent: ever easier to apply, ever harder to hire
In recent years, the barriers to applying for a role have shrunk while the barriers to hiring the right person have grown; AI is paradoxically making the selection process more complex rather than simpler. Candidates are using AI to generate picture-perfect CVs and cover letters at record speed, leading to a ‘same-ification' where every candidate looks identical on paper. This is particularly problematic as it encourages mass-applications: the 2025 data from the ISE shows that UK employers are now facing a historic high of 140 applications per graduate vacancy, up from 86 in 2023 and 38 in 2003. Recruiters are finding that the graduates who reach the interview stage are fundamentally unequipped and underprepared for interviews despite having technically perfect applications. This "easy to apply, hard to filter" cycle is a drain on corporate resources and makes it near impossible to find the right talent.
2. Down but not out: the graduate job market in 2026
There is general despondency amongst graduates about the job market, and not without cause: entry-level recruitment is at its lowest since 2021 and competition seems fierce as application volumes have rocketed. Context is important however: pre-covid feels prehistoric to students and graduates, but seasoned professionals know the graduate job market has actually plateaued, albeit with a downward trend. Data from Jisc’s 2025/26 Graduate Outcomes report confirms this: Charlie Ball, head of labour market research, explains that while full-time employment for new graduates fell from 59% to 56.4% this year, this is largely a return to pre-pandemic patterns after a “temporary post-COVID surge". The tech sector in particular saw a drop in IT roles from 6.7% to 5.1%, which Charlie Ball interprets as a correction following over-recruitment in 2022 and 2023 rather than a permanent decline; he expects this drop to be reversed in upcoming years. In fact, forward-thinking firms are already looking beyond this dip: IBM, for instance, is tripling its entry-level hiring, realising that reducing it would create a shortage of mid-level managers in three to five years. The company is rewriting roles to “account for AI fluency" and prioritise soft skills which will be more valuable in the long term.
3. Graduates lack job-search know-how
The most significant barriers however are not the economy nor the skills gap; they are instead the ‘hidden job market’ and students’ under-engagement with the application process. Up to 70% of jobs in the UK are not publicly advertised, yet most people spend most of their time scouring websites for posted ads rather than networking or working on their interview skills. This disconnect is exacerbated in university students and graduates. According to a qualitative study by Julia Yates and Wendy Hirsh in 2025, students often engage with career services too late, frequently waiting until their final year or after graduation to begin thinking about their career seriously. Students also focus disproportionately on CV polishing as a "displacement activity" to avoid the more difficult work of self-reflection and industry research. This focus on CVs does them a disservice, not only because of AI ‘same-ification’ but also because of the degradation of intention. Mass AI-groomed applications do not address the "unrealistic or limited understanding of themselves, of the labour market, of the processes of career choice and of practitioner career support”, leaving candidates completely unconvincing during whatever interviews they do manage to achieve. The result is companies left wanting for early talent while graduates spend months applying and getting nowhere.
4. Ditching the CV: a skills-based workforce
To clear the clogged early-talent pipeline, companies must adapt their recruitment process, prioritising pre-qualification and targeted outreach. Canny firms now use skills-based recruitment, where candidates are first assessed on observed performance and pre-qualification tests rather than AI-assisted CVs. Placing psychometrics as the first barrier drastically cuts the flow and ensures hiring managers only spend time and resources on graduates who are informed and have the right mindset and skills. There is a large opportunity therefore for third parties to relieve companies by supplying a pre-qualified pipeline of early talent. Meanwhile, students as ever crave the ‘power of invitation’, compared to the anxiety of self-directed search. They respond more effectively to personalised outreach and human contact than impersonal indiscriminate applications. In a market where everyone looks the same on paper, the winners will be firms who connect with work-ready talent before the first interview even begins.
About the campaign
techUK’s TechTogether campaign, taking place throughout March, is a collection of activities highlighting the UK’s technology sector pursuit to shape a more equitable future. In 2026 we are exploring: Inclusive AI, investing in diverse founders and entrepreneurs, the power of allyship and mentorship, and empowering young people.
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Authors
Charlotte Abadi
Charlotte Abadie is the Research Analyst at gradvisor, an initiative by The Kartik Foundation.
