College grads face better job prospects

Modest good news for college students: An annual survey predicts employers will increase hiring of new four-year college graduates about 5 percent in the coming year. Demand for graduates with associate degrees is expected to increase more sharply – by about 30 percent compared with last year’s survey – while MBA hiring appears headed for an unexpected decline.

The 42nd annual survey out today from Michigan State University’s College Employment Research Institute collects responses on hiring plans from more than 2,000 U.S. employers. It paints a mixed picture reflecting an improving economy but also uncertainty over whether Congress and the White House will carry the country off the “fiscal cliff” in January, potentially sending the economy back into recession.

The hiring numbers are certainly better than for students who graduated at the depths of the recession, but overall indicate less-aggressive hiring than the last couple of years, which survey director Phil Gardner attributed to the political situation as well as weakness in sectors like defense. The survey was conducted before President Barack Obama won a second term.

“Everybody just stopped making decisions to see how this election was going to play out,” Gardner said. “A lot of people are sitting on the fence.”

For four-year college graduates, the report finds employers are looking most actively for business-related majors but that demand is strong for all majors – an indication many employers want critical-thinking skills that can be developed in many different courses of study. Demand for engineering, accounting and computer science majors appears somewhat softer than in previous years.

As for those with MBAs – master’s level business degrees – Gardner said it appears companies are more willing to fill jobs with bachelor’s-only recipients, who command less salary. That’s unfortunate for a glut of MBA students still coming up through the system.

“The top-school MBA grads aren’t going to have a problem,” he said. “It’s all these kids without a lot of professional experience that aren’t at the top-tier programs that will probably struggle to find work that is an ‘MBA job.’ ”

Alex Mitchell, a Michigan State journalism student scheduled to graduate in December, said he and his fellow students have long since reconciled themselves to a tough slog getting their first job. A string of internships and other pre-professional experiences in college is essential, and some students, he said, will have to settle for internships even after they graduate.

Personally, he’s realized journalism jobs will be hard to land and is looking for work in public relations. He’s optimistic, but with 15 applications out, he’s still looking for his first interview. He’d hoped to settle in Michigan or next-door Ohio to be near family but realizes he may have to broaden his horizons.