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Work experience is vital to gaining jobs in most graduate careers, new research has suggested.

A recent study by Milkround.com questioned almost 200 individuals who had taken part in work experience before applying for graduate jobs.

It sought to investigate whether the knowledge and skills gained really were useful when applying for a permanent position.

Over 50 per cent of respondents said work experience was vital.

Some 21 per cent said that paid or unpaid work experience was the only way into their chosen industry.

And around 39 per cent said they wouldn't be able to get a job without some form of revelant prior experience.

A spokesman for Milkround.com said: "It's hard to break into any industry, but these results show if you make the effort to find work experience while you are at university, it makes getting that first graduate role much easier.

"Although it is not possible for all students to work when they are studying, applying for internships or even volunteering when they finish can be the best way to find full-time employment in their favoured industry."

A graduate who now works in recruitment commented: "I would not recruit anyone who had not taken the trouble to get some kind of work experience as I do not believe they could honestly justify why they wanted to follow one line of work over another."

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