It looks to be a good year for graduating seniors at Brown and around the country - employers nationwide are planning to hire 16 percent more new college graduates this year than they hired last year, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
The NACE survey, which compiled responses from 203 of its employer members, has been conducted for at least the last decade, said Andrea Koncz, employment information manager at NACE. Nearly 58 percent of responding employers said they plan to increase their college hiring, while only six percent expect to trim the number of college graduates they hire in entry-level positions, according to a Sept. 13 NACE press release.
"For the most part, it's telling us that there are a lot more positions open for college graduates because of retirements. The companies are growing, and they have more positions open to hire new college graduates," Koncz said.
This is the fifth consecutive year that employers have projected double-digit increases in college hiring. "There haven't really been many major changes within the last four or five years. We're continuing to see increases across the board," Koncz said. "It's really just more of the same good news."
That national trend bodes well for the class of 2008 at Brown. "We see every indication that there will be strong hiring of Brown graduates across industries in the year ahead," said Barbara Peoples, senior associate director of the Career Development Center. "We have a wonderful and very robust campus recruiting program. I think we're competitive with the other Ivies and other local colleges."
Recruiters from over 90 firms participated in last month's career fair, which Peoples said drew 1,150 students on the first day and 850 on the second. The recruiters included 100 alums, Peoples said, and other alums have conducted information sessions and interviews on campus over the last three weeks.
Koncz said the most demand for recent college graduates seems to be coming from employers in accounting, information science and engineering and technical fields.
The NACE fall survey did not collect data on trends within specific fields - that information will be included in the organization's final report in the spring, she said.
Kimberly DelGizzo, associate dean of the College and director of career development, said the job market is good for students in all concentrations.
"Generally speaking, (employers) are not looking for particular concentrations - they're really looking for intellectually curious people, people who are willing and interested in learning," DelGizzo said. "So they say they want to hire people with particular competencies, and then they can teach them whatever specifics they need to do that job successfully."
Pay is going up, too. The average starting salary for a member of the class of 2007 majoring in chemical engineering rose 5.2 percent over the previous year, to $59,218, according to NACE data posted on the Web site of the Computing Research Association. Computer science students made 4.5 percent more in 2007 than the previous year, with an average starting salary of $53,051.
English majors, on the other hand, saw only a 1.7 percent pay hike in 2007 from the previous year, to an average starting salary of $31,924.
"Computer science for the past several decades has been a major engine of economic growth," said Professor of Computer Science Roberto Tamassia, chair of the department. "After the dot-com bust at the beginning of this millennium, our enrollments initially dropped and then picked up again. Brown has been one of the leading institutions worldwide to have this pickup in enrollments. This was very encouraging also because we are trying to train the leaders of the profession."
The job market for Brown's CS grads is improved by the department's close ties to a number of major employers in the industry through alums and the Industrial Partners Program.
"These are companies that have a special relationship with the computer science department," Tamassia said. "We have a continuous pipeline of students going to work for these companies and then in turn coming to recruit our students at all levels."
Despite the optimistic statistics, seniors still expressed mixed feelings about the job-search process.
"I've been rejected a bunch of times," said political science concentrator Cyprian Kibuka '08, adding, "Career Services here is serviceable, but you have to do all the work yourself."
Daniela Alvarado '08, an urban studies concentrator, said she finds conversations with professors and the CDC's services helpful in her job search. "I know there is a big hierarchy in the design field, and it might be challenging for me to find a job where I would get to do exactly what I want, mostly because I don't have a professional degree," she said.
DelGizzo said the "vast majority" of seniors enter the labor force after graduation, though about a quarter go on to attend graduate school. Other post-matriculation options, she said, include travel, volunteer work and military service.
