Two out of every five university graduates are unemployed

You just graduated and are looking for a job. You start with a website ran by the Ministry of Labor that claims to have over 283,000 job offers. If you limit your search to university graduates, your options are down to 12,362 jobs, 4% of the original amount, and even then, not all are for you.

If, for example, you live in Mexico City, your choices are down to 2,396 jobs. At least two years of experience are required for most of the jobs, which you don't have because you are just starting your career.

The data unit of EL UNIVERSAL analyzed the National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE) and found that in the first three months of 2015, 41% of professionals under 30 were unemployed or had an informal job. In absolute numbers, this means 290,000 are unemployed and 1.08 million work in the informal sector. And, as if this was not bad enough, one third earn less than the average youth who only finished high school.

According to the NGO Mexicanos Primero, for every 100 children who entered primary school, 76 went on to secondary school, 48 to high school and only 21 to university. In the end, only 13 graduate.

You would think that as one of the lucky 13% who finished college you would be rewarded with a better pay. But that is not the case.

For example, a dentist with one or two years of experience working from Monday through Saturday from 3 pm to 10 pm is offered 3,800 pesos (US$235) per month. An intern who studied administration or international relations and aged between 25 and 35 years is offered 7,000 pesos (US$434) to work full time, six days a week.

Similarly, a graphic designer job pays 6,500 pesos (US$403) a month, a civil engineer 5,310 pesos (US$330), a doctor 5,000 pesos (US$310)  and an accountant, 3,500 pesos (US$217).

Jobs that pay over 10,000 pesos (US$620) are reserved for candidates with more experience.

According to data from the ENOE, a person with high school earns 5,300 pesos (US$329) a month on average, while a university graduate makes 9,653 pesos (US$600). But if the graduate is under 30, he only makes 6,870 pesos (US$426), i.e. 41% less than the average professional. This means that the salary difference with workers of the same age who studied high school only ends up being 2,562 pesos (US$159).

Moreover, 35% of recent graduates earn less than 4,308 pesos (US$267), which is the average salary of workers who only finished high school.

Nonetheless, studying a degree continues to give you an advantage: while 56% of young professionals have a formal job, only 41% of those with high school are employed.