Media students feel unqualified for jobs in the industry and benefit most from networking to get a job.

Graduates should also expect to work for no pay at the start of their careers.

These are the findings of the Trade Union Congress in a report onto the industry. It claims more than a third of final year students on media-related training courses felt unqualified to get a job in the industry and most workers in the film and television industries found their job through an informal contact or word of mouth recruitment.

It states there is a general expectation that new entrants would work without remuneration at the start of their careers and recruitment practices make it hard for prospective candidates from poorer backgrounds and from ethnic minorities to start audio visual careers.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Many of the young people interviewed during the course of this research complained that their media courses left them ill-prepared for the world of work. To make matters worse, getting a foot in the door is often dependent on contacts within the industry, something that many youngsters from low income or ethnic minority backgrounds simply won't have. That, combined with the fact that many will have to work for nothing for their first few jobs, means it's no small wonder that London's audio visual industry currently looks the way it does.'