Great expectations

After spending three or four years with your head buried in books and living just above the poverty line, an exciting, well-paid career should be the light at the end of the tunnel. But is it? According to research conducted at the University of Warwick, British graduates have a lower level of job satisfaction than any other group in the workforce.

"I'm not paid enough and my job is unrewarding," says Andrew Birks, 26, a government worker. "My work has nothing to do with my Fine Art degree."

Andrew spends his week driving around London delivering parliamentary documents, and that doesn't live up to his job expectations. "It's not mentally challenging, I just don't need to think. It's got absolutely nothing to do with what I want to be doing, which is something much more art-related," he says.

Jim Watson, 24, is in a similar predicament. He graduated with a degree in philosophy and is now a researcher for a financial publications company. "I wouldn't say I have job satisfaction," he says.

Job dissatisfaction among graduates is not only experienced by men. Jane Baker, 26, the supervisor of a university language resource centre, feels that she is not fulfilling her potential. Her work is often highly repetitive and boring, she says. "I expected to have a more challenging job, rather than what is basically admin. There's a lack of respect from the students – they tend to look down on us. They don't seem to realise they might be in a similar position soon."

Workplace malaise among graduates can be attributed in part to a more general dissatisfaction felt by people in their mid-20s to late-30s, according to Jonathan Gardner, co-author of the Warwick University study. But there are other reasons, too. "Graduates' expectations have been raised while at university," he says. "When you finish, you often don't meet these expectations and become dissatisfied – it's a frustrated achievers' effect."

What's more, according to research from Warwick, discontent in the workplace can depend on the degree you took. Agriculture and medicine graduates are the happiest, whereas architecture graduates are the most miserable.

So, how do you avoid the trap of a mind-numbing job? A visit to a careers adviser is a good start. David Jones, of the University of London careers service, believes that a great deal of job dissatisfaction arises from personality clashes at work. "You can't legislate against this, but you can suggest to people that they should go into jobs with like-minded people." Some working cultures are aggressive, whereas some are much more gentle.

The best advice though, he says, is not to panic – try to be adaptable and take a long- term view.

But what of those people who are already spluttering along an unwanted career path? "I don't plan to stay any longer than is absolutely necessary," says Andrew Birks. "I'm leaving my job in 34 days because I'm starting a degree in law next term," says Jane Baker. Jim is also leaving his workplace this summer.

education@independent.co.uk