Friday, January 30, 2009

Class of 2009 Salaries Are Flat

NACE’s Winter 2009 Salary Survey report shows that starting salary offers to the college Class of 2009 are flat, with average offers hovering at or near those for the Class of 2008. (See http://www.naceweb.org/salarysurvey/sscover0109.htm .)

The “norm” over the past several years has been for average salaries to new college graduates to increase each year. In fact, the average offer to a bachelor’s degree grad from the Class of 2008 was 4 percent higher than the average offer to the same type of grad from the Class of 2007. The average offer to the Class of 2009 grad, however, shows virtually no movement.

That “flatness” can be seen within specific disciplines, too. Even degrees deemed “in demand” by employers are seeing little in the way of salary increases. Consider the case of computer science grads: Last year at this time, as a group, grads earning degrees in the computer science disciplines saw their average increase 8 percent over the previous year. This year, these “in demand” grads are averaging slightly less than they did a year ago.

Some perspective: This is NACE’s first salary report for the Class of 2009, and the offers reported at this time represent just a small portion of what we can expect for this year’s grads.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Quick Poll Results: Student Activity Up, Employer Activity Down

The January 22 issue of Spotlight Online includes findings from a recent quick poll of NACE college members (http://www.naceweb.org/spotlight/2009/c012109.htm). The poll compared student and employer activity this year to last year at the same time. Among the findings:

Student traffic at career centers has increased significantly this year: Fifty-one percent of respondents reported an increase in traffic compared with 20 percent who are seeing a decrease. Virtually all types of students are expressing a concern over market conditions, but undergraduate business majors are particularly affected.

Employer activity decreased in the fall. To measure extent of change, NACE created an index that indicates:

  • Career fair activity decreased marginally

  • Employer information sessions were down noticeably

  • On-campus interviewing decreased significantly

  • Job postings were down significantly (near estimated 10 percent overall)

    Most career centers are addressing the market situation using multiple actions, including:

  • Outreach to employers to attract them to campus

  • Special job-search workshops

  • Special information presentations about the economy

  • Increased outreach to students to bring them to the career center

  • Outreach to alumni as a job source

  • Added services and staff

  • The same issue of Spotlight Online highlights some of the programs and services career services professionals are implementing to meet the current challenge. What’s happening on your campus? And what are you doing to help students?