Graduates need to make sure that they leave university with job-hunting skills to help them find employment after student life, it has been claimed.

Joe McDermott, chief executive officer of Interviewgold.com, an interview skills training website, said that employability skills are high on some universities' agendas, but many students are not concerned with the issue as they are more interested in socialising and studying.

He explained: "Some higher education institutes do provide excellent careers advice but what we found is that, because interview skills training is not a compulsory subject, a lot of students just don't bother."

Mr McDermott added that students did not have the time to worry about employability skills.

Research from Interviewgold.com undertaken this year showed that 79 per cent of people think it is more difficult to get a job now than it was a year ago.

It also revealed that more than a third of people have sleepless nights before an interview because of embellishments on their CV.