The job market for college graduates is likely to improve this year for the first time since 2001, but competition for work remains fierce because of the recent tight employment market.
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Companies said they will hire almost 13 percent more graduates in 2004 compared with last spring, according to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
It marks the first time in three years that employers said they would increase hiring. Companies predicted a 3.6 percent decline in hiring last year and a 20 percent decline in 2002, according to the annual survey.
Top jobs:
– accounting and finance
– entry-level management posts
– sales
– teaching
– engineering
Starting salaries for those jobs range from $29,396 to $44,518 a year. Experts said potential for work in construction and health care also is strong.
Colleen Hellman, a 22-year-old logistics and transportation major from Nashville who will be graduating in the spring from the University of Maryland, said she recently accepted a $35,000-a-year job with a military agency’s purchasing department.
“It’s so competitive right now,” said Hellman, who interviewed three times with Pepsi Bottling before losing out to someone else. “I had lots of interviews; I had a good [grade point average] and lots of leadership experience. It’s been pretty tough.”
But at this point, any positive news is welcome on college campuses after the job market’s poor showing in 2003, said William Carson, director of the Career Development Department at Morgan State University.
“I’ve been in this business for 20 years, and 2003 was probably the most dismal I’ve seen in over a decade,” Carson said. “Unemployment was up, most organizations were cutting positions, and even those that weren’t laying off were not hiring at entry level.
“But I’m a lot more optimistic about the class of 2004.”
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Edited by Lara Weber ([email protected]) and alBerto Trevino ([email protected])