Most recruiting organizations are not putting a stricture on majors, Bates reports. They continue to seek candidates with flexible skills in communications, quantification processes, public speaking, teamwork, and research methods.

Depending on the industry, function, and locale, salary ranges being offered to Bates students are in the mid- to upper $50s; not-for-profits tend to be a bit lower.

Other hiring trends the college is seeing this year: Some signing bonuses and delayed starting dates for new hires. The delayed starting dates are a relatively new and popular option that allows successful candidates to postpone their starting date with their new employer to a later time, possibly in the early or late fall, a few months after graduation. IBM allows such, as do some other firms.

The starting day delay allows new hires to take off some time before they begin working, move to their new location, or transition from being a student to an employee. Finally, it shows that the employer understands, or at least values new hires' needs.

Bates rates this year’s job market a 9.

For a review of the class of 2006's success, and by inference this year's options for seniors see http://www.bates.edu/Prebuilt/AnnualReport.pub.pdf.

The university continues to attract the attention of a diverse pool of employers. The ‘Big 4’ accounting firms of Ernst & Young, KPMG, PWC, and Deloitte are regular employers. Major corporations such as Bloomberg, Morgan Stanley, FactSet Research Systems, Inc., JCPenney, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Teach For America, Target Corporation, Walt Disney World Company, and Northwestern Mutual also regularly recruit their students. New names they are seeing on campus this year include Steve & Barry's University Sportswear and the Hillstone Restaurant Group.

Binghamton says employers are expanding the scope of their recruitment efforts. For example, Goldman Sachs has widened their recruiting net by making additional efforts to reach computer science students. In addition, they have increased recruitment efforts in their finance area.

Student majors in most demand: Engineering and computer science recruitment is up. Microsoft and the Patent & TradeMark Office are two employers who are telling BU that they have significant need for graduates in technical fields.

Another ‘hot’ area for recruiters is in finance, and BU is seeing a number of employers seeking students with strong liberal arts background. The key for liberal arts students is to combine their degree with experience related to the finance field. Students who have had summer work opportunities in the banking industry, an internship with companies offering personal finance services, demonstrated interest in the field by keeping up with current business news, or who have participated in practice portfolio management have been able to position themselves well for serious consideration in the finance world, BU says.

Bottom-line, BU notes: Recruitment is up. Engineering, computer science, and finance are the hot fields and there is a definite increase in employer competition to recruit this year’s graduates. Binghamton rates this year’s job market an 8.

As for job offers, Roback says the big trend this year among companies is giving students who interned with them over the summer full-time positions—and doing so earlier in the recruiting cycle. Many firms, she explains, are asking to start recruiting on campus the first week of classes in the fall semester (nearly a year ahead of time) and even as early as sophomore year. The total number of employers recruiting has risen perhaps only slightly in the past couple years, but the diversity of the types of those organizations has grown enormously. In other words, her office is seeing a huge range of different companies seeking out young employees.

Economics is the student major most in demand this year at Colgate, says Roback. She adds, however, all types of undergraduates are finding jobs. Students majoring in political sciences, physics, and philosophy, to name three examples, have all received offers.

In recent years, Roback notes a growing engagement on the part of students in the entire job search process. Undergraduates, she explains, have a great sense of what they want to do and how they want to get there. And larger numbers are interested in the film, media, entertainment, and television fields, as well as the nonprofit sector. In addition, alumni seem to be more engaged in helping students become gainfully employed.

Roback notes that in her seven years experience in career services, this year’s market is the strongest she’s seen. Her experience at a recent career fair with a consortium of schools illustrates this; a record number of Colgate undergrads were interviewed that day. "It’s definitely a great time to be looking for a job as a graduate of a liberal arts institution. Students are becoming involved sooner, getting their materials together sooner, and getting offers sooner. I have no doubt that most of our undergraduates will have jobs or be enrolled in graduate school within a few months after commencement."

The major firms/organizations hiring this year at the University of Dayton are large companies in manufacturing, utilities, transportation and professional service sector.

Different than last year, the market is down in construction (except for civil engineers), retail, and real estate.

The number of recruiters coming to our campus is almost exactly the same as last year. However, UD experienced a 43% increase in companies attending their Fall Career Fair and a 65% increase in their Spring Career Fair.

The majors in most demand are MBA, Business (especially Sales and Marketing, Accounting), Engineering, and Computer Science.

Salaries differ by major, but students can expect a rise of 2%-3%.

Biggest trend: parental involvement is an emerging phenomenon in the job search and hiring process. They try to get interviews for their children, give a recommendation to an employer to hire their son or daughter, and get involved in salary negotiation.

Dayton rates this year’s job market a 5. They report that last year they had a double-digit increase, and notes that this year is "slowing down a bit."

Andrew Sears, chair and professor in the UMBC Information Systems department, spoke on his department’s efforts to educate high school counselors, teachers, students and parents that contrary to conventional wisdom, the information technology (IT) job market is back and booming. Sears was recently named to the IT Steering Committee of Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s Workforce Investment Board.

Scholl-Fiedler: College hiring is up by 17% at UMBC, mostly in those industries where demand is high and the source is low.

Sears: We continue to find that students who complete internships as undergraduates remain in high demand upon graduation. Our students intern at AT&T, Deloitte and Touche, IBM, T. Rowe Price, the Department of Defense, Lockheed Martin and others. We currently have more industry requests for talented student interns than we have students to fill those positions.

UMBC reports other major firms hiring UMBC grads or interns:

AFLAC, Ameritrade, Amulet Pharmaceuticals, Black and Decker, Clear Channel, Inc., Coca-Cola, Enterprises, Comcast, Constellation Energy, Erickson Retirement Communities, General Electric, IBM Global Financing, Infinity Radio, Legg Mason, Lockheed Martin, Maryland Department of Transportation, Morgan Stanley, Northrop Grumman, Office of Senator Joseph Lieberman, RWD Technologies, SAIC, T. Row Price, United States Department of the Treasury, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington Sports and Entertainment, and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

Scholl-Fiedler: Those majors most in demand are computer science, information systems, engineering (mechanical, electrical, some civil and chemical), accounting, economics/financial economics.

Sears: Unfortunately many high school students and their teachers and parents still have an outdated view of the IT job market. Much of the public seems stuck in a late 90’s mentality dominated by gloomy visions of the dot-com bubble burst, the resulting economic downturn. and the increase in outsourcing jobs overseas.

While many of today’s technology businesspeople and media know that these are outdated assumptions, college enrollments in information technology majors have declined across the U.S., partially due to this outdated picture of the IT job market.

In reality, overseas outsourcing is down dramatically (80% of companies surveyed in CIO Magazine’s 2006 State of the CIO did not expect to increase off-shore outsourcing) while starting salaries for college IT majors with real-world skills and internship experience are rising rapidly. Consumer demand for information security, wireless communications, gaming, digital media and other interactive technologies is fueling a rebounding job market for IT grads.

Other surprising stats supporting the IT job market rebound:

• According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in every 19 new jobs in the U.S. through the year 2014 will be in the IT field – a total of nearly 1 million new jobs.

• CNN Money reports that information sciences majors' starting salaries are up 7.5% to a national average of over $47,000.

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported record high IT employment in the U.S. this year.

Scholl-Fiedler: Salary range is dependent upon the job and industry, amount of experience the candidate has and the geographical location of the position. They are slightly higher than last year.

Sears: Forty percent of UMBC Information Systems grads surveyed had found a job in less than one month with an average starting salary of over $50,000 with full benefits. That is compared to a national average starting salary of about $47,000.

Scholl-Fiedler: We have seen some hiring bonuses coming through for our May graduates ---- mostly in the technical areas. Communication skills continue to rank as number one for employers seeking new applicants. They are also looking for candidates that show sincere interest and enthusiasm for the company and position for which they are applying.

Companies seeking those majors that are most in demand are facing increased competition with other organizations --- interview schedules are lighter because students have options.

Sears: One of our students interned for Deloitte as an undergrad and then had eight job offers by graduation. She ended up going with Deloitte for a significant signing bonus.

All liberals arts majors are in demand. Smith finds that the major is not the most significant factor on the employer's mind. Rather, they seek to find evidence of qualities and characteristics they believe makes an employee successful. Examples include strong critical thinking and analytical skills, strengths in teamwork, solid communication skills, and leadership.

Smith rates this year’s job market a 7 in terms of volume of opportunity. However, they qualify, "Any job seeker can find employment in any market if they are savvy, resourceful, and proactive searchers who know what they are looking for. Simply posting a resume on a job board and waiting for the calls to come in isn't going to be effective."

The number of recruiters visiting the College of Liberal Arts has increased year by year. When comparing the recruiting data between academic years 2005-06 and 2004-05, the college found the following increases:

• Thirty-nine percent increase in companies/organizations registered with LiberalArts@Work.*
• Thirty-eight percent increase in full-time jobs posted in LiberalArts@Work.
• Sixteen percent increase in the number of on-campus interviews held in Liberal Arts Career Services.
• Thirteen percent increase in the number of internships posted in LiberalArts@Work.

*LiberalArts@Work is the College of Liberal Arts online system used to manage all recruiting and career advising data. The system is managed by Liberal Arts Career Services.

When considering resumes and student profiles reviewed by employers, majors that were most frequently reviewed:

Economics majors, 40%.
Government majors, 15%.
Plan II Honors majors, 12%.
Psychology majors, 12%.

Salary ranges: Students in the College of Liberal Arts have a wide array of career interests across industries, greatly affecting the salary range. An example of our salary range is $24,000 for work in the nonprofit sector to $60,000 in the investment banking sector.

Many of the finance-related recruiters continue to offer large sign-on bonuses to College of Liberal Arts students. The college also has noticed an increase in sign-on bonuses from organizations such as the CIA. The CIA offers sign-on bonuses, language bonuses and educational benefits. Educational benefits seem to be increasing across industries.

The college notes that companies are more familiar with the strengths of the liberal arts degree and are in turn more interested in recruiting liberal arts students for traditional "business" positions. Government agencies have increased recruiting in many areas due to demand for human capital and the need for critical language speakers. Entry-level hiring is forecast to increase by 6% (CollegeGrad.com).

UT-Austin College of Liberal Arts rates this year’s job market an 8.

They note that the number of unique companies participating in On-Grounds Interviewing increased by 10% in Fall 2006 over Fall 2005 (no figures for Spring 2007 until after May 15th). Overall, career fair numbers were up moderately.

Student majors are in most demand: Finance, Economics, Systems Engineering, Marketing, Accounting, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.

Overall recruiting trends: Recruiters again are offering signing bonuses to students. Last year's signing bonuses ranged from $1,000 to $10,000 depending on industry. Investment banking was at the upper end of bonuses, manufacturing in the middle, advertising/marketing/public relations at lower end.

U.Va. rates this year’s job market a 7.5, noting that it is good except for some in the manufacturing sector.

The university continues On-Grounds Interviewing until the last day of classes, although the numbers decrease sharply after Spring Break this month.

While the number of firms has not necessarily increased, some of the firms are looking for more employees than in the past. And many of the investment banks are shifting their recruiting to third-year students, bringing them in as summer interns and then making an offer before the student returns to school. "It’s a great way for the student to prove himself or herself," says Tom Fitch, assistant dean for career services. He notes that this practice takes some of the pressure off the full-time hiring the spring of the fourth-years.

Major in most demand from McIntire: The school notes that there is a consistency in recruiting finance majors.

Starting salary rates are generally driven by the banks, which are paying in the low $50,000s into the $60,000s.

The school notes that consulting firms are making a strong comeback in hiring. Fitch says that when the dotcom bubble burst, "many employers were not in a position to hire consultants so they were losing contracts," noting that as business has picked up there is a growth in consulting. "This is just a sign that business is spending more money."

McIntire rates this year’s job market a "strong 9."

C.J. Livesay, director of career development, says there are also new small firms such as civil engineering construction firms, as well as municipal and non-profit firms that are hiring, "Graduates have a plateful of options."

He notes there was a drop in recruiting after the dotcom bubble burst and the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, but he says there has been a steady increase since 2004.

The hot majors these days are computer engineers and people specializing the systems information and engineering, which look at risk probability and systems integration in fields such as manufacturing, marketing, and financial services.

"Computer science majors are popular, especially if they came from an engineering school," Livesay says.

The starting salary range for graduates is averaging around $58,000, though Livesay knows one student who commanded an offer of $80,000. He says that there are some signing bonuses, though it is not wide spread yet. He notes some of the small companies may have only one or two slots they are trying to fill so they will take steps to lure the specific student they want.

Some students view the job market as being so strong they delay getting into the process.

Another trend is companies are recruiting earlier in the college career, with some companies hiring third-year students after they have interned. Livesay says this gives the company an interest in the student and can apply for security clearance on the student’s behalf. Security clearances can take from six to 18 months to complete, he notes.

"We have one government agency that wants first-year students," Livesay says. Once the student has received a security clearance, they can work at the agency in the summers.

The engineering school recently hosted a job fair that featured 80 companies over three days and there was a waiting list for students to interview.

U.Va. School of Engineering and Applied Sciences rates this year’s job market a 9.9. "It’s been good for the last three years and it gets better and better," Livesay says.

Everette Fortner, director of career service at Darden, says there is also steady interest from investment banks such as Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan, Wachovia Morgan Stanley , Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank. Graduates are also enticed by Fortune 500 companies such as Dell, General Mills, General Electric, Johnson and Johnson, Target and United Technologies.

"This year has been up significantly to have student with offers, " Fortner says. "We are placing well ahead of previous years." He notes this is an indication of a stronger economy. There has been an increase in information sessions, up 30%, as have the number of scheduled interviews.

About 25% of Darden graduates are going into management and consulting, 40% into finance, and 35% in marketing and general management.

Salary offers are around $100,000 this year, Fortner says, up from around $95,000 last year. He adds there have been some signing bonuses, but he says consulting firms have been "creative" in ways of enticing students, such as tuition reimbursements.

Fortner is also noticing an increased interest in non-profits, energy, and sustainable ventures as the generation known as Millennials, the oldest of whom is now 28, the average age of a Darden student, come through the system.

Fortner rates this year’s job market a 7, using three years ago as the zero point. "This is a better market for MBAs than it has been in previous years. These students were astute when they entered graduate school."

W. Stephen Hopson IV, senior assistant dean for career services for the law school, says there are about 500 firms interviewing for a little over 300 students, making it a seller’s market.

"The market is very, very good right now," Hopson says. "And the firms that have been coming here forever are still coming."

For major law firms in New York, which is the gold standard, the salary offer is about $160,000 this year, with other cities such as Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., offering around $145,000. Hopson says in 2000-2001 the starting salaries were around $125,000.

The demand shows that the legal business is strong. Students begin interviewing the late summer and early fall of their second year, with a December deadline for the students to accept summer intern offers. Hopson says some students will divide their summers, working for one firm then moving to another. If the student does a good job during the summer, the firm will make an offer at the end of the summer, so the student will return his or her third year with a job offer in hand.

Hopson says about 7% of the graduating class will go into some form of public or public interest law, which he notes is on par with other law schools.

Rapp says U.Va. nurses are recruited by hospitals across the country and the school holds a career fair in December with about 66 institutions from around the country, including the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Hospital.

A lot of employers are offering incentives, such as bonuses, or loan paybacks or offering to fund future education. Many states have incentives for nurses who work in underserved areas.

Rapp rates the current job market as a 10.

Cathey says there are firms with several departments that are looking for specialties. She notes there is a trend now for architects with experience in sustainability and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design [LEED] certification. She says some firms are offering to pay for an architect to take the LEED certification exams.

She says there are some bonuses being offered but it is not widespread. She notes salaries differ geographically but the range for undergraduates with little experience is about $38,000 to $45,000 and graduates with masters degrees and some experience are getting between $45,000 to $50,000.

Cathey rates this year’s job market as close to 10. "Everyone who is looking for a job will find one," she says.

. . . . . .

Compared to last year, UW had fewer tech firms and few schedules. It is projected that college hiring will be up by 20% over last year.

This academic year (2006-2007), UW had 196 companies recruiting, up by 14% over last year with another quarter to go.

Student majors in most demand are: Computer Science, Accounting, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Information Sciences & Systems.

Projected salary increase for the year is 6%.

The typical fields that can expect a signing bonus are: MBA, Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Computer Science.

UW rates this year’s job market a 7.

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