Even as the jobs picture slowly improves, the disadvantage of bad timing follows those who graduated during the worst years. Applicants like Mr. Wells have neither the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed appeal of the class of 2013, nor the benefit of relevant work experience that might give them an edge.

“I’m competing against people that are graduating now,” said Mr. Wells, 27, who worked in construction and other jobs before starting college in 2007. “It’s easier to grab them up, because they’re fresh.”

His problems stem from the fact that companies typically divide their hiring into two pools: entry-level jobs, which are overwhelmingly filled by campus recruits, and experienced workers. Some allow recent graduates to stay in the first category for a year or two after getting their diploma. But recruiters say those applicants may find themselves at a disadvantage, especially if they have not been bolstering their résumés with classes, internships or volunteer work.

“If you’re a 2011 or a 2012 grad, the competition just got fierce — even more fierce — with the let-out of the 2013 class,” said Alexa Hamill, the United States campus recruiting leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers. “It’s like you’re in overtime, and they brought in the fresh team.”

The impact of this is difficult to measure because government statistics do not allow for a comparison of the fate of this year’s graduates with their immediate predecessors, instead lumping all college graduates under 25 into one group. And certainly college graduates as a whole are doing vastly better than those with only a high school degree (young college graduates have an unemployment rate of just over 8 percent, while the unemployment rate for high school graduates within the same age group is close to 20 percent).