A report from interview skills training website Interviewgold.com shows 85% of jobseekers would take a job they are over-qualified for just to get back into employment.
The research comes in response to a news story in the Telegraph regarding a job advertisement posted by Havant Borough Council for a bin man with a salary of £14,000, which attracted 238 applications.
Joe McDermott, CEO of Interviewgold.com, said: "These statistics illustrate just how difficult the job market is at present. Despairing jobseekers seem to be willing to go to any length just to get a foot in the door,
"Many people see this as an easy way to get work but it is actually more difficult for over-qualified candidates to find a job. Employers are reluctant to employ over-qualified applicants as they fear they will leave as soon as something better comes up or they will get bored."
Desperate jobseekers take salary cuts and apply for jobs for which they are over-qualified
More than two fifths of jobseekers (44%) would take a drop in salary in order to land a job and 28% are prepared to change career altogether.
