Anybody graduating from college this spring should be forewarned: You’re probably expecting a better job than you’re going to get.

Nobody denies it’s a tough job market for young workers, with the unemployment rate for twentysomethings well above the national average of 6.3%. Crushing levels of student debt compound the problem for those carrying it. And there’s still a gap between the skills students develop in college and those employers actually want.

But new grads also continue to have inflated expectations of what employers are likely to offer, which seems surprising given how discouraging the news about the entry-level job market has been during the past few years. A new study by Accenture reveals many ways recent grads have exaggerated hopes for their first job. A few examples:

Pay. Only 18% of the members of the class of 2014 think they’ll earn less than $25,000 in their first job. But 41% of grads from the last two years fell below that level.

Meaningful work. Most of this year’s grads — 84% — expect to find a job in a field related to their college major. But only 67% of 2012 and 2013 grads were able to pull that off.

Training. Eighty percent of 2014 grads think they’ll get formal training at their first job. But less than half typically do.

The overall economy is slowly getting better, which ought to mean the job market for college grads is improving, too. But that isn’t necessarily the case, according to the Accenture survey. The portion of grads who are employed but feel they’re working in jobs for which they’re overqualified rose from 41% for the class of 2012 to 46% for the class of 2013. And the percentage of grads working full-time has fallen during the past two years, while the portion of part-timers has risen.

The news isn’t all bad. For discouraged grads who might be wondering, there’s still convincing evidence college is well worth it. A new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco finds college grads out-earn high school grads by $800,000 over their lifetimes, on average. Another recent study reveals grads of middling schools can end up just as satisfied as the scion of elite universities. More important than a school’s sterling reputation, apparently, is the quality of professors able to inspire and connect with their students.

The Accenture survey also offers a few clues about ways recent grads can stand out in a crowded job market and beat the entry-level blues. It encourages employers, for instance, to search for young people with “strong digital brands,” which means those who might have a professional-looking personal Web page, a video resume on YouTube, or demonstrable skills at social media — something the oldsters at the company may not understand. It will help, of course, if pictures of you sucking a beer bong don't pop up when somebody does a Web search for your name.

Some young job candidates may make simple mistakes that harm their job prospects, such as failing to include appropriate keywords on their resume, as some employers use automated keyword searches to filter out unwanted resumes before a live person ever takes a look. Most young grads say they’d be willing to move for a good job, but the problem is often figuring out where those jobs might be and getting an employer's attention. Offering to travel for an interview at your own expense might be one way to indicate your seriousness.

Many recruiters also say young workers — accustomed to doing everything online — underestimate the importance of in-person networking and other types of glad-handing. That’s something most colleges don’t teach. But the sooner young workers learn it, the less disappointed they’re likely to be.

Rick Newman’s latest book is Rebounders: How Winners Pivot From Setback To Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.