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“We’re moving ahead with another finalist. We’re sorry the timing didn’t work out on this occasion.”
LAUREN GOT THE email just hours before her screening call – the tech company had already filled the role. Jack’s rejection came after four interviews with a financial services firm. They liked him, they said, but opted for someone with “slightly more experience.”
For graduates in 2026, rejections like these have become routine when the applicants are not ghosted entirely.
This isn’t what they were promised.
Those born around the 2003 spike – who came of age through pandemic lockdowns and into a sluggish recovery – were told that if they worked hard and got the degree, the world would open its doors.
If that social contract feels broken, the broader numbers help explain why.
Employment in Ireland continued to grow into late 2025, but job numbers were only about 2% higher than a year earlier, a noticeable slowdown from the post-pandemic boom when annual growth was close to 7%. Meanwhile, youth unemployment has risen to roughly 12%, with younger workers disproportionately affected by weak entry-level hiring and structural shifts in the labour market.
Put simply, there aren’t as many new jobs as new graduates, even as participation in third-level education continues to rise.
“It’s not a talent issue – it’s a supply and demand imbalance,” says James Lynch, Managing Director at Mason Alexander recruitment company.
“Application volumes have increased per role as the grad market landscape becomes more competitive. Fewer jobs plus more candidates leads to a bottleneck.“
In addition, when my cohort graduated around 2008, there was at least the promise of elsewhere. Parents reluctantly nudged us towards London, New York or Australia – anywhere that wasn’t Ireland, because Ireland had no jobs. But in 2026, that same story is playing out in those places, too.
Graduates are entering one of the tightest entry-level labour markets in over a decade. Hiring remains slow in sectors that were once an almost rite-of-passage for new graduates.
In the background, there’s AI. Not necessarily replacing everyone, but shaping the process in ways few people fully understand. Some routine tasks once filled by people just out of college have been automated. CVs are filtered by software before a human ever sees them. And because applying has become frictionless, more people apply for every role.
Irish labour market analysis suggests younger workers are also most exposed to AI-related shifts, particularly in highly digitalised sectors where junior and generalist roles tend to be concentrated.
Lynch’s sense is that early fears of AI rapidly eliminating entry-level work were overblown, but he adds, “it has had an impact on the volume of grad hiring, which continues today. However, there’s also the realisation in most industries that AI isn’t there (yet) so I expect volumes to (slowly and quietly) increase.”
So it’s certainly a more difficult market, but not a hopeless one.
Here’s how graduates can manage new challenges:
Many graduates assume that submitting online applications is enough. That’s a mistake. Graduate programmes can receive hundreds or even thousands of applications per role. Even the most capable candidates can be filtered out simply because of volume.
LinkedIn’s data shows applicants are significantly more likely to be hired if they have a connection within the organisation.
This doesn’t mean asking strangers for jobs. It means recognising – as it did during the last recession and again during Covid – that networking matters.
Now is the time to pull every available lever.
Good networking is not transactional. It’s about relationships and the gradual building of an informal web of people who know you, trust you and think of you when opportunities arise.
Ireland, in particular, still operates like a village, so start with who you already know:
Approach them calmly and professionally. Share your CV. Ask for advice over coffee, not favours straightaway. Ask them to keep you in mind.
A network isn’t built overnight. But once it exists, it can open doors quickly – a heads-up about a role, an introduction, someone putting your name forward before a job is publicly advertised.
A common frustration for graduates is being asked for experience in entry-level roles. But remember that experience doesn’t only come from formal jobs.
The majority of graduates that I work with underestimate what they already have.
It might be the resilience learned from moving to a new city. Managing customers and complex coffee orders in a café. Navigating a new office system in a summer job. Handling conflict in group projects. Coaching kids in your local club.
Employers are looking for evidence that you can function in a professional environment; communicate clearly, solve problems and work well with others.
Core skills and adaptability will always matter; it’s not just about your degree.
Generic CVs tend to end up in the bin.
Applicant Tracking Systems scan for relevance, just as any human would. If your CV doesn’t reflect the language and requirements of the role, it may never be seen; by a bot or a person.
Study the job description forensically, identify the skills required and come up with clear evidence for each.
Keep it simple, to the point and watch out for typos and clean formatting.
Be clear on what the employer needs, what you offer and how to prove it.
Employers increasingly expect graduates to demonstrate basic digital and AI literacy.
You don’t need to become an engineer, but you do need to show you can adapt and learn quickly.
Graduates who take initiative – learning independently, building skills, staying curious – have always stood out.
AI is a helpful tool for refining CVs, spotting trends in the industry and researching companies beyond their own website’s “about us” line.
But over-reliance creates a sameness in applications that’s becoming increasingly off-putting to recruiters.
The other risk is asking AI to script interview answers – who I am, why I want the job, my vision for the role – and arriving at the interview frozen and terrified of forgetting a line and/or unable to respond to anything unscripted.
Write down key points, examples, stories and practise saying them aloud – not word-for-word but conversationally, as if explaining them to a friend.
When everyone else is reciting a ChatGPT script, the person who turns up genuine, empathetic and thoughtful will stand out.
Large graduate programmes are not the only path.
Smaller companies, contract roles and temporary positions often provide faster entry and valuable experience.
Once you have even one year of professional experience, the market expands significantly.
For some graduates, securing a role may take longer than expected. Others may begin in roles outside their original plans.
This is the time to get comfortable with adapting. Careers have never been entirely linear, and they’re less so in uncertain times.
What matters most now is momentum; make a plan and get proactive.
Because, despite everything – AI, economic uncertainty, intense competition – hiring still comes down to people choosing people.
Sarah Geraghty is the Head of Careers at The Communications Clinic.
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