BizAnalyst Network: THE JOBS COME LOOKING FOR GRADS IN 2006

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

THE JOBS COME LOOKING FOR GRADS IN 2006

THE JOBS COME LOOKING FOR GRADS
The class of 2006 is seeing the best employment market since the
dot-com bust. The highest demand, not surprisingly, is for
business students. University of Wisconsin Business School senior
Joe Jennings is kicking back, enjoying his last few months of
college life. And why shouldn't he? Jennings received four job
offers by the end of the fall semester and accepted a position at
PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Chicago in late November.

Jennings says he was surprised by how easy it was to land a job.
"It was awesome," he says. "I got offers from companies I'd never
even heard of -- extremely painless." The 23-year-old, who will
earn a starting salary of $53,500 with a $2,000 bonus, is not
alone. This year's job market for undergraduates is the strongest
since 2000. These job-market improvements are the most dramati
c -- and in some cases extreme -- in years.

"There were a few employers that reported some pretty large
increases, and I even called a few to see if there were
mistakes," says Andrea Koncz, employment information manager for
the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), a
group of recruiters and university career services officials that
researches workforce trends. Recruiters, some of whom had been
missing on campus in recent years, have returned -- and they're
seriously competing for top talent.