Have all the best students applied to the public sector?

At today's Association of Graduate Recruiters event, financial services employers complained that this year's graduate applications weren't very impressive compared to previous years.

A representative of the accounting sector said applications for graduate roles in accounting were up three fold, but that quality had plummeted, with graduates showing little or no understanding of the firm or industry and clearly taking a punt due to reduced job options.

The head of graduate recruitment at a retail bank had a similar complaint: "I'm not even going to sugar-coat it, they've been a lot worse this year," she told attendees.

One problem appears to be generic applications and cutting and pasting from different application forms.

"One applicant just copied the application they send to Airbus," said a recruiter from Axa. "But the reasons the applicant gave for wanting to work at Axa were so generic, he could have been applying to any company in any industry."

However, the public sector, represented by the Financial Services Authority, The Audit Commission, and The Bank of England, said it had received a "huge increase in applications and a marked upturn in quality." It also said graduate hiring numbers were up massively.

If you want to impress a private sector recruiter, the big buzz word at the event was "motivation" - showing you have a real desire to work for that specific company.

For instance, one student, applying for a position at Fidelity, read the autobiography of über-stock picker and Fidelity employee Anthony Bolton to give them an insight into the firm.

"Ultimately, what we're saying is motivation equals research, which means commercial awareness - something graduates have to show more of these days," said the recruiter representative from the retail and commercial banking sector.