The hiring of recent college graduates is expected to be on the upswing this spring.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers reported in an April study that for the first time since 2007 employers expect a double-digit increase in their spring hiring projections. The study found that employers plan to hire 19.3 percent more graduates in this fiscal year over last; the highest volume of job offerings are for positions requiring majors in engineering, business and accounting.
“This year, Fairfield saw an increase in enrollment in our professional programs, namely business, nursing and engineering,” said Karen Pellegrino, director of admissions at Fairfield University. “Nursing enrollment has been up for several years, but business and engineering have seen an increase this year after a downturn last year.”
Cathleen Borgman, director of career planning at Fairfield University, said that the turn in the early recession away from finance jobs was distinct.
“In 2007 and the first half of 2008 it was going great guns, in some respects you could almost write yourself a ticket to a job in these careers,” Borgman said. “Then it really fell off and is returning now. You see it in those business leaders that are really starting to come in and feel out the talent pools. It is those majors of finance and economics that are most closely linked and are driven to fluctuate directly with the economy.”
Borgman said there has also been a smaller but paralleling dip in accounting degrees. She said the loss of clients in the business-to-business field left some accounting firms needing to take time to restructure.
A recent national study by the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University found that hiring of new graduates with bachelor’s degrees would climb 10 percent this year, the first increase in two years. According to the U.S. Department of Education, it is estimated that 1.7 million students will receive bachelor”™s degrees this year.
Borgman said there are also signs of students seeking communications and marketing degrees, with advertising and marketing budgets returning.
“As a liberal arts university, we generally see the same top majors in arts and sciences, namely biology, English, psychology and communication,” Pellegrino said. “About half of our entering freshmen have not declared a major upon admission. Some students may have very specific ideas as to their career goals, but a number of students who start at a university like Fairfield will be undecided about their career goals, if not about their majors.”
Pellegrino said there is still strong value in a well-rounded liberal arts education.
“Many of our students come to realize that the career they might be preparing for does not exist when they enter college,” Pellegrino said.
