Small firms have been warned that they may be expecting too much from graduates, something which might make it harder to fill vacancies.
Elspeth Farrar, communications director for the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS), explained that many firms now expect people leaving university to be "work ready".
He said: "There has been a major shift in what companies expect graduates to come out of university with and how prepared they expect them to be.
"It used to be that graduate training schemes were exactly that. Companies would take in graduates and would develop their skills."
He added that firms which had "rigid and tight" recruitment calendars may be missing out on students who postpone their job hunt in order to study harder and get a better degree.
According to the Association of Graduate Recruiters' Winter Review 2008, 67 per cent of firms envisage they will face difficulties in filling all their vacancies in the coming year.
