While the issue of access to the professions is relatively well understood, there is limited understanding of the impact of entrants' backgrounds on success once in graduate employment. The research looks at the way social background continues to influence graduate pay and career progression once in professional employment. Key findings include: (1) Three and a half years after graduation, private school graduates in top jobs earn £4,500 more than their state school counterparts; (2) Their salaries also increase more quickly than for state school graduates--growing by £3,000 more over the same three-year period; (3) Half of this pay difference can be explained by the variables such as type of higher education institution attended or prior academic achievement; (4) Half cannot be explained by factors accounted for in this research. This implies that non-academic skills such as articulacy or assertiveness could play an important role in accessing high-status jobs, and wider societal factors may also play a role; and (5) Graduates from less privileged backgrounds are marginally more likely to remain in high-status jobs, with 71% still in such employment three and half years after graduation (compared to 65% for their more privileged peers).