IN THE queues at the social welfare office on Tara Street in Dublin, recent graduates have become commonplace.

Despite holding third-level qualifications, many young people consider their job prospects bleak as they struggle to enter the job market.

“I was working for Marks and Spencer and got let go. I started looking for another job out there – office jobs, retail jobs, everything – but there is nothing,” said Stacey Caffey.

Ms Caffey holds a qualification in banking and insurance from Whitehall College and has been unemployed since May. “I feel dreadful, I just sit around and do nothing all day. It’s just headwrecking.”

Caitriona Tierney, a masters graduate in journalism from the Dublin Institute of Technology, has been unemployed since March.

“They are offering you all these Fás courses where you go back and you retrain or upskill, but you do all these qualifications and then there is no job at the end. You just have to either go abroad or really knock on doors,” she said.

“I am looking for any kind of internships or floor work or anything to do with media relations. I’m not giving up hope yet though. I don’t think I have tried my best yet.

“You just have to be really, really determined and not give up hope and not let the whole media stories get you down and stay on the dole for the rest of your life.

“I suppose if I was really trying I’d move to London or anywhere really.”

Although a degree in engineering was once thought a “safe option”, recent graduates are finding it impossible to find work.

“I just expected to walk into a job when I finished college but it just does not work that way. I have been unemployed for the last year non-stop and everywhere I go is looking for three or four years’ experience,” says Dean Kinsley.

“How are you supposed to get the experience when no one gives you a chance?”