Degrees to Watch Out For: Seven Fields that Are Hiring Now

Whether you’re graduating from high school or you’re an adult returning to school to improve your job prospects, you want to choose a program of study that will ensure you find a job after graduation. Let’s face it: majoring in art history or philosophy might be fascinating, but the chances of those programs leading to a lucrative and stable career are slim.

There are some majors that have excellent prospects for the next few years and are projected to be in high demand. That means that choosing one of these fields is more likely to get you a great job upon graduating and who doesn’t want that? Continue Reading

Interview With An Engineer

I am a principle engineer and work in the field of telecommunications. I have worked in wire and cable/telecommunication for the past 23 years.

I develop new products and processes for manufacturing telecommunication cables. First, a potential project is identified. Then a plan for developing the product is made. Upon having an approved plan we identify the equipment that is necessary and the processes that are needed to make the proposed product, order any tooling or materials that are necessary, and then develop the manufacturing process to make the product. Once the product is made it then goes through a series of tests to make sure that it meets the requirements. If not, we identify the potential solutions and do further testing. Continue Reading

Engineering Interns Paid Most at $20.79/Hour

Bachelor’s degree level students studying engineering and computer science command the highest average wages among paid interns, according to a new study published by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

Overall, employers taking part in NACE’s 2012 Internship & Co-op Survey reported paying their engineering major interns an average of $18.54 per hour, and computer science/IT major interns an average of $17.77.

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Best Fields for 2012 Grads Are Accounting, Finance, Engineering, and Computer Science

As the economy continues to slowly improve, so do the prospects for entry-level job candidates who are expected to benefit from companies’ need to rebuild “bench strength” after cutting millions of workers during the recession. However, while this year’s crop of 1.7 million college graduates should fare slightly better than last year’s, the job market will remain fiercely competitive, according to a new outlook from global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

The college graduates who are likely to have the most success are those with the flexibility to go wherever the jobs are and those seeking positions in the occupations expected to see the most growth over the next decade. Among the top fields are accounting and finance, engineering, computer science, sales and marketing, elementary education, and health care and social services. Continue Reading

94% of Employers Okay With Candidates Who Took Lower Level Jobs During Recession

The vast majority of employers – 85 percent – reported that they are more understanding of employment gaps post-recession. Nine-in-ten (94 percent) said they wouldn’t think less of a candidate who took a position during the recession that was at a lower level than the one he/she previously held. The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive© among more than 3,000 employers across industries and company sizes.

“More than 5 million workers in the U.S. have been unemployed for six months or longer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,” said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources for CareerBuilder. “While job seekers have voiced concern over how they may be perceived if they’ve been out of work for a while or took a job for which they were overqualified to make ends meet, the study shows employers understand the tough challenges the economy has created for workers. What is most important to employers is that workers show they have stayed active in sharpening their skills.” 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.”