Benefits April 15, 2005

Hiring Up For the First Time Since 2000 For College Grads

April 15, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - After five years of a sub-par post-college job market, college graduates will finally see a favorable hiring environment when they leave the confines of their Ivory Towers in a few weeks time.
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According to CollegeJournal.com, 2005 will bring with it the first growth in job opportunities for college graduates since 2000. More than half of the employers surveyed by the Collegiate EmploymentResearch Institute stated that the market was good for college labor, according to a press release from the company.

Putting their money where their mouths are, 47% of respondents to the poll reported that they will definitely hire newcollege graduates in 2005, which is an 11% increase from two years ago.

Sectors showing strength for post-college hiring are usually within the professional sector, according to the report. This year, sectors showing strong hiring trends include retail, wholesale,transportation (not including airlines), health services, lodging and entertainment, real estate, sales and marketing, information technology (for the first time since the dot-com bubble burst), and electronic manufacturing.

Chemicalengineers appear to have the best labor prospects among technicalgraduates, with hiring activity in petrochemical, plastic andpharmaceutical companies.

“The good news is that employers are more optimistic about the labormarket for college graduates,” says Valerie Patterson, senior producer,CollegeJournal.com, in the news release. “Hiring for college graduates this year is expectedto expand by approximately 20%, and we expect job growth for a widerange of majors and degree levels.”

CollegeJournal.com is The Wall Street Journal’s site forundergraduate, graduate, and MBA students to obtain job-search andcareer-guidance information.

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