The National Association of Colleges and Employers’ Job Outlook 2016 Spring Update indicates that employers expect to hire more new grads this year than they did last year. According to the report, companies plan to hire 5.2 percent more members of the Class of 2016 than they did members of the Class of 2015. Michigan State University’s Collegiate Employment Research Institute also recently released data that corroborates this expectation. They project that hiring will be up 15 percent across all degree levels from last year.
Year-over-Year Percentage Change in Average Number of Positions for New Bachelor’s Degree Recipients
Source: Michigan State University Collegiate Employment Research Institute
Starting Salaries
The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) conducted research that finds that the level of starting salaries varies by major. Engineering students can expect the highest starting salary, earning an average of $64,891 annually. In contrast, education majors are projected to earn an average of $34,891 annually.
Best Fields for 2016 Grads
According to separate studies by Glassdoor and UC San Diego Extension, there are plenty of jobs in certain industries such as technology, finance, and professional services. The top jobs for recent college graduates are:
Best Cities for Recent Grads
NerdWallet recently analyzed the 100 largest U.S. cities and ranked them according to the places that provide the best environment for college graduates just entering the job market. The best cities for college graduates are:
2016 MBA Grads
According to a new report by the MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance, the class of 2016 will be graduating in one of the best MBA job markets ever. The study shows that a majority of business schools report an increase in on-campus recruiting activity for full-time positions, compared with the same time period last year.
The strongest increases in recruiting were seen in technology and consulting, though specialized masters programs also saw an increase in the financial services industry. The increases in full-time recruiting activity were strongest among Fortune 500 companies and startups, with 58 percent of schools reporting increases from the former and 48 percent from the latter. The smallest increases in recruiting activity were from mid-to-smaller sized companies and family-owned firms.
