An emerging talent report on finding work and starting out. Throughout Spring 2026 we surveyed 818 students, graduates and apprentices across the UK to understand how they experience the early careers market, the barriers they face, and how ready they feel for work.
Fill in your details to download the full report.
We asked candidates about the skills they bring, the barriers they face, and what “work readiness” means to them in practice, to highlight where expectations and reality aren’t quite aligning and what employers can do to have the greatest impact.
How students, graduates and apprentices navigate the early careers market — from application to offer.
The confidence gap, the barriers they face, and what “work readiness” actually means to them in practice.
What employers can do to help candidates feel prepared, confident and able to contribute from day one.
A handful of findings that point to something more systemic than a skills gap.
of candidates say live interviews feel the fairest way to demonstrate their strengths, yet 41% find them the most difficult stage. They want to explain themselves in their own words, and the process often makes that harder than it needs to be.
say feedback is the single thing that would most improve their confidence during a recruitment process. Most receive none at all.
have stopped an application because it felt too long or too difficult, most commonly because there were too many stages or it was too time-consuming.
people already in their first role said it took longer than six months to feel fully settled and productive. Candidates consistently underestimate how long that transition takes.
74% of candidates didn’t fully understand what employers were looking for throughout recruitment and assessment. Clearer communication about what’s being assessed and why reduces anxiety and improves the quality of what candidates actually show you.
Imposter syndrome and unclear expectations were the top concerns for candidates both before and after starting work. The anxiety is rarely about capability. It is about not knowing what good looks like, or whether they will be supported enough to get there.
Across more than 380 open responses, candidates described work readiness in terms of confidence, adaptability and a willingness to learn. They don’t expect to know everything from day one. What they want is a clear sense of what’s expected and enough psychological safety to ask questions and grow into the role.
The organisations that gain competitive advantage in early careers hiring are unlikely to be those that simply assess candidates more aggressively. They will be the ones that identify potential earlier, reduce unnecessary friction, and accelerate confidence, belonging and contribution once people arrive.
Ben Williams, Chief Scientist, Unseen Group
818 candidates surveyed across the UK. Three sections covering the job market, the transition to work, and what readiness actually means to the people going through it.
Leave a Reply