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College of Business
Copeland Hall
Athens, Ohio 45701
740.593.2000
800.833.0484
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Management Information Systems Department - News and Articles - The 1998 Job Market - The Post, 1998
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1998 Job MarketGraduates flooded with job openings
College of Business is now a hotbed for campus recruiters.
BY DARIN PAINTER - THE POST
Four years ago, when most of OU's current senior class began college, the job market for graduates was a little like the Hocking River: shallow and not much fun to watch.
But, as a recent survey indicates the current job market can be described by a term not relating to that stagnant river, but to a different Athens landmark - an Oasis.
Employers anticipate an increase of 27.5 percent in job prospects for this year's graduates, according to a survey conducted by Michigan State University's Collegiate Employment Research Institute. The anticipated increase is considerably greater than any record-ed in recent job market history.
Patrick Scheetz, director of the institute, said 96.7 percent of the survey's 477 responding recruiters described today's market as good to excellent. Scheetz, in his analysis of the survey, said the job outlook is especially friendly to students majoring in computer and information sciences, engineering and business management.
The right school
Administrators and students in OU's College of Business met the survey results with little surprise. OU is a hotbed for recruiters looking for students with information technology experience.
Randy Buck, resource manager at Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, said the College of Business curriculum gives OU students an upper hand because it develops skills that match his company's needs.
Buck said Nationwide is looking to hire about 60 or 70 college information technology professionals. "And to tell you the truth," he said, "I would love to have 20 or 25 of them be students from OU. We like to have well-rounded individuals with busi-ness savvy and people skills, and the program there consistently provides us with those kinds of people."
Large corporations increasingly attract students through internships, part-time jobs and classroom presentations, but companies with big bucks aren't the only businesses targeting OU as prime recruiting ground.
Steve Hyle, former assistant dean in the College of Business and current director for corporate university relations at REALOGIC Inc., an information systems consulting firm in Cleveland, plans to hire seven or eight OU students in the next few months. "And we're offering students 8 to 10 percent more, on average, than we have in the past," he said.
According to the survey, starting salaries offered to new college gradu-ates this year are expected to be 3 percent to 5 percent higher than last year because of steady growth in the economy, low inflation rates and a low unemployment rate.
The right time
High demand and minimal supply of students with computer skills made it necessary for employers interested in new graduates to target their best prospects much earlier in the school year than they have in the past.
Traditionally, recruiters waited until mid-winter or early spring to offer jobs. Mark Simons, vice president of consulting for CONVISTA, a technology consulting firm in Silver Spring, Md., said that is no longer the way it works. "Companies are going after a product," he said. "And if two people are going after the same product, you
have to find ways of getting it. You have to find the people who are right for you, and you need to log them in early."
Dave Barry, an OU senior majoring in management information systems, recognized the truth of this statement when he coordinated a con-ference in early October, two and a half weeks before the annual scheduled Career Fair. The conference, which was run through the Athens chapter of the Association of Industrial Technology Professionals, of which Barry is president, drew 18 companies and 137 students from four universities.
"It was definitely a success," Barry said. "It was almost like a resume frenzy. In fact, I talked to a representative from one company who collected over 100 resumes. We were very fortunate that things ran smoothly, and it was especially nice because I got to help some of my friends find jobs."
Angie Anderson, OU's corporate relations coordinator, those jobs were off' majors. While competition exists among students, Anderson said an underlying rivalry exists among recruiters vying for prospects. "None of the companies that came to the AITP conference Fair wanted to be the last one students spoke with," Anderson said. "It was like the companies were thinking, 'If we're last in line, its going to put us behind, and w'e can't afford that."
The right approach
As job offers are made to high-tech students earlier and for more money, many seniors are landing handfuls of interviews. Kelly Ryan, a senior MIS major, flew to Maryland yesterday on CONVISIA's tab to interview with Simons. She already has another offer higher than the average starting salary for consulting majors (see table). The recruiter who offered her a job extended her decision dead-line to Jan. 26 in order for Ryan to entertain other offers.
Starting Salaries for Selected Majors | Chemical Engineering | 44,557 | | Electrical Engineering | 41,167 | | Computer Science | 38,741 | | Operations and Systems Management | 36,190 | | Chemistry | 35,227 | | Civil Engineering | 34,385 | | Nursing | 31,802 | | Accounting | 31,209 | | Marketing/Sales | 29,012 | | Agriculture | 27,710 | | Journalism | 24,588 | | Education | 23,837 | | Telecommunications | 22,563 |
Source: Michigan State University's Collegiate Equipment Research Institute
"Our professors urge us not to take the first offer that comes along," Ryan said. "It's easy to do, but you can often do better if you hold out for more responses. It's usually best to check out all your opportunities."
Ryan said money win be a factor in her final decision, but cash is not nec-essarily the determining variable when choosing the right company.
The Post,, Tuesday, January 13, 1998
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