Data Watch

Entry-Level Hiring Projected to Increase in 2008

Internships a Wise Move; Signing Bonuses a Growing Possibility

More than 62% of new college hires have internship experience, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), and employers offer full-time jobs to nearly two out of three interns. Just over 70% of these offers are accepted, and 31% of these hiring companies say their new college hires are a direct result of the firm's internship program.

Employers taking part in NACE's survey cite competition as their biggest challenge in hiring 2008 graduates, and expect especially fierce competition for graduates in the engineering, computer science, and accounting fields, where supply doesn’t meet demand. For this and other reasons, nearly 54% of employers say they expect to offer signing bonuses to potential entry-level hires in 2008, the NACE study of 276 employers finds, an increase over the 47% that said so in 2007. Furthermore, the increase may in fact be a trend; in 2006, 44% indicated that they would do this. Also increasing is the size of the average signing bonus to entry-level hires: $4,450 in 2008, up 25% from last year’s average of $3,568.

On the whole, employers foresee increasing their entry-level hiring by 11.8% this year, the Top 500 Entry Level Employers for 2008 by CollegeGrad.com indicates. Among NACE-surveyed firms, the increase is even higher, at 16%. The increase is the largest projected in entry-level hiring since 2005, says CollegeGrad.com. Following are highlights from CollegeGrad.com's rankings, which represent more than 165,000 jobs:

• 60% of the firms on CollegeGrad.com's list anticipate hiring more college grads in 2008 over last year
• 21% will hire the same number and 19% will be hiring fewer college grads than in 2007.
• Companies of all sizes and in all industries throughout the list project significant growth.

Communication skills, strong work ethic, and teamwork skills are the three most important qualities or skills for entry-level candidates to have, according to those who participated in NACE's survey.