The job market for this year's college graduates is inspiring stiff competition, as employers slow their hiring pace amidst economic uncertainty. Fifty-eight percent of employers plan to hire recent college graduates in 2008, down from 79 percent in 2007. Of those hiring, however, 24 percent expect to hire more recent college graduates in 2008 compared to 2007 and 39 percent plan to increase starting salaries. The new survey, "College Job Forecast 2008," was conducted from February 11 through March 13, 2008 among 3,147 hiring managers and human resource professionals.

"Employers are proceeding with caution as they wait to see how the nation's economic situation unfolds," said Brent Rasmussen, COO of CareerBuilder.com. "At the same time, the demand for educated labor persists, fueling job opportunities and increased starting salaries for recent college graduates in key areas such as healthcare, engineering, sales and information technology."

Thirty-two percent of employers expect to offer recent college graduates starting salaries ranging between $30,000 and $40,000. An additional 15 percent will offer between $40,000 and $50,000 and 11 percent will offer more than $50,000. Forty-two percent will offer less than $30,000.

When asked to identify the biggest mistakes recent college graduates make during the application and interview process, employers cited the following:

  -- Acting bored or cocky (69 percent)
  -- Not dressing appropriately (65 percent)
  -- Coming to the interview with no knowledge of the company (59 percent)
  -- Not turning off cell phones or electronic devices (57 percent)
  -- Not asking good questions during the interview (50 percent)
  -- Asking what the pay is before the company considered them for the job
     (39 percent)
  -- Spamming employers with the same resume and/or cover letter (23
     percent)
  -- Failure to remove unprofessional photos/content from social networking
     pages, Web pages, blogs, etc (20 percent)

While the majority of employers (62 percent) do not have a minimum GPA requirement for recruiting recent college graduates, three-in-ten (31 percent) require a 3.0 and above and one-in-ten (11 percent) require a 3.5 and above.

Rasmussen recommends the following tips to help recent college graduates make the most of their job search efforts:

  -- Customize your communications.  Employers can spot spam a mile away.
     Research the company's products, press releases, financial growth,
     company culture, etc and tailor your communications to their specific
     needs.
  -- Get involved.  Internships and part-time jobs aren't the only ways to
     build your resume.  Eighty-one percent of employers say volunteer work
     qualifies as relevant experience.  Twenty-eight percent of employers
     consider managing activities for sororities or fraternities as relevant
     experience while 19 percent say involvement in sports activities also
     qualifies.
  -- Leverage the Internet.  You can apply to a wide range of job
     opportunities at CBCampus.com, a job site tailor-made for college
     students and alumni.  CBresume.com offers a free resume critique and
     can put you in touch with a professional resume writer to make your
     application more marketable.
  -- Clean up digital dirt.  Scrub social networking pages, blogs, Web
     sites, etc to ensure you convey a professional image to employers who
     may be using these sites for candidate research.  In addition, make
     sure to change your voicemail message if needed and use a professional
     email address.  Employers are less likely to hire someone at
     partyanimal @gmail.com.
  -- Be respectful of the employer's time.  Show up on time, dress
     conservatively, turn off your cell phone and let them know that you're
     really interested in the job.


  Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 3,147 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time; not self-employed; with at least significant involvement in hiring decisions) ages 18 and over between February 11, and March 13, 2008, respectively (percentages for some questions are based on a subset U.S. Employers, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 3,147, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.75 percentage points and, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies. A full methodology is available upon request.

About CareerBuilder.com

CareerBuilder.com is the nation's largest online job site with more than 23 million unique visitors and over 1.6 million jobs. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. , Tribune Company, The McClatchy Company and Microsoft Corp. , the company offers a vast online and print network to help job seekers connect with employers. CareerBuilder.com powers the career centers for more than 1,600 partners, including 140 newspapers and leading portals such as America Online and MSN. More than 300,000 employers take advantage of CareerBuilder.com's easy job postings, 26 million-plus resumes, Diversity Channel and more. CareerBuilder.com and its subsidiaries operate in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.careerbuilder.com/.

   Media Contact
   Jennifer Grasz
   773-527-1164
   Jennifer.Grasz@careerbuilder.com

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SOURCE: CareerBuilder.com