Hiring projections have grown by 10.2 percent for college graduates, study finds

There is good news for seniors still looking for a last-minute job offer — a recent study found that hiring has begun to increase for college graduates as the economy slowly recovers.

Hiring projections increased by 10.2 percent from the previous year for recent college graduates, according to a report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

“People are getting more optimistic,” said Tim Stiles, associate director of University Career Services. “They are willing to take the chance on hiring.”

Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, said the increase in hiring of college graduates is directly linked to the economic climate.

The economy and the job market are cyclical — when the economy goes down, there are fewer jobs, Carnevale said. But now that the economy has begun to recover, employment has seen an uptick.

Although some students might have sought fewer job opportunities more aggressively during the recession, the recent increase in hiring cannot be fully attributed to new strategies formulated by students, Stiles said.

“I would love to think that the downturn motivated students, but that has not been our experience,” he said.

He said the situation was similar during previous economic downturns beginning in the early 1990s.

“Intuitively, I thought people were going to be motivated,” he said. “But it didn’t happen — the first recession, second and now third.”

Stiles added that some students work harder to obtain a job regardless of the economy.

“There’s still a group of students that have padded their resumes.”
Darya Gakh, a senior chemistry major, said she didn’t start her job search any earlier because of the economy.

“I was lazy about it until about a month ago, and then I got more aggressive about it,” she said.
“I would still be (using the same tactics) if the market was better.”

Carnevale said any change in strategy by students would not have much of an effect on overall employment.

“In the end, better strategies matter for individuals, but it does very little for aggregate numbers,” he said.

Despite the recent improvement in hiring, Carnevale said there is still a ways to go until college graduates return to full employment rates. College graduates act as a bellwether for larger employment trends and other classes of workers, he said.

“It probably won’t be until 2015 that we are back on track in the college labor market,” Carnevale said.
“We are seeing a gradual recovery … the last of the hiring is to the lower-skilled worker. Higher education leads recovery.”

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