Graduates looking for work this summer were given advice and guidance in a live online debate at www.thetimes.co.uk.

Career experts answered questions brought about by the continuation of a highly-competitive graduate jobs market despite 100 of the biggest employers recruiting nearly 2,500 more university-leavers so far this year than they did in the whole of last year.

Martin Birchall from High Fliers Research revealed the level of competition is fierce: "Sadly with applications running at an average of 45 per vacancy, it's inevitable that selection processes have become more demanding in order to sift out the best candidates. Virtually all the major employers now have a three or four stage recruitment process."

Business features editor for The Times, Carol Lewis, added graduates were making it harder for themselves by apply for too many jobs in a rush to find any work they can. She said: "One of the big problems is that graduates are using a scattergun approach and applying for loads of jobs at lots of different companies rather than focusing on a few companies."

Internships, work experience and placements were highlighted as ideal for graduates to gain skills that will impress recruiters and set them apart from their peers. Martin Birchall added that degree subjects were becoming less important among graduate recruiters now too, meaning showing you have the ability to fit into a business quickly is critical.

He said: "One of the key things about the current graduate job market is how few employers recruit from specific disciplines any more - around 80 percent of vacancies are for 'any degree', which means accounting firms etc are just as likely to be hiring arts students as those with a business background. Most major employers would prefer to train their graduates from scratch."

To read the debate in full and gain tips for getting a job this summer:
replay the live debate at The Times.