With the school year drawing to a close, newly minted graduates are facing one of the best job markets in years.
Companies are scrambling to get the best and brightest. Employers are dangling perks such as signing bonuses and flat-screen TVs to woo new graduates.
Employers plan to hire nearly 20 percent more new college graduates during the current academic year than they did the year before, according to a spring 2007 job outlook from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). Overall, nearly 60 percent said they plan to hire more grads this year than they did during the 2005-06 school year.
Graduates in especially hot demand: business majors, engineers and those in computer-related fields.
Starting pay is also on the rise. A NACE salary survey found nearly all majors - 26 out of 29 - would see a boost in salaries. Marketing graduates should see the biggest rise, with their average offer rising 10.3 percent to $41,285. The only declines were reported in nursing, some agricultural sciences and political science
"It's now a student market as opposed to an employer market," says Brad Karsh, author of "Confessions of a Recruiting Director: The Insider's Guide to Landing your First Job." "I'm seeing more signing bonuses, more wining and dining, earlier hiring. Students are doing more negotiating." Read More
