The number of employers advertising graduate positions has increased.

People researching how to set up a recruitment company may want to target the finance sector, which has been identified as one of the areas experiencing heightened hiring activity.

Advertisements for graduate vacancies in finance and other areas are increasing, according to Graduate Prospects, which stated that despite signs of recovery, it will remain competitive due to increased competition for jobs.

Chief executive Mike Hill explained that "finance is extremely buoyant, retail is pretty damn good, consultancy is good and engineering looks encouraging", although construction "is not doing so well".

Recruiters may be spoilt for choice when it comes to finding suitable candidates because "a backlog of people who didn't find jobs and maybe went into post-graduate education" will also be hunting for places.

According to findings of the CBI/Harvey Nash employment trends survey, only six per cent of employers plan to freeze graduate recruitment this year compared with 38 per cent last year.