Most of last year's graduates are already encountering problems at work, partially due to the financial meltdown, a recent survey has found.

The report, released by Mycos Institute, shows that 27 percent of more than 8,700 graduates polled nationwide said their biggest problem was a lack of opportunity to develop their careers.

Last year's sluggish economic situation, which reduced and halted many company recruitment plans, was blamed for the limited number of graduate job opportunities, the survey said.

"When I graduated last year, I found myself in a dilemma. Most companies I wanted to work for had reduced their recruitment programs and I ended up with a small company with no career prospects," Han Wei, a 2009 graduate student majoring in advertising from China Agricultural University, told METRO on Monday.

Low salary was the second biggest concern with nearly 20 percent of respondents claiming they were virtually penniless after living costs were subtracted from their salaries.

Among the 10 provinces and municipalities surveyed, Beijing ranked top of the list for graduates with the highest average monthly income at 2,562 yuan.

However, some respondents said the money is still far from enough to cover the capital's high living costs.

"I worked as an intern in a foreign TV studio before I graduated, but the salary didn't change much after I became a full-time employee With my wage of 4,000 yuan, I could barely save anything," said Liu Chunjing, a postgraduate student majoring in journalism from Renmin University of China.

Low salary was also cited in the survey as the key reason for changing jobs.

Xia Tian, a postgraduate student majoring in English from Beijing Foreign Studies University, has just quit her job as a civil servant at the Foreign Ministry after half a year.

"It is unbelievable to quit a job at the Foreign Ministry since so many graduates fight to get in," Xia said.

"I did it because, despite the social welfare, the salary is just too low to survive," she said.

One expert said the solution to this problem is to think ahead.

"Graduates should consider what they want to do and what they will good at, long before they seek employment," said professor Ma from the employment guidance center of Communication University of China.

"An internship is always a great starting point," he said.