Racing into the real world: Students lock up their futures
Brighter outlook gives some grads a head start on career paths
Alina Wisniewski, a senior business major at Salem State College, is to start work in July at Gorton's of Gloucester, one of four jobs she had been offered in the past month.
David Gillespie locked up a job last October as an electrical engineer at
Liya Hoshi, a graphic design major at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, is already working full-time as a production manager at the Peabody Essex Museum with commencement still a week away.
''It's been a juggling act," said Hoshi, 26, who recently displayed her senior art project in a college gallery. ''But I really feel very lucky to have a job even before I graduate."
Whatever their major, college graduates this spring face the best job market -- and the highest starting salaries -- since 2001, according to a national employment survey.
Employers have said that they expect to hire almost 14 percent more graduates of four-year colleges than last year.
Business services, which includes jobs in accounting, engineering and consulting, is responsible for much of the job growth, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
''Things are starting to look up again," said Andrea Koncz, the association's employment information manager, who conducted the nationwide survey. ''It's mainly the service sector that is hiring again."
The association paints an even brighter picture for the Northeast, where employers plan to hire almost 25 percent more graduates this year, the largest single increase of any region in the country, according to the survey.
Still, there are plenty of college graduates waiting for a lucky break.
''In a week or so, I'm going to start another big job hunt," said Katsane Take, 24, of Danvers, an honors art major at Salem State College who is looking for a job in graphic design. ''I've had a couple of interviews but no offers yet. I really need a job."
Competition for fresh talent has led to higher starting pay in hot fields. In accounting, where post-
Business growth, along with low unemployment levels, have contributed to the booming market. Nationally, the unemployment rate was 4.7 percent last month, compared with 5.2 percent in April '05, according to the US Department of Labor.
Corporate downsizings in recent years could be another factor. As companies slashed payrolls through early retirements and layoffs, the labor force was thinned to the point where companies are looking to fill the void, Koncz said. ''There is some sense that retirements are starting to affect" company operations, she said. ''Business now has improved to the point where they feel more confident about adding jobs."
Eastern Bank of Lynn plans to raise starting salaries 10 percent this year. ''Going after college grads is really about identifying potential," said bank spokesman Joe Bartolotta. ''The competition this year requires that we spend . . . more on salaries this year."
Businesses may be willing to pay more, but they still are choosy about new hires. At
''We primarily look for the top talent," said Rich Gorham, a spokesman at GE's aircraft engine plant in Lynn, the region's largest private employer. ''We often only have a handful of openings."
Gorton's, a major manufacturer of frozen seafood products, plans to hire 10 graduates. ''We look for people who have a pretty good sense of what it is they like to do when they get out of school," said Paul Coz, its vice president of human resources. Coz noted that the company sent a representative to Salem State's job fair for the first time this year. ''We also want people with strong interpersonal skills."
Career counselors at local colleges say employers conduct more rigorous interviews of new recruits.
''They're more savvy now than before," said Christine Sullivan, the career services director at Salem State, where the spring job fair drew more than 100 companies. ''They're really looking much more in depth at the position they're hiring for, and who they want to fill it."
Most colleges don't know yet how many members of the class of 2006 have job offers, since students are still making decisions. But most expect strong numbers, judging by the response of employers to college job fairs.
''We're expecting it will be a good year," said Bethany Cooper, director of the Career and Advising Center at the University of New Hampshire.
''Employers were swamping us at our job fairs."
She noted that a job fair for engineering, technology, and business students drew 81 companies last fall, double the number of the year before. ''There's a definite trend toward fall recruiting," Cooper said. ''A lot of engineering and financial-services companies put their offers out there by midyear."
Gordon College, a private liberal arts college in Wenham, encourages students to tout their flexibility, said Pamela Lazarakis, director of cooperative education and career services.
''A liberal arts degree can be taken in a number of directions," Lazarakis said. ''I remind our students of that all the time. They've been trained to read and think critically. . . . It's a skill set that appeals to employers today."
Some local graduates remember when the outlook wasn't quite as promising. ''When I was a freshman," Gillespie, 22, said as he sat outside his dormitory at the University of New Hampshire, ''I thought, 'If it's bad now, it will probably really be bad when I'm ready to graduate.' "
Gillespie served as an intern last summer at BAE Systems in Nashua, where he worked with engineers on a missile-warning system for Army helicopters. At the end, he asked about an engineering leadership program that allows new hires to rotate through different areas of the company while they pursue a master's degree in engineering.
''I thought, 'They'll pay for me to get my master's. And they'll pay for me to work for them. What could be better than that?' " said Gillespie, a Newburyport native who grew up in Derry, N.H.
Gillespie went for an interview in October. A week later, he was sitting in a communications class at UNH when his cellphone rang. A voice-mail message asked that he call the human resources department at BAE Systems. ''They offered me the job over the phone," said Gillespie, who is vice president of an engineering honor society. ''But I didn't accept right away. I asked to see it on paper."
At Montserrat, Hoshi also turned an internship into a full-time job at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. In December, she was finishing a stint as an unpaid intern in the marketing department when a project manager's job opened up.
''Graphic design is a tough field," said Hoshi, who started college as a liberal-arts major at McGill University in Montreal before transferring to Montserrat. ''A lot of very good designers are looking for work. It's hard to stand out from another person. . . . That's one reason I took this job, even though it meant starting before I graduated."
Wisniewski, of South Boston, worried that she may have started her job search too late when she attended a college job fair in March.
She also posted a few resumes online. Soon afterward, she lined up four interviews and landed four offers, including three at Boston-area banks.
But she chose Gorton's, a big fish in the global seafood industry.
''This position will give me a good understanding of the product and the company," said Wisniewski, who emigrated from Poland five years ago. ''I'm glad I grabbed the opportunity."
Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com. 
