THE ECONOMIC crisis has done little to dent the optimism of Ireland’s college students.
By the age of 30, almost one in five expects to be earning at least €100,000 per year, and over 60 per cent expect to own their house or flat.
For some 8 per cent of the group that is only the start of the good times. By the age of 30, they also expect to have invested in a “buy-to-let” or holiday property.
These surprising findings come in the third annual Irish Times Graduate Survey of more than 3,000 final-year students in our seven universities. Most of those surveyed in February were aged 21 and 22.
The overall message from students is that, while times are hard, things will only get better.
Unlike the rest of us, they appeared to have already witnessed those elusive green shoots of recovery.
And the students, who are due to graduate this summer, don’t believe they are destined for “yellow-pack” jobs and minimum wages. On the contrary, most expect to be earning at least €48,000 within five years of graduation.
Some 6 per cent think they will glide into management positions with an annual salary of at least €75,000 by 2014. A majority of students think they will rake in the big money working for multinationals such as KPMG, Google and PricewaterhouseCoopers. These three companies were the employers of choice for the class of 2009.
But, in some acknowledgment of the hard times, students also placed a premium on secure, pensionable employment. Jobs in the Civil Service and teaching – once regarded as passé by many graduates – are suddenly de rigueur. For the class of 2009, teaching and Civil Service posts are now among the 10 most-favoured career options.
But few, it seems, want to be investment bankers or property tycoons. The survey shows that interest in these areas has virtually collapsed among students.
Irish students it seems also have little taste for unorthodox personal choices.
By the age of 30, many would like to have settled down into married life. More than 28 per cent hope to have children by that time.
The study, conducted in association with The Irish Times, is Ireland’s largest graduate recruitment survey.
Some 3,354 final-year students were surveyed in the seven universities in the Republic – UCD, TCD, NUI Maynooth, DCU, UCC, UL and NUI Galway.