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New Grads Get Fewer Offers, Lower Pay
The study, by private recruiting software maker WetFeet, found both grads and undergrads are getting fewer job offers than their counterparts in the last three years and are anticipating skimpier paychecks when they take a position, Reuters said. Still, with starting salaries still above $35,000 for undergraduates, getting a job seems the bigger challenge.
In 2001-2002, undergraduates reported receiving an average of 0.8 offers, down from 1.2 offers in the 2000-2001 season, according to the survey.
MBAs received an average of 1.2 offers, down from 2.2 offers last year, said the software maker.
Salary expectations also fell as US companies cut jobs to get costs in line with falling revenues.
To that end, undergraduate respondents say they expect
an average starting base salary of $35,620, down from
$39,060 last year. MBAs, who can spend around $100,000 for
their degrees, expected average starting salaries of
$81,990, down from $88,590 last year.
WetFeet surveyed nearly 2,000 recent graduates from 21 of
the top 25 MBA programs and more than 30 of the top 50
undergraduate institutions during April.