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Although some people have been predicting a future shortage of graduate jobs in London - and in the banking sector in particular, HSBC is showing that graduate recruitment is still alive and flourishing.

Speaking to The Journal, a HSBC spokesperson said that recruitment rates would remain the same in 2009. "In retail and commercial banking, our strategy in recruiting graduates is to take into account our expected middle management and senior management vacancies six to eight years after the graduate completes their development programme.”

"HSBC graduate intake for 2009 will be similar to the 2008 intake of approximately 1400 around the world, 300 of which will be in the UK," said the spokesman.

One of many voices taking a slightly more downbeat view of future prospects in the graduate jobs market earlier this month was Nick Keely, director of the careers service at the University of Newcastle. He told the Guardian newspaper at the beginning of November that graduate jobseekers would need to become much more adaptable to secure a career in a more competitive job market.

Keely said, "I see some evidence of naivety among students. Some are still fully expecting to secure roles in investment banks or in property. Some don't really seem to have cottoned on to the fact that the crunch is affecting some sectors very hard."

He added, "I can only suggest that this is likely to be a marketplace for students who not only demonstrate all of the normal employer expectations of graduate skills and achievement, but who also demonstrate lots of personal enterprise and a real sense of adaptability in their career planning and direction. This is not a time for rigid thinking."

Start your flexible thinking now by finding and applying for the latest London graduate jobs in our dedicated ‘graduate jobs in London’ section.