Non-Profit Workers Pay Increases 8.4% From 2011

Workers at not-for-profit organizations are generally feeling a little wealthier this year as compared to a year ago. They’ve seen their base pay increase by an overall average of 8.4 percent compared to 2011 according to a new study published by Total Compensation Solutions (TCS).

“This increase is significantly higher that we have seen over that last two study cycles 2008 to 2009 and 2009 to 2010,” says study project manager Tom Bailey. “The increases for the previous two study cycles reflected the severity of the economic recession with marginal increases of 2.4 and 1.5 percent respectively.” Continue Reading

Determining Market Worth

Beth Cliff, Redfish Technology

Knowing what you are worth in the marketplace, or determining how to compensate a prospective employee can be a daunting proposition. Candidates want to obtain the optimum salary, while employers want to fairly compensate their new hires within their allotted budgets. The magic number that will leave both sides feeling good about their decision is in large part determined by the ever changing marketplace. Continue Reading

How Do You Handle The Dreaded Compensation Question? – It Depends

Sheila O'Connor, 15SecondResume

Most job candidates will tell me that the one question they dread more than any other is about compensation, with good reason. It’s a question that has no right answer. In fact, the best way to respond to the question will differ depending upon a number of factors including; who’s asking, what their role is in the hiring process, what stage of the hiring process that you are currently in and the level of the position. For example advice for how to respond to the question when asked by the hiring manager may undermine your candidacy with an outside recruiter. With all the material available about the compensation subject it can be daunting and confusing. You don’t want to put yourself at a disadvantage by pricing yourself too high nor do you want to price yourself too low. Continue Reading

Compensation Conundrum – When You Should Compromise on Compensation

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.” - Mark Twain

Individual job search can be challenging (regardless of why you are searching for a new job), but group job search (as in a downsizing, closing of a location or closing of a company) takes the challenge to a new level. Of course there are a number of factors that potentially increase the pressure, like when an entire industry is under pressure or if the overall economy is suffering. Everyone, of course, handles the job search pressure differently. Some people don’t actually look for a job until after their last day (denial) while others jump in with both feet and do the all out job search with a goal of finding a new job before their current job ends. Everyone needs to approach the process in the job search in their own way and time, but panic is not a good way to start. Continue Reading

Top Earners Amongst 2011 Grads: Finance Major Working for Banks Started at $67,700

Top pay among Class of 2011 bachelor’s degree graduates went to finance majors landing financial manager positions with banks, according to a report published by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

NACE’s Winter 2012 Salary Survey shows that the average starting salary for these graduates in this position and industry was $67,700. Continue Reading

Glassdoor Reveals Top 50 Best Places To Work 2012

You may already feel the pressure of finding a full-time job after graduating, but how do you know which companies to apply to? And, how do you know which companies really are the best to work for?

Glassdoor, a jobs and career community, has issued the 50 Best Places to Work for 2012, which is based entirely on employee feedback. The top five companies on this annual list, all recipients of Glassdoor’s Employees’ Choice Award, include Facebook, Bain & Company, McKinsey & Company, MITRE, and Google. It’s worth noting that companies like Bain & Company and McKinsey & Company have offices in several states and are known for recruiting talented college students. Continue Reading

Highest Paying Industry for Class of 2011 Was Financial Instruments

A new study has the securities, commodities, funds, trusts, and other instruments financial services industry coming in at the top for the highest average starting salaries for Class of 2011 graduates at the bachelor’s degree level.

The top five industries were:

1. Securities, commodities, funds, trusts, and other financial investments = $58,571 (42,000 hires);
2. Electric power companies = $56,780 (2,000 hires);
3. Non-depository credit / related activities =$53,825 (8,000 hires);
4. Computer systems design = $53,547 (50,000 hires); and
5. Business support services = $50,280 (1,000 hires).

Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers

College students with paid internships more likely to get jobs, higher starting salaries

Paid internships correlate to job-search success, according to a new study conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

Class of 2011 graduates who took part in a paid internship were more likely to get a job offer, have a job in hand by the time they graduated, and receive a higher starting salary offer than their peers who undertook an unpaid internship or no internship at all, according to results of NACE’s 2011 Student Survey. Continue Reading

Business, Engineering, and Computer Science 2011 Grads Most Sought After by Employers

Employers are most interested in hiring new college graduates with bachelor’s degrees in the business, engineering, and computer science fields, according to results of a new survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

Nearly 62 percent of the organizations taking part in NACE’s Job Outlook 2011 survey cited plans to hire accounting graduates. Other popular degrees at the bachelor’s degree level included:

• Finance degree (57 percent of respondents);
• Electrical engineering degree (53.5 percent );
• Computer science degree (53 percent);
• Mechanical engineering degree (53 percent); and
• Business administration degree with a specialization in accounting, finance, and management (52 percent).

Continue Reading

Engineering Majors Are The Highest Paid College Grads

Engineering degrees account for four of the five most highly paid majors among the college Class of 2010, according to a new study conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

NACE’s Summer 2010 Salary Survey shows that petroleum engineers earned the highest starting salary offer—$74,799—followed by chemical engineers ($65,628). (See Figure 1.)

The only non-engineering degree to crack the top five was computer science, coming in at third with an average starting salary offer of $61,112.

Rounding out the top five were computer engineering ($59,917) and electrical/electronics engineering ($59,381).

Despite the high salaries, the current averages actually represent lost ground for all but chemical engineering graduates.

The average offer to chemical engineers gained 1.1 percent over last year at this time, but the average offer to petroleum engineers fell 10 percent compared to July 2009.

Losses were smaller for graduates in computer science (down 0.5 percent), computer engineering (down 2.9 percent), and electrical/electronics engineering (down 1.2 percent).

“Those high starting salary offers reflect the uneven supply and demand that exists for these graduates, even in the current economy,” says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director.

In fact, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), all engineering degrees accounted for just 5.4 percent of the 1,563,069 bachelor’s degrees conferred in 2008.* Just 521—or 0.03 percent of the total number of bachelor’s degrees—were conferred in petroleum engineering.

“All of the top five earners are in short supply,” says Mackes. “Each accounts for less than 1 percent of the degrees granted.”