Employers To Hire 20 Percent More Graduates this year

It's May and college kids are hitting the pavement. Here's what they have to look forward to.

Rising salary offers to new graduates and a 20 percent increase in hiring projections for 2006-7 should give the class of 2007 something to celebrate beyond commencement.

According to a recent poll of colleges and universities conducted by National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers have revised their earlier hiring projections up from 17.4 percent to 19.2 percent, meaning that employers plan to hire nearly 20 percent more new college graduates in 2006-7 than they did in 2005-6.

In addition, starting salary offers to new college graduates continue to rise. The spring 2007 issue of NACE’s Salary Survey shows that, at the bachelor’s degree level, nearly all of the majors that reported a change in their average starting salary offer reported increases.

Several factors indicate a booming job market. Business growth and expansion, as well as increased emphasis on college hiring all contribute to the rosy job outlook.

According to NACE’s survey, starting salary offers to graduates increased across the board, with the highest percent increase in marketing which rose 10.3 percent to $41,285.

The smallest increase went to liberal arts graduates whose average offer as a group rose 1.2 percent to $31,333.

NACE’s survey reports that the top paying jobs by average starting salaries in 2007 are:

-Chemical engineering ($60, 054)
-Computer engineering ($55,936)
-Industrial/manufacturing engineering ($54,769)
-Electrical/electronics and communications
-engineering ($54,599)
-Mechanical engineering ($54,587)
-Computer science ($51, 070)
-Finance ($47,905)
-Civil engineering ($47,145)
-Management information systems/business data processing ($46,568)
-Accounting ($46,508)