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When recruiting staff to graduate jobs, companies use 2:1's and firsts as a benchmark, according to the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS).

The careers group's Winter Review 2008 has claimed that companies discarding graduates with lesser qualifications is partly causing a recruitment shortfall.

Elspeth Farrar, communications director for the AGCAS, said: "This qualification creed where in the past [they] would have been happy with students who had 2:2's, now [they] are saying 'we have got to have a first or a 2:1'."

She added that companies are "almost shooting themselves in the foot" because they could have "well-qualified, very able students" being put through their schemes but they are filtering them out in the early stages by "using firsts and 2:1's as a benchmark".

Ms Farrar concluded that maybe companies should put faith in their own recruitment processes rather than screening people out by using benchmarks such as firsts and 2:1's.

In the AGCAS Winter Review 2008 it was revealed that 43.4 per cent of firms which recruit people to graduate jobs feel that there is a shortfall in candidates with the right qualifications.

Meanwhile an annual survey by the Income Data Services has revealed that the current outlook for graduate recruitment is looking optimistic.

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