When senior Melody Hildebrandt began interning and building up her resume as a sophomore at Tufts, the job market was on a downswing, and recent graduates were flocking to graduate school or settling for jobs that were far from what they desired.
But now, with a well-tailored resume and a sudden surge in hiring, the international relations major and soon-to-be-graduate's hard work has paid off - and landed her a highly sought-after government position in Washington D.C.
"I started applying pretty early for jobs," Hildebrandt said. "I had interned this summer at Booz Allen Hamilton, a government consulting firm in D.C., for the U.S. House of Representatives and for the [Democratic National Committee]. I think those experiences were the major selling point of my resume."
"And I got my top choice, so I took it," she added.
According to an annual survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), many of the usual job market indicators point toward a strong employment outlook for new college graduates. Employers say they are planning to hire 13 percent more college graduates this academic year than the previous year, according to the survey.
"Most of the employers we surveyed said that with the improving economy, their businesses are growing so they have more positions to fill, which accounts for this increase in hiring," said Andrea Kahn, NACE's Employment Information Manager.
According to the Director of Career Services, Tufts seniors are doing very well in the job market this year. "We're hearing fairly steadily from seniors calling to share their good news," she said. "And many of these students are finding their jobs through the campus recruiting program or our off campus recruiting events in New York or Washington [DC]. Today we received a call from a senior, canceling a counseling appointment and thanking us for the support in her search which landed a position in New York City."
Business growth and the continuing economic growth are important factors in the improving market. "Increased sales, new contracts, lower interest rates, increased government spending and increases in the market for new construction feed the positive outlook," the survey reported.
In addition, employers said employee turnover, the aging (and retiring) work force, and mergers and acquisitions of companies are also positive factors in the job market.
Senior Matthew Michalovsky, who has already secured a job at the Deutsche Bank in New York City, found that the job market was extremely competitive, but was dominated by soon-to-be graduates.
"There was a lot of competition, and I didn't get one job I applied for because they decided to only hire people with MBAs, but it definitely seemed like the competition was mostly college seniors," Michalovsky said.
The legal field has been no different, according to senior Maureen Wiley, who was just hired as a litigation paralegal for the law firm Paul Weiss in New York. "For this specific position at the different firms, they are looking for recent college graduates-there was no competition from anyone with anymore experience."
Employers say they are going to hire more 2004-05 college graduates than they hired in 2003-04. Moreover, they're planning to offer their new employees significantly higher salaries than were offered to last year's graduating class. In fact, according to the survey, employers reported that one of their "greatest challenges in the coming year will be competition for hiring the best and the brightest" of new graduates.
"Most of my competition was recent undergrads, and some recent grad students, but all were very young - the market is very active," Hildebrandt said. "Most employers had a strict application deadline and procedures for recent graduates and a certain number of spots they intended to fill."
Michalovsky said he's found that work experience through internships or research is the most important advantage when applying for a job. "Schools like [the University of Pennsylvania's] Wharton School have a huge advantage over us because they offer a five-year business program," he said. "But employers were looking for any type of work experience and/or research experience."
"The firms were interested in hearing about what I had done in my other internships and why I thought they should hire me," Wiley said. "But not too many firms are eager to give out experiences in terms of internships to people without a college degree, so few people who go in for paralegal jobs are expected to have had that."
Wiley was thus able to enter into the legal field through a different outlet: "I signed up for a New York Recruiting Consortium through the Tufts career website, which all these law firms were going to attend," Wiley said. "I found it extremely helpful to have done the Consortium and have gotten on top of it so early, I think that really gave me an advantage in the job search because I was one of the first people to have a job."
More than three-quarters of employers polled describe the job market as "good" or "very good." Consulting services firms, engineering and surveying firms, and building materials and construction companies reported the most need for new graduates.
According to Kahn, "there have been large projected increases in college hiring in three different sectors, including service employers at 21.1 percent, manufacturers at a 12.9 percent increase, and the government and non-profit sector at 7.8 percent."
The news is especially good for students in popular career fields such as business, healthcare, engineering, and accounting. In such areas, there are even modest increases expected in average starting salaries.
While private companies are hiring younger and recently graduated employees, most public agencies are still looking for more experienced applicants, except in security-related agencies. While the CIA and the Justice Department are looking for candidates with language or criminology skills, the FBI projects adding 3,000 entry-level workers, and the National Security Agency plans to add as many as 1,000.
Hildebrandt found that when it came to government jobs, she received positive feedback. "I had a lot of responses to my resume, and my friends who have been actively searching have too," she said. "The people I know who are driven have had a decent amount of success."
Hildebrandt added, however, that such success seemed more dependent on job experience than extracurricular activities and leadership positions.
"No employer really seemed to care about my school activities or leadership positions particularly," Hildebrandt said. "Maybe they helped me get chosen for an interview, but in the actual interview no one really cared. What they did care about was my GPA, that I took a challenging course load and my internships."
Michalovsky, who had previously worked for MasterCard as well as the Deutsche Bank, feels that employers are also looking for qualities that can't be gleaned from a resume.
"During interviews I feel like they can tell right off the bat if you are smart enough for the job, but what they really want to know is if you would be a good, hard-working person that they would like to work with," he said.
According to Papalia, it is never too early-or too late-to start with the job search. "Through the campus recruiting program, employers interview students on campus or collect resumes for positions that will start after graduation," she said. "But given that we're only two months from graduation, it is reasonable for students to be using all job search resources now.
