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Job Outlook for 2007 Grads
Chicago Sun Times, February 2007
By Sandra Guy
The Class of 2007 is benefiting from the first wave of Baby Boomers' retirements, hiring experts say. "There are more people exiting the workforce than entering, yet more jobs are being created," says Carl Kutsmode, a principal in the recruiting solutions practice of Capital H Group, a consulting firm based in Chicago.
One result is a projected 17.4 percent increase in the number of new college graduates that employers will hire this year compared with 2006, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers' (NACE) Job Outlook 2007 report. That would make this the best job market since 2000-2001, according to NACE. Overall, 52 percent of employers who responded to NACE's survey expect to hire more new college graduates than last year.
Graduating into a Leadership Position
A telling sign is that graduates are expected to be ready for leadership positions, including responsibilities for which they would never before have been considered. Indeed, a graduate's experience in leadership positions was just as important as a student's major in employers' hiring decisions, according to the report by the Bethlehem, Penn.-based NACE. The survey was conducted from mid-August through Oct. 4, 2006, and had a 23.6 percent response rate from 1,137 employers.
Higher Starting Salaries
Employers say they also expect to face more competition to hire new college graduates than last year. As a result, 2007 graduates can expect starting salary offers 4.6 percent higher than last year, the report found. Kutsmode, of Capital H Group, says many of the company's clients intend to beef up their hiring of college graduates for jobs they would have never considered filling with newbies in the past. "They've heard the buzz about the coming talent shortage with Baby Boomers retiring," he says.
Where the Jobs Are
Opportunities abound in the service industry, as well as in information technology, engineering, accounting, government, management consulting and at marketing positions at consumer products companies. Others looking to groom fresh graduates are online retailers, oil and gas companies, and banking and financial services, Kutsmode says. "More industries facing a limited pool of specialized talent are turning to schools for employees who they can train and mentor, and ‘grow their own,'" he says.
Skills in Demand
Of particular interest are new graduates' Web savvy, cultural diversity, bilingual skills and understanding of viral marketing and online advertising and media-buying, Kutsmode says. Shara Zimmerman, director of talent acquisition for Acquirent, an Evanston, Ill.-based outsourced sales company, says students are graduating with more "real world" experience than ever because they have completed three or four internships.
Zimmerman's company hires on behalf of its own clients and has itself grown to 40 employees from five in the past 18 months. Zimmerman looks for more than experience when she interviews new graduates, especially for small, entrepreneurial companies.
"I look for people who stand out," she says. "Most applicants have a good GPA and participate in activities. I could pick one out of a hat. If I want a truly exceptional employee, I have to look for uniqueness. Does the graduate-to-be answer a question with a genuine flair and not a rehearsed answer? Does he or she tell the truth, even when it does not reflect him in a positive light? Does she have experiences that make her different? Does she have a specific goal she wants to achieve? Did he study something atypical because he wanted a more rounded education? Did he engage me? Am I curious about where this person will be three years from now? I look for these people. They bring innovation."
Getting the Job
Giulia Calafiore, a 22-year-old 2006 graduate of Elmhurst College outside of Chicago, was hired by Kraft Foods' customer service division while she was an intern. "I was the guinea pig … it was the first time Kraft had done an internship program with Elmhurst College," says Calafiore, who works as a credit analyst. Calafiore advises seniors to take advantage of their schools' career services offices as well as their professors' networks and resources to find an internship or other opportunity that best fits their skills.
Joshua Ackerman, a 22-year-old senior at the University of Chicago who will graduate in June, says he overcame his lack of an internship by spending last summer preparing for interviews with companies that came to campus to recruit new hires. Ackerman recently was hired as a business analyst for a "top management consulting firm" whose name he declined to disclose. "These firms will hire liberal-arts graduates, as long as you show a base knowledge of economics and perform well in the interview," he says.
Ackerman, a native of Barkhamsted, Conn., went through 15 "practice" interviews with volunteers who agreed to help him in the university's career services office. "The interviews are a combination of skill and art," he says. "I worked to nail down the details, on my style and how I organized my answers." He advises his peers to pay special attention to how they explain their skills to potential employers. It's worth the extra time to clarify one's strengths and weaknesses in one's own mind, and then to work on a strong presentation, he says.
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