SOUTHAMPTON has been rated among the hardest places to find a job without work experience.

Two thirds of first time applicants reported being rejected because of their lack of experience, according to research for the student job board RateMyPlacement.

The research also found that retail and finance are the hardest industries to get into without experience.

It found that men are more likely to be rejected from a job because of lack of experience, with 70 per cent claiming they had been rejected for that reason compared with 59 per cent of women.

When asked which industries they were rejected from, 16 per cent of interviewees cited the accountancy banking and finance sector, with the same percentage naming retail.

One in 10 said they were rejected for IT and engineering or manufacturing jobs because of lack of experience.

Oliver Sidwell, an early careers expert and co-founder of RateMyPlacement, said: “Whilst it may seem an impossible situation sometimes for graduates to break into their career sector, rejection is often due to applicants not using the application process to really show off the skills that they do already attain.

“There are a few things graduates can do to reduce the chances of rejection due to a lack of experience.

“Target entry-level positions. Champion the skills acquired from university and include these in your CV. Show off your extracurricular efforts, including volunteering and part-time jobs. Practice your interview techniques to feel more prepared.”

Leeds was rated the hardest city to find a job without work experience, with 73 per cent of candidates saying they had been rejected for that reason.

The figure was 68 per cent for Sheffield and 67 per cent for Liverpool and Nottingham, while Southampton tied with London on 66 per cent.

As of November, there were 6,795 people in the Southampton area claiming benefits because of unemployment, down 20 per cent on 2021.

Of those, 1,175 were aged 18-24, down 13 per cent on the previous year.

Unemployment in the south east region fell by 2.1 per cent compared with the previous quarter, at a time when unemployment nationally rose 1.9 per cent to 1.24million.

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