Job Outlook for New Grads Only Promising in Certain Sectors
April 17, 2009
Patricia Marroquin--HispanicBusiness.com
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Spring Class of 2009 college graduates will face some challenges finding employment, but there are a few industries that expect to increase their hiring of the students, a new report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows.
The report, the Job Outlook 2009 Spring Update, studied the level of anticipated college recruiting compared with last year, and its results show how the recruiting marketplace has reacted to the troubled economy.
The findings indicate that "college hiring is not immune from the economic turmoil that has gripped the nation and the world for the past year," according to the study.
Although the survey showed that college hiring expectations decreased across most industrial sectors of the economy, there were two exceptions.
Federal government agencies and companies with the "logistics, transportation and utilities" classification expect to hire more Class of 2009 college graduates for full-time positions than they did from the Class of 2008, the study found.
An expected hiring increase of 5.7 percent was seen among government agencies, and a whopping 69.4 percent increase was expected within the transportation-utilities sector.
The Job Outlook 2009 study also reported the top 10 bachelor's degree majors in most demand. Accounting, finance, engineering and information systems dominate the list. The top 10 majors, along with average starting salary offers reported in the fall 2008 study, are:
1. Accounting, $48,020
2. Mechanical Engineering, $57,024
3. Electrical Engineering, $57,603
4. Computer Science, $61,110
5. Business Administration/Management, $46,171
6. Economics/Finance, $51,062
7. Information Sciences And Systems, $52,322
8. Computer Engineering, $60,280
9. Management Information Systems, $51,489
10. Marketing/Marketing Management, $41,506
"Typically students who earn more 'technical' degrees -- such as accounting, engineering and computer science-related degrees -- will always be in demand," Andrea Koncz, employment information manager at the association, told HispanicBusiness.com.
She said overall college hiring is down this year by about 22 percent. "The last time we've seen a decrease was after the whole 9-11 event," Koncz said. "And, the increases in college hiring started for 2004 graduates and have continued ever since. This is the first drop that we've seen since then."
The spring survey also showed that the top jobs for 2008-2009 bachelor's degree graduates range from accounting and engineering positions to teachers and nurses. The list, which includes the average salary offer, is:
Management Trainee (Entry-Level Management), $42,060
Consulting, $57,177
Accounting (Public), $48,352
Accounting (Private), $46,028
Financial/Treasury Analysis, $51,709
Teaching, $33,831
Registered Nurse, $44,104
Project Engineering, $57,714
Sales, $43,998
The National Association of Colleges and Employers sent the spring update survey to 1,072 employer members, and 16 percent (174) responded.
Source: HispanicBusiness.com (c) 2009. All rights reserved.
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