Tuesday, April 29, 1997

Job prospects for Class of '97 brightest in years

By HILLARY CHURA

Associated Press

CHICAGO - Oh, to be young, newly graduated and looking for a job.

With corporate profits on the rise and unemployment at its lowest point since the late 1980s, college graduates are enjoying the brightest hiring outlook in years.

They're being wooed with $30,000-plus salaries, signing bonuses and early job offers as the economic expansion continues.

"I wish I was graduating this year," said Grace Murphy, recruitment officer at First Chicago NBD Corp., who graduated in 1988, another boom year.

The hiring picture hasn't been this good since 1990, according to an annual study by Michigan State University's placement office. All regions of the country reported good to excellent job gains, with the upper Midwest leading the way, followed by the Southeast, the Northeast, the Southwest, the South Central region and the Northwest.

About 6 percent more jobs are available now than last year, which also was a good year for new graduates, according to the survey of 508 companies across the country.

A study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers showed even better prospects. It said employers plan to hire 17 percent more new college grads this year, and that the South is the leader, followed by the Northeast and Midwest. Only the West likely will see a slight drop in hiring.

As in recent years, graduates in fields such as engineering or computers are the most sought-after. Business degrees are a hot ticket, but students graduating with biology, chemistry, sociology, psychology or other liberal arts degrees may have a slightly tougher time.

"Everyone is going after graduates with computer backgrounds, and they have their pick of where they want to start their careers," Murphy said.

Universities reported a 27 percent increase in the number of companies recruiting on campus and a 30 percent increase in the number of interviews granted, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

At Stanford University and the University of California-Los Angeles, there isn't enough time or room to accommodate companies that want to see the students, career placement officers said.

"Every year, we seem to turn away 200 to 300 companies. It's been going on since the mid-90s," Stanford's Bob Thirsk said.

More firms are recruiting earlier and offering jobs sooner as they vie with others for the top prospects, Murphy said. As an added incentive, signing bonuses also are increasing, with undergraduates and graduate students receiving as much as $5,000 at firms such as Chicago-based Andersen Consulting.

"When you are a hot commodity, the competition is going to bid up ... salaries," said David Reed, director of recruiting for Andersen.

DePaul University finance major Isaac Burrows, 30, is graduating this spring and got a job offer last November from Arthur Andersen.

In his previous jobs - selling postal meters and managing a restaurant - networking was the key, he said, but not anymore. "In '93, you needed to know somebody" to get a job, he said.

The increased demand also is boosting starting salaries slightly above last year's inflation rate of 3.3 percent. Top starting salaries include $42,758 for chemical engineering, $39,852 for mechanical engineering and $39,811 for electrical engineering, according to the Michigan State survey.

And that's not the best of it. Marjorie Schwartz, a 21-year-old economics major at the University of Chicago, said most of her classmates have had at least one job offer and some will pull in $50,000 to $80,000 a year.

"I have friends who are going to be making more money than their parents - or as much. And we're just out of college. We don't even have a professional degree," she said.

"I never felt like I was really that prepared to walk in and make that kind of salary," said Schwartz, who has been offered a position but is awaiting offers from other banking, accounting and consulting firms.

Graduates in other fields might be more inclined to take temporary jobs, according to John Challenger, executive vice president of the Chicago-based outplacement firm, Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

But Reed, from Andersen, said excellent, well-rounded students shouldn't have to take temporary jobs unless they want to do so.

"What we're seeing is that the job market is as hot as it's been in probably a decade, and I don't expect an above-average to outstanding student to be forced to take a temporary job," he said.