CHICAGO, April 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --This year's crop of
college graduates will find welcoming conditions as they enter the
entry-level job market. According to a new survey from
CareerBuilder, 67 percent of employers say they plan to hire recent
college graduates this year, up from 65 percent last year and the
highest outlook since 2007. More than a third (37 percent) plan to
offer recent college graduates higher pay than last year, and 27
percent of employers hiring recent college graduates this year will
pay a starting salary of $50,000 or
more.
The national survey was conducted online by Harris Poll on
behalf of CareerBuilder between February 10
and March 17, 2016, and included a representative sample of
2,186 hiring managers and human resource professionals in the
private sector across industries and company sizes.
"In addition to an improving economy, we are beginning to see a
rising number of retirements, which is creating more room for
advancement and creating opportunities for entry-level candidates,"
said Rosemary Haefner, chief human
resources officer for CareerBuilder. "But just because there are
vacancies doesn't mean college students are always ready to fill
them."
While prospects appear better, some employers are concerned that
new college grads may not be ready for the real world. Twenty-four
percent do not feel academic institutions are adequately preparing
students for roles needed within their organizations, an increase
from 21 percent last year. When asked where academic institutions
fall short, these employers cited the following concerns:
- Too much emphasis on book learning instead of real-world
learning: 47 percent
- I need workers with a blend of technical skills and those
skills gained from liberal arts: 39 percent
- Entry-level roles within my organization are more complex
today: 25 percent
- Not enough focus on internships: 13 percent
- Technology is changing too quickly for an academic environment
to keep up: 13 percent
- Not enough students are graduating with the degrees my company
needs: 11 percent
When asked to name which skills they think recent college
graduates lack for the workplace, most of these employers cited
interpersonal or people (52 percent) or problem-solving skills (48
percent). Other skills these employers stated include:
- Leadership: 42 percent
- Teamwork: 39 percent
- Written communication: 37 percent
- Oral communication: 37 percent
- Creative thinking: 35 percent
- Project management: 27 percent
- Research and analysis: 17 percent
- Math: 15 percent
- Computer and technical: 14 percent
College Majors That Will Get You a Job
Demand for students with business and technical majors continues
to be high among employers with employers stating the following
majors are the most in-demand at their firms:
- Business – 35 percent
- Computer and Information Sciences – 23 percent
- Engineering – 18 percent
- Math and Statistics – 15 percent
- Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences – 14
percent
- Communications Technologies – 11 percent
- Engineering Technologies – 11 percent
- Communication and Journalism – 8 percent
- Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities – 7
percent
- Science Technologies – 7 percent
- Social Sciences – 6 percent
- Biological and Biomedical Sciences – 6 percent
- Architecture and Planning – 6 percent
- Education – 5 percent
Information technology (27 percent) and customer service jobs
(26 percent) top the list of position types for which employers
hiring recent college grads are recruiting. Opportunities also
abound in finance/accounting (19 percent), business development (19
percent) and sales (17 percent).
What the Average Grad Makes Right Out of College
When it comes to pay, more than a third of employers who plan to
hire recent college graduates this year (37 percent) will offer
higher starting salaries than they did last year. Fifty-three
percent expect no change in salary offers, and 11 percent expect a
decrease in starting salaries.
More than half of these employers (52 percent) say they will
make offers to students before they graduate. Expected starting
salaries for recent graduates break down as follows:
- Under $30,000: 25 percent
- $30,000 to less than $40,000: 28 percent
- $40,000 to less than $50,000: 20 percent
- $50,000 and higher: 27
percent
These numbers are subject to change: The majority of employers
(67 percent) say they are willing to negotiate salary offers when
extending a job offer to a recent college graduate.
The New Graduate's Guide to Job Searching
If you want to land a full-time gig so you won't have to move
back in with mom and dad, try following these tips for a successful
first-time job search:
Check out your school's career services office: Career
Services offices typically are little used by students, except as a
place to meet recruiters for interviews. But they have much more to
offer, including research materials, advice on job training and
connections to local companies.
Join a company's talent network: Talent networks keep you
automatically informed of new positions opening up that may be a
fit for your skills and interests.
Make social a priority: Follow companies you like on
social media and engage with them. Consider starting a blog that is
related to your career interests.
While on social channels, make sure you clean up your own
digital dirt. Nothing is truly private on the Web, and it would be
a shame to miss out on a job opportunity because of some
embarrassing photos from years ago. Also make sure your profile is
relevant. Think through the eyes of a recruiter and keep your
employment history and education updated.
Join professional associations: Look for local chapters
of professional associations dedicated to the occupations and areas
in which you majored or completed studies. Not only are
professional associations a great networking opportunity, they may
also have an exclusive job posting board or a directory of member
companies you can access. Most associations also offer student
discounts or discounts for the unemployed.
Stay connected with alumni: Find your alma mater's local
alumni association and join it. Use your alumni network to gain
information or access to hiring managers in departments of your
target companies to give you the widest reach.
Keep your eye on job boards: Job boards have
opportunities for all experience levels, including recent grads,
and if you're serious about landing a good job, you need to
dedicate time to the search. Make a list of the locations and
companies where you'd like to work. Then expand your search to
include other related job titles in those companies and
locations.
CareerBuilder recently created two features – Application View
Notification and Resume View Notification – to give job seekers
registered on CareerBuilder.com more transparency into the job
search process.
With Application View Notification, you can check application
views by logging on to their account and viewing their Competition
Report. You will also receive an email whenever an employer views
your application, so you know in real-time when companies are
taking notice of your materials.
With Resume View Notification, when you navigate to your
homepage you can see the number of times your resumes has been
viewed, the frequency in which your resumes has come up in company
searches, and the amount of jobs you've applied to and saved.
Attend job-hunting events: Even if you do not see any
specific employers that excite you in an upcoming career fair on
campus, attend it anyway — to practice your elevator speech and
gain confidence in speaking with recruiters. A career fair may also
lend itself to developing additional networking contacts.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online
within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among
2,186 hiring and human resource managers ages 18 and over (employed
full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between February 10 and March 17, 2016
(percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on
their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability
sample of 2,186, one could say with a 95 percent probability that
the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 2.10 percentage
points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and
varies.
About CareerBuilder®
As the global leader in human
capital solutions, CareerBuilder specializes in cutting-edge HR
software as a service to help companies with every step of the
recruitment process from acquire to hire. CareerBuilder works with
top employers across industries, providing job distribution,
sourcing, workflow, CRM, data and analytics in one pre-hire
platform. It also operates leading job sites around the world.
Owned by TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA), Tribune Media (NYSE:TRCO) and The
McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries
operate in the United States,
Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit
www.careerbuilder.com.
Media Contact
Ladan
Nikravan
312.698.0538 x70538
ladan.nikravan@careerbuilder.com
http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR
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SOURCE CareerBuilder