If you're writing a resume, there is an abundance of resources and information available to help you. In fact, there are so many, it can be downright confusing -- every person you ask for advice may tell you something completely different. The one piece of advice that everyone seems to agree on is to pattern your resume after leaders within your field. For this reason, CollegeRecruiter.com, the highest traffic career site for job hunting students and recent graduates and the employers who want to hire them, has created a resume writing blog that will bring help college graduates and others who are victims of resume insanity.

The new CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Resume Writing Experts Blog features resume writing experts such as Kevin Donlin of Guaranteed Resumes. The Blog will revolutionize the way college students and recent graduates view their overall online job-hunting experience.

It’s difficult for resume writing first timers to know where to start or what to include. Before sifting through the more than 250,000 job postings on CollegeRecruiter.com, jobseekers will now be able to review and compare their resumes against those of top professionals across a wide spectrum of industries. In addition, the Blog will also include resume and cover letter writing advice from experts such as Donlin.

When you’re searching for a new job, a successful resume is your first hurdle to employment," said Donlin. "When Steven Rothberg approached me about his idea to create a blog that would combine the advice of resume writers with sample resumes, I welcomed the opportunity to help educate some of the thousands of young minds who are about to enter the workforce."

Even though we’re seeing a bright 2006 for many college students and graduates, it is still a competitive and tight employment market. During these times, standing out from the crowd is challenging -- especially for college students and graduates seeking new positions. The way you present yourself and your skills via your resume can either open doors to a better variety of interviews or keep them closed. At CollegeRecruiter.com, we not only try to open doors of opportunity but we also try to act as your guide toward success.

Just like our dozens of podcasts, thousands of employment-related articles, hundreds of Ask the Experts questions and answers, and our previously launched award winning blogs, CollegeRecruiter.com will charge no fee for full access to our new CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Resume Writing Experts Blog.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 31, 2006 at 11:01 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

One of the authors of the CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Candidates Blog posted an interesting entry earlier today. The author wrote that she applied for a job and received an email from the employer saying that he'd like to meet with her. For those of us who are so far past the point of applying for our first professional position, the natural reaction would be, "great!" But the candidate doesn't know what to do. Not because she's dumb, but because she lacks experience. She simply has never experienced this before. While it would be nice to advise her to use her common sense, I don't believe in common sense. I simply don't believe that such a thing exists.

We all are born with certain skills, such as the ability to breath. Those are instincts and not common sense. But everything else that we do, including responding to emails from potential employers, are learned behaviors. This candidate has not yet learned what to do in this situation. As soon as she's gone through it once, she'll know it forever. But in the meantime, she doesn't know how to proceed.

I wish that more human resource professionals and hiring managers would keep in mind that entry level candidates are, by definition, inexperienced. Not stupid. Not lazy. Just inexperienced. They don't know what to do and must be trained. And that includes not knowing how to respond to a request by an employer to set up an interview date. Hopefully most employers don't get too frustrated by the inexperience of these candidates and instead understand that with a little guidance and training, they can and often do turn out to be phenomenal stars.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 30, 2006 at 12:30 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

In September 2005, we joined the growing blogosphere by launching our first blog, CollegeRecruiter.com Blog, which contains career-related articles, thoughts, and the occasional ramblings by the staff of CollegeRecruiter.com. Feedback was positive and traffic generation was good, so in December we launched the CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Candidates Blog, which contains career-related articles, thoughts, and the occasional ramblings by dozens of students and recent graduates. It has generated a significant amount of traffic, perhaps because it is written by about forty candidates or perhaps because I'm not writing for it. So as we decided to add more blogs, we decided to add them using more of the approach of the candidates blog than our staff-written blog.

I'm pleased to announce that we just launched these new blogs:

• CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Admissions Counselors Blog - Career-related articles, thoughts, and advice by admissions counselors and other experts about how to choose the right school, right major, and right program for your needs and wants. Hint: pick a well respected school with a pleasant climate so that your folks will be happy and you won't perish while walking to class.

• CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Employers Blog - Career-related articles, thoughts, and the occasional ramblings by employers who recruit and employ college students and recent graduates.

• CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Financial Aid Experts Blog - Articles, thoughts, advice, and the occasional ramblings by financial aid experts about scholarships, student loans, student loan consolidation, and just about any related information about how students and graduates can best pay for their future, current, or past education.

• CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Resume Writers Blog - Advice, sample resumes, and sample cover letters by resume writing experts. If you're too broke or too cheap to pay an expert to write a great resume for you, then you've come to the right place.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 28, 2006 at 4:45 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

If you're like most college and even high school students, you have posted your profile to Facebook, MySpace, or another social networking site. But did you realize that your profile can easily be accessed by potential employers, schools, law enforcement agencies, and others? As much as that revelation may be a shock for students, it also came as a shock to those who set up the sites because they never intended outsiders to use the information for purposes other than benign social networking.

The terms of service of these sites typically prohibit their use for commercial purposes. Facebook's terms of service page, for example, states that users understand that the service is available for "personal, non-commercial use only." No reasonable person could argue with a straight face that recruitment is a non-commercial use, but just because such use is prohibited doesn't mean that it isn't happening.

Let me be clear that I love Facebook, MySpace, and the other social networking sites. They're wonderful tools to help students and others connect with people who share their interests. But they also must be used carefully. You should assume that anything that you post on-line is going to be read by your old-fashioned grandmother. If you're fine with her reading your profile, then its contents should be fine. Few would talk with their grandmothers about getting drunk, sexual experiences, breaking laws, etc. so why would they post such information on-line for anyone and everyone to read? Perhaps it is our exhibitionist culture. Today's college students have grown up in an era where the most celebrated stars are on reality TV shows, so how can we blame them for believing that such behavior is to be celebrated rather than pitied?

I'd love to hear about the experiences of those who have posted something on-line that ended up helping or hurting them. Has that happened to you?

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 27, 2006 at 3:49 PM | Leave a Comment (1)

I'm pleased to announce that jobs posted to CollegeRecruiter.com are now also running on Google Base, a free online service where users can submit all types of on-line and off-line content that Google hosts and makes searchable on-line. Google Base is currently in beta.

Google Base is an extension of Google's existing content collection efforts such as its traditional web crawl system – all which enable content owners such as CollegeRecruiter.com to make their information searchable via Google. The goal of Google Base is to improve the overall quality and breadth of Google Search results by collecting even more information about a wider diversity of content.

Candidates who find the jobs crossposted by CollegeRecruiter.com on Google are directed to our application pages to apply. The result should therefore be an incremental increase in the number of candidates visiting CollegeRecruiter.com, applying to the jobs advertised on our site, and registering by posting their resumes to our resume bank. We're always striving for ways to deliver a higher quantity and quality of candidates to our employer candidates and this is yet another piece to that puzzle.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 24, 2006 at 4:40 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Contrary to what many employers believe, interns are not cheap, short-term sources of labor. The cost to recruit, supervise, and train them is greater than the value that they return because they typically only work for a period of a few months. There’s no time for them to really learn their jobs and therefore to really provide value to the employer. Yet employers large and small persist in recruiting interns. Why? Because they provide excellent value to employers that understand that successful internship programs are all about recruitment.

A recent study by Wetfeet indicates that more employers are extending more permanent offers to interns. As of November 2005, 59 percent of undergraduate and 71 percent of MBA students who interned reported that they had receive or expected to receive an offer for full-time, permanent employment from their internship employer. By way of comparison, only 43 and 63 percent, respectively, received such offers two years earlier.

In addition to that good news, the study also indicated that most interns are very satisfied with their internship experience. Some 83 percent of undergraduates and 79 percent of MBAs ranked their internship experience as a four on a five point scale. Reasons cited by interns accepting permanent offers from their internship employers:

• Interns’ work assignments were challenging and mission-critical;
• Interns received plenty of exposure to full-time work responsibilities;
• Interns had exceptional managers overseeing their program;
• Interns started their programs with greater interest in working for the company full-time;
• Interns received significant exposure to upper management;
• Interns were mentored throughout their internship and received formal feedback on their performance;
• Interns received better compensation packages; and
• Interns received full-time offers soon after completion of the internship.

So what is that employers and interns want out of their shared internship experience? Successful employers clearly want to convert their interns into permanent, full-time employees upon graduation. These employers effectively view their interns as temp-to-perm employees. Many and perhaps most interns also want to convert their employment status from temporary to permanent, but that isn’t their primary goal. Instead, 70 percent of undergraduates seek internships primarily to get additional training in their chosen career field while 80 percent of MBA students seek internships primarily to help them transition into a new field of work. Undergraduate and graduate students are only secondarily motivated by the goal of securing a permanent, full-time, position with their internship employer.

The message for employers of interns is clear. Provide meaningful experiences for your undergraduate and MBA interns. That will allow you to secure the best possible interns for your program. But do not assume that your interns share your goal of them becoming permanent, full-time employees with your organization. Just as you sold them on why they should intern for your organization, you need to sell them on why they should remain with your program. With more and more students receiving multiple offers for positions upon graduation, employers need to adjust their thinking from assuming that any job offer that they extend will be accepted to competing for the best candidates. There are few job openings right now for which employers are not receiving enough qualified applications, but there are never enough true stars available in any field. Successful organizations are driven by their star hires, not their qualified hires. So if your organization wants to succeed, then it needs to hire the stars. And an incredibly cheap way of hiring those stars is the creation and management of a successful internship program.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 23, 2006 at 10:18 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I've been saying for months that the job market for 2006 graduates is the best in years. My statements were based upon anecdotal evidence: conversations with employers and students. I've been hearing from them that a sizeable minority of students are receiving multiple job offers in their chosen career fields, a landmark that hasn't been seen since 2001.

While I'm grateful to Reuters for empirically confirming what I've been seeing, I found to be much more interesting a post at the The Only Republican in San Francisco blog. The post contrasted the excellent job market for college graduates in the U.S. this year with the riots occurring in France over the job prospects their graduates are facing. While our graduates understand that they will likely change careers half a dozen to 10 times during their careers and change employers even more, students in France are going ballistic over proposals that would allow employers to terminate them should they fail to do their jobs. Imagine. Being fired for not producing adequate value for your employer. No wonder France hasn't been a world power in almost 100 years.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 22, 2006 at 8:45 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

In the March 27, 2006 issue of Forbes magazine, publisher Rich Karlgaard argues that the price of a four-year, private college degree is money poorly invested. Mr. Karlgaard is insightful, prevocative, and almost always right. But in this case, he's just wrong because he only looks at the monetary return of a college degree and his assumptions to get to that return just don't stand up.

Mr. Karlgaard starts by correctly pointing out that asset classes such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and collectibles compete with each other for investment. Those that produce the greatest expected rate of return at the lowest risk will attract the most investment. That investment will drive up their price and therefore reduce their yield or return. Assets that fail to attract investment will become cheaper which will therefore increase their yield or return.

But Mr. Karlgaard's article then quickly spins out of control by equating the asset class of a four-year college degree with the ability to find information through search engines such as Google. He then contradicts himself by indicating that most of today's higher-paying jobs go to those who exhibit a combination of adaptable intelligence, numeracy, communication skills and a strong work ethic, as opposed to evidence of specific knowledge. If that's the case, then how are the facts gathered through a Google search in any way equivalent to the real thinking skills taught by the colleges? Mr. Karlgaard's third point flows from this contradiction in that he believes that today's colleges do not teach such thinking skills and instead merely confirm the educational status of a candidate. For example, the value of a degree from a fine liberal arts college isn't that the student attended the college and learned there but instead is that the college only accepts smart students so a graduate of the school must therefore be smart.

In short, Mr. Karlgaard argues, a degree is just a proxy and typical white-collar jobs such as product design, engineer, sales, marketing, non-CPA accounting work and so forth can actually be done by high school graduates as well as college graduates. The reason that these jobs tend to go to college graduates is that employers want some type of guarantee that the candidate can do the job and a college degree functions as that guarantee.

Mr. Karlgaard believes that the tuition paid to the top 10 to 20 colleges will produce a positive return on investment but that the tuition paid to other colleges will product a negative return on investment. Effectively, rather than investing $100,000 or however much in a four-year degree, students and their parents would be better off investing that amount of money in real estate, collectibles, or some other asset class. But this argument fails to acknowledge that although for some positions employers probably could hire high school graduates for less money than college graduates and get the same quality of work, they reality is that they don't now and won't in the future. So even though some high school graduates may be able to just as productive as some college graduates, very, very few will be because they will never be given the chance.

In addition, a college education is not just about maximizing your income. It is also about becoming more worldly. It is about stretching yourself and becoming a more productive member of society. For many and perhaps most, that does not mean maximizing your income. So even if a college degree produces a negative return on a monetary investment, and I don't buy it, there should be no doubt that more education is never a bad thing. Never.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 21, 2006 at 10:06 AM | Leave a Comment (1)

Many and perhaps most college students strive to work for large organizations. There are many reasons, including the prestige such positions carry (you don't have to explain to people what type of work you do if they recognize the name of your employer), the perception that offer better job security, better benefits, and because larger firms tend to recruit more heavily on college campuses than do smaller firms. But if you're struggling to find the right opportunity, perhaps you're thinking too large. As in too large of an organization.

In December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released data showing that over the past 12 years, small businesses have created 65 percent of the net new jobs in our economy. From September 1992 through March 2005, firms with fewer than 500 employees accounted, on average, for 65 percent of quarterly net employment growth. That represents an astounding 13.5 million out of 20.6 million net new jobs created by the entire private sector.

So if you're searching for a great new job, perhaps the best approach is to think small.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 20, 2006 at 9:59 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I'm pleased to announce the launch of our new CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Employers Blog.

The purpose of the new Blog is to allow employers to share their insights with students, recent graduates, and others who want to do their best to develop their careers. The entries by the employers will frequently include information about their organizations, but more by way of example than an effort to generate resumes. Employers will write about a wide variety of topics, including how candidates should dress, behave at career fairs, apply to jobs, network, conduct informational interviews, write resumes, send thank you notes, etc. They will occasionally refer to specific candidates with which they've come into contact, but the employers will not use the real names of the candidates or provide any information that would be enough to identify them.

I encourage candidates and others to participate in this Blog as well by posting comments to the entries. Agree with an entry? Post a comment that contains praise for the author and any additional information that you feel would be helpful to them or others reading the Blog. Disagree with an entry? Post a comment that contains constructive criticism. But above all, read, learn, and enjoy!

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 17, 2006 at 2:13 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Great advice in today's Interbiznet Bugler about how to write an effective job posting ad:

Realize first that you have less than 2 seconds to capture the mind’s eye of your ad reader. The first quarter- to-half-second, the human eye scans colors and shapes and in the next 1.5 seconds drinks the bold type and entire first line. A headline with five words or less is where the viewer decides whether to continue or move on. If your job headline does not lead to a benefit or take longer than 3 seconds to “show the money” in your digital ad; guess what? You lose. The vast majority scan a job posts headline and pick up only the bold or italicized copy and dollar signs. Less than 17% of online job seekers read word-by-word. Your ad does not mention specific money or benefits? You lose a great number of your qualified readers in the blink of an eye.

It is unfortunate that many of those who write job posting ads seem to have no training in how to write effective advertising copy. Given the importance of writing good sourcing ads, you would think that schools that offer human resource programs would emphasize that part of the curriculum, but many of the HR people that I've talked with about the issue tell me that they had no marketing classes of any kind when they were in school.

The bottom line, folks, is that you are selling an opportunity. While including information about your needs and wants (job description and qualifications) is important and a good idea, very few job postings include any information about the needs and wants of the candidate. If you want the star candidates to apply, then you need to convince them that your opportunity is better than the opportunity being offered to them by the employer across the street. Some hiring managers seem to think that people should be interested simply because they're going to receive a paycheck. Well, if those hiring managers are only interested in hiring the most desperate of people then they're right. But those are not the people who drive successful organizations. It is the stars. So write your postings so that they speak to the needs and wants of the stars and you'll end up with more than your fair share.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 16, 2006 at 5:57 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

If you're wondering why I'm not responding to job seeker blogs this week, it's because I'm here in San Diego attending the Electronic Recruiting Exchange Expo. So far, I've been talking about what and who I've seen, what I've heard, observing various factors about the environment.

As I've been moving about, some thoughts about getting noticed, referred, and hired (retained) have crossed my mind. Associated with those issues are why a person would be passed over for opportunities. Discrimination? Sexism? Thickness?

Now thickness is an interesting reason. But as with the race card I spoke of earlier, you have to look at more than just the superficial. And you have to look within for at least some of the source of the problem. It takes a wise person to consider how they're branding themselves as part of the reason they're being passed over time and time again.

If the brand isn't there, neither will the door to the opportunities you seek. Build your identify. Be consisten. Build your brand.

How many people know that your goal and focus is set on climbing to the Finance Department? or that you're working on your MBA? Have you demonstrated in your resume that you have some experience in that area?

I looked at my name badge a little while ago and wondered what it said about me. A few minutes before someone pulled me aside to share a personal story. That there was such trust was flattering. I went into my inspirational writer mode and made sincere responses to the concerns that were expressed. But nowhere has there been interest in my goals and only surprise or fear when my agenda begins to unfold. "I wasn't sure of what you do," is the typical explanation.

Maybe this is why so few women are getting into the positions they truly want. They haven't established their true agenda and focus. Their activities seem unfocused and subservient, inconsistent with some higher goal than being support staff.

What about the resume, the calling card? If it isn't showing focus, purposeful involvement, progression, successes in some fashion, it simply screams that you're sort of looking for a place to be as you wander.

Okay, there's the mentor factor as well. There are times in anyone's life, even the most successful, when things just sort of went to standstill. That was one of those critical times when a phone call (email, knock on the door) to the mentor would be appropriate. The mentor is the person who has another set of eyes, an experience set, that provides a different and usually healthier version. The mentor sometimes knows some names of folks who can help unlock doors or point you in the direction of of where the keys may be. The mentor may be aware of a particular agenda platform where your skills may be showcased.

I just pulled a third expo attendee aside for input and opinion on this subject. Being aggressive is another tool for getting ahead. In this vein, being aggressive means not being passive. Aggressive in speaking up to voice an opinion on a subject rather than remain silent. The caveat with voicing an opinion (as always) is having substance to back up the arguments you present. The other part of being aggressive is the willingness to effect positive change and the willingness to be a catalyst for it. If you're passed up after making it clear who you are on a particular subject and endeavor, if you're still pushed aside (and you've been professional, tactful, and accurate), my next interviewee says maybe you're not in the right place.

This expo is great for many reasons. It's been great for meeting some of the folks I've known for so long in an online manner. I'm learning more about the various vendors and exhibitors. I'm getting an opportunity to see their product. Actually, I'm getting information overload.

And being a critical thinking type of person, it's affording me an opportunity to take a critical look at the opportunity spectrum for women, so many of whom are not getting where they want to go in the traditional work environment and either leave to strike out on their own, or just leave to see if Opportunity is riper elsewhere.

Posted by Yvonne LaRose, CollegeRecruiter.com - Career Coach on March 15, 2006 at 8:26 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

If you're more interested in entrepreneurship than sciences, liberal arts, or any of the other mainstays of most colleges, then choose a school that has great entrepreneurship programs. Fortune Small Business recently released a list of the ten best colleges for those who plan to start their own small business, who run their own small business, or who are involved in running someone else's small-business:

1. DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois
   
2. Florida International University, Miami, Floria
   
3. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
   
4. Howard University, Washington, D.C.
   
5. Simmons College, Boston, Massachusetts
   
6. Sitting Bull College, Fort Yates, North Dakota
   
7. University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
   
8. University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
   
9. University of Texas, Austin, Texas
   
10. University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
    

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 15, 2006 at 7:56 AM | Leave a Comment (1)

Thank you notes are ususally used when someone gives you some type of gift. The other time thank you notes are
used, in the employment industry, is after an interview. A few days ago, I had another networking opportunity
on the train and learned of yet another way to effectively use the "thank you" note.

There Was the Networking Part

Just about every encounter is a networking opportunity. Even if you don't get the person's name and contact
information, your exchange leaves a lasting impression, one that will encourage them to greet you when they see
you again and engage you in another conversation. As time passes, you'll find you've developed a professional
relationship. My fellow traveler is one I've seen on the train several times in the past. Since it was really
early and the temperature still wanted to be just above freezing, and because the train hadn't arrived at the
platform, we chose to wait in the glass elevator rather than endure the cold. So we established our
commonalities and came up with a reason to share some observations.

We've been silent fellow travelers until this day. Our occupations were not important as part of the opening
conversation. But as private thoughts percolated and caused an oral or physical expression, it was time to
share its basis. It derived from work. This was a time when knowing the person's occupation was essential to
the exchange.

Freelance Work

My friend (who still has no name) is a television cameraman. Since he's union, he'll be called to do a job that
may be a one-time deal. His philosophy is go in, do the job in the best manner possible. Get the shots. Make
certain they worked. Take them back to be aired.

He doesn't get too much more involved in the scene than that. There was a tacit understanding that he got to
know the names of the folks he's working with. Nothing goes over like a lead balloon faster than working all
day with someone and at the end of the day still calling them "Hey you!" If for no other reason, I'm certain he
got to know names so he could find the person responsible for scheduling the shoot and the subjects of the
shoot. But he said he kept his involvement simple and unfettered. He didn't allow himself to get drawn into the
drama and the politics. Instead, as I said, he did his work and wrapped up his involvement until called back.

The Call Back Insurance

What does he do to make certain the folks at the shoot remember him and call him back? A few things. First he
makes certian he's done a great job on all counts. He keeps his nose clean. No politics. No personalities. He's
really even tempered and quiet.

Finally, when he's finished the job, he turns in his time and the invoice. But there's one more thing he does
before he turns in his time invoice. He writes on the face of it, "Thanks for the job," and signs his name. The
simplicity of the act makes it outstanding. Every time the supervisor looks at that invoice, they remember the
cameraman, the job he did, and his demeanor. It's a reminder of who takes care of every detail and is a strong
candidate for future use.

The Thank You Note, Revised

Now who would think of saying "thank you" to someone for hiring you to do work? My fellow commuter did. He
seems to stay busy.

Posted by Yvonne LaRose, CollegeRecruiter.com - Career Coach on March 13, 2006 at 9:20 PM | Leave a Comment (2)

Jason Davis of Recruiting.com recently launched a new niche careers site, SemiconductorJobs.com. For candidates who are seeking work in that niche, I highly recommend using that site. In their words, "it's not a Job Board, It's a Job Blog, Its about Jobs in the Semiconductor Industry, It's a Collective, It's about bringing Recruiters and Candidates Together, It's an Experiment in Networking, It Makes Sense."

Jason has an excellent reputation in the recruiting industry and I've always been a tremendous advocate for the use of niche career sites. I'm biased, of course, as I'm one of the owners of niche careers site CollegeRecruiter.com, but there are 40,000 career sites out there and I don't often write about our competitors, direct or indirect. But Jason's involvement makes a tremendous difference to me. And it should to you as well.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 13, 2006 at 1:45 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Earlier tonight, I had the good fortune of attending the semi-final games for the Minnesota State High School League 2006 Boys' Hockey Tournament. For those who have never lived in Minnesota, think Texas high school football on skates.

One of the major sponsors was the U.S. Army. They had recruitment banners on the boards and a recruiting booth in the concourse. At that booth, you could enter your name into a drawing for an iPod. The Army is primarily interested in recruiting 17 to 24 year old males. And what speaks to that generation better than an iPod? Nothing. So they're being smart. Very smart. With almost 19,000 fans in attendance, including many teenagers and parents, the Army picked a wonderful venue at which to recruit and they picked a wonderful incentive to generate foot traffic to their booth.

How many other organizations were there recruiting? One. DeVry University. Again, excellent choice of venue for a post-secondary school. But where were all of the other organizations? Is there some rule against recruiting at non-recruiting events? Are employers and schools only allowed to recruit during the workday? Kudos to the Army and DeVry. For every other employer and school which is trying to recruit more Gen Y candidates, learn the lesson. If you're struggling to recruit enough top candidates using the same tools you've been using for years, then perhaps it is time to start using different tools.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 10, 2006 at 11:38 PM | Leave a Comment (1)

Networking can happen in the darndest places. It has a purpose. There's a methodology to it. Networking causes growth. It happened last night in the sauna. You'd think a sauna would shrivel everything in sight.

For a long time, my mantra has been NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK. My readers will tell you that if you ask me, I'll tell you finding connections, getting ahead, increasing your chances and opportunities, finding the Holy Grail is all about networking.

Now networking isn't something that only happens at meetings. Networking isn't some grand phenomenon that occurs during a scheduled lunch. Networking isn't glad-handing every Joe Schmo in sight. Networking isn't passing out your business card until everyone you meet and you pass out.

Nope. Networking is about having conversation. It doesn't have to be deep, consciousness raising conversation. You don't have to work out the mysteries of life and solve them. But you do need to connect with folks. You do need to gain their trust. And you do need to establish your credibility. It's also good to show a little bit of a sense of humor where appropriate. But networking is the thing. It can be done anywhere and just about at any time.

Last night, the networking venue was the sauna. We started out as one. The number quickly grew to two, three, then four. What is normally a place not for the faint of heart, we ended up being a crowd of about six or seven with a few commonalities. We all panted lest the heat pull the breath from us. We turned red as lobsters. We began to ooze sweat. And we talked -- when we could -- about various things. We didn't need to impress anyone. It was "cool down" time.

The conversation wove its way from an indirect slap (incidentally, I don't recommend this as a way to introduce yourself), to an explanation, then transportation modes in Los Angeles compared with New York, improvement of transportation systems. Someone in the group was connected with the transportation industry. As they left the room, there were a couple of sentences of promotion. Hmm. A future contact that may have some leads. Overall, it was light conversation.

We didn't try to trade names. It wouldn't have made sense to do so. A chance, first-time meeting. A coincidence. This was simply an informal aggregation. We established our commonality -- health and fitness aficionados, people who have the ability to pay our way in that environment, people who work hard and play hard. Trading names was not the high point of the millieu but the tone of the conversation (or lack of conversation) was. We went in drained from all the work and workout. We came out refreshed for the exchanges. We all learned a little something about the others in some way and appreciated it. For those who didn't nearly faint from the heat and kept their eyes open, we might remember some of the faces later on. Maybe not.

Additionally, ground was plowed. We learned a little something about one or two topics. Of the more memorable ones, we can do some follow-up questions -- that is, if we remember who said what. There's time for that. The important issue was establishing an amiable contact. The other important issue was growth, which is what networking is about -- growth.

Networking can happen in the darndest places.

Posted by Yvonne LaRose, CollegeRecruiter.com - Career Coach on March 8, 2006 at 5:41 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I believe that the first step in most of the 12 step recovery programs is to admit that you have a problem. Well, in that spirit, let me admit that I went to law school. A good law school. Was on Law Review. Had my article published. Graduated. Passed the bar. And clerked for a year. Phew! I feel so much better.

While my law school education has proven to be invaluable, I also consider myself to be fully recovered. Mostly. I do have my doubts when I pay more attention to certain Supreme Court cases than the average member of society. Call it a relapse, but it does happen and I'm not ashamed to admit it. The most recent case that I've been following was argued last year before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Supremes just handed down a rare unanonymous verdict. In an eight to nothing vote (Justice Alito did not take part in oral arguments so did not vote), Chief Justice John Roberts, wrote for the court that the colleges and universities must allow military recruiters on-campus even though the military discriminates against gays and lesbians through its "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The schools had argued that forcing them to accept such on-campus visits infringed on their First Amendment right to free speech. While the law professors who crafted that argument are pretty clever, they weren't clever enough.

"A military recruiter's mere presence on campus does not violate a law school's right to associate, regardless of how repugnant the law school considers the recruiter's message," wrote Chief Justice Roberts in his first major written opinion for the Court.

I could never understand how forcing the schools to allow military recruiters on-campus, and therefore allow them to exercise their First Amendment freedom of speech rights, infringed upon the rights of the schools to exercise their freedom of speech rights. Wouldn't that be akin to a president running for re-election refusing to allow his opponent the opportunity to speak in a televised debate because the views of his opponent conflicted with his own views? Roberts, apparently reading my mind (insert laughter here, folks), wrote that there are other less drastic options for protesting the policy. "Students and faculty are free to associate to voice their disapproval of the military's message," he wrote. "Recruiters are, by definition, outsiders who come onto campus for the limited purpose of trying to hire students -- not to become members of the school's expressive association."

So what are the solutions for those school that object to the military's discriminatory hiring practices? There are two good options. First, nothing actually requires any school to allow the military on-campus. The Solomon Amendment, which was the statute being litigated, only requires schools which accept federal funding to allow the military on-campus. So don't take the money. If the schools sincerely believe that this is a significant moral issue, then morality should trump their balance sheets. Put your money where you mouth is and refuse the money. Then you can refuse to allow the military recruiters on-campus. Somehow I doubt that moral beliefs of these schools are strong enough that they will take that path. Which leaves option number two: counter the speech of the military with your own speech. Outside the recruiting rooms, post signs that inform the students that the military discriminates against gays and lesbians and explain why the school disagrees with that policy. While the vast majority of military recruiters are unlikely to welcome such in-your-face signage, these men and women get paid to dodge bullets for a living. I doubt that they're going to freak out when they read posters written by a handful of law school professors.

What is ironic to me about this whole episode is that my law school professors used to strenously argue that the best defense against objectionable speech was more speech, not less. Let the Holocaust deniers have their say. Let the Ku Klux Klan march through Skokie. Let them show the world exactly who they are. For when people really understand the message and the messengers, they're more likely to be repelled than attracted. Should the military's discriminatory hiring practices be regarded as akin to the message of the Holocaust deniers and the KKK? That's a debate for another day. But the solution is the same. Rather than attempting to silence speech with which you disagree, work to expose it. And then counter it with your best arguments. If you're in the right, then you will far more supporters than you'll lose.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 8, 2006 at 6:41 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

When interns used to be called apprentices and before that indentured servants or serfs, they rarely received or even expected to receive more than a pittance in monetary compensation. Should the apprentice, servant, or serf be so fortunate to work for an enlightened employer, master, or lord, the real compensation was in learning a trade and simply surviving to live another day. That's all changed. Thank goodness.

Today's interns expect far more than simple survival. The February 20, 2006 issue of Business Week indicated that some MBA students will earn $15,000 this summer working for Wall Street firms such as Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. Is that representative of what most interns will earn this summer? Should it be? While I do not begrudge these cream of the cream interns their monetary compensation, I also recognize that the compensation that they earn is far beyond what virtually all other interns will make this summer, and should be.

An internship program is all about recruitment. It is essentially a temp-to-perm relationship. Interns tend to work for little to no money but in return expect and deserve (1) a realistic view of what it is like to work for the employer; the opportunity to do meaningful work for that employer; (3) an opportunity to convert their academic experiences into practical, work-related experiences in their chosen career paths; and (4) a presumption that they will be hired on a permanent basis upon graduation by that employer.

Notice that monetary compensation is not included in the list. While many will argue that it should be, I respectfully disagree. Everything else being equal, I always recommend to students that they choose the internship that offers them the best experience over the internship that offers them the best pay. The difference in pay between even an unpaid internship and a highly paid internship is negligible when viewed over the course of the first few years of the career of that intern. If they select the internship that offers them the better experience, they are almost certain to make far more money their first year or two after graduation than they would have if they selected the more highly paid internship that offers a lower quality experience.

Look at it another way. You pay to go to school. You aren't paid to go to school. Well, Chris Webber was but outside of a handful of NCAA superstars, you pay to go to school. You do so because it is an excellent investment in yourself. The better the quality of your education, the more likely it is that you'll be able to enjoy your work and your life. Internships are part of your educational experience, so I counsel students not to expect to earn much money and, if the right opportunity presents itself, not to worry about earning any money at all. If they are fortunate enough to be able to choose between two internships that will each provide great experience, then choose the one that pays better. That's pretty obvious. But if one offers great pay and the other offers great experience, then choose the one that offers great experience.

Your summer internship should not be viewed as an opportunity to become wealthy. Instead, it is an opportunity to gain a wealth of experience.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 7, 2006 at 7:19 AM | Leave a Comment (1)

This entry has nothing to do with sourcing, recruiting, or human resources. But it does have everything to do with humanity. One of the greatest baseball players ever died today. Kirby Puckett. An amazing fielder. An amazing hitter. A tortured soul. Dead at the age of 45 from a stroke. See CNN for details.

I moved to Minnesota in 1988, a year after the Twins won their first World Series championship. In 1991, I was working in Rochester, Minnesota. I shared a house with a co-worker. Night after night we would sit in the living room watching the Twins win game after game. Kirby was always a force. When the Twins needed someone to drive home a run in the ninth, it was Kirby batting. When the Twins needed someone to jump impossibly high to snatch away an opponent's sure home run, it was Kirby in center field. So we watched Kirby and his brothers just about every night all summer and all fall and we were rewarded with the second World Series championship for the Twins. In November, when we re-entered society, we realized that we were both single and had been dateless for months. Good thing that Kirby won it for us. If the Twins had lost, that would have been too hard to take.

Kirby, we'll miss you.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 6, 2006 at 10:32 PM | Leave a Comment (2)

It's so exciting to actually see the progress you're making toward entering and moving forward in your career or on a new path. First one project comes along. Then another, and another, and still another.

These seem to drop from Heaven like manna after the painstaking and relentless work to develop those access points. And after a while, it seems as though the only thing involved in "getting there" is all the work.

There's a rush that comes from having the opportunities open up. So it's easy to just keep saying "yes" each time and then become enormously clever about robbing Peter's time to pay Paul's. Meanwhile, both of them are getting satisfied while we are getting ourselves into

the status of being a workaholic, burnout, and desensitized to anything and everything else. Unfortunately, along with being over extended in our work commitments comes a deterioration in the quality of our output. We start defeating ourselves and being our own worst enemy.

There are some cures.

Divide and Conquer, Step One:

One step is to budget our time. Each day has certain activities that must be done. You know the ones, getting up, hygiene, maintenance, socialization, work, commuting, sleep. Determine what the minimum amount of time each of these requires in order to be done properly so that you can move on to the more meaningful things. The determine how much more time is left. Start allocating that time to the other activities.

Priority Ranking

Next, prioritize what things that need to be done. Short turn around, long range project, mid-range project. On your appointment book, fill in the deadline and try not to erase it or write over it. Now you have a map of what's on your plate. You can actually see what you have to do so you don't get overbooked.

Side Step Overbooking

But there's that little, new thing that is also a plus on the skills and experience development spectrum. It would only take a minute or two (well, maybe a little more than that) to do just that one project. How many more of these are you going to allow to slip into the program and cramp your time allocations? That "just one more" can, like pennies in a piggy bank, add up and break the bank.

Evaluate whether that "just one more" is really worth it. Maybe it can be deferred so you can give it proper treatment. Honestly look at your schedule and determine whether you really have time to do that little extra thing. After all, distractions detract from what you really need to do. Are you a writer? If so, your full attention to absolutely all of the details needs to go with each and every piece of copy. Mess up one, it can be explained. Mess up two, and credibility goes into question.

Give it Just Due

Make certain the main things have their full allocation and the best possible completion. Then accept the little extra -- if there's time. Having a portfolio of well completed projects is more important than having a raft of riff-raff. Your work -- all of your work -- speaks of who you are and what you can do on a routine basis. It speaks of your reliability.

Just a few tips for making that positive progress on your road to success. There needs to be balance in life and the schedule. Otherwise, the manna from Heaven may become the downpour from Hell and throw you miles behind your original starting point.

Want some good articles on being a workaholic?

• Workaholic
  
• Are You a Workaholic?
  
• Are You a Workaholic?
  
• Are You a Workaholic?
  
• Job burnout: Symptoms and remedies
  

Posted by Yvonne LaRose, CollegeRecruiter.com - Career Coach on March 4, 2006 at 7:19 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Struggling for a way of standing out from other candidates? Then write a ransom note in which you demand an interview. Edwin Sitt of Entreplist sent out a ransom letter to an ad agency in which he jokingly informed them that he had taken their art director hostage and demand that they read his resume and consider him for a job if the agency ever wants to see their art director again.

So far no word on whether Edwin has received a response from the agency or local law enforcement, but I have to believe that his correspondence with the agency is garnering him more attention than if he had applied using more conventional means. If I were the recipient of Edwin's note, I'd get a good laugh, would definitely read his resume, and would definitely interview him if he were qualified. Those without a sense of humor not take as kindly, but that's okay because Edwin probably wouldn't want to work for such an uptight firm.

So will the ransom letter get Edwin the job? Unlikely. But will it separate out his application from applications from other qualified applicants? You bet. Gimmicks such as ransom letters are no substitute for proving to the potential employer that you can do the job due to your practical and academic experiences so don't spend all of your time creating gimmicks if what you really need is more experience. But a gimmick like Edwin's is a great idea if the firm to which you're applying appears to be the type that would appreciate the humor.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 4, 2006 at 9:38 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

If you had to grow your own food, would you wait until you were hungry to plant your seeds?

Most certainly you would not! Why? Because of the laws of nature. When you plant seeds, you have to nurture them and wait for them to grow. There is nothing humanly possible that you can do to accelerate the process. You water them, make sure the soil is rich, and allow time and nature to do the rest.

So why are you waiting to plant the seeds that can positively affect your career and the rest of your life? If you want to build a strong, integrated network of contacts and friends, you must begin “planting the seeds of your career” now. If you wait until you’re hungry to start planting those seeds, then you’ll starve before the seeds mature.

As simple as it may sound, networking can be a painfully frustrating effort—especially when your goal is to find immediate employment. Tasks such as building contacts or collecting names and phone numbers theoretically take only a few simple steps. But building relationships requires more than passing and collecting business cards. It isn’t the occasional phone call, the holiday greeting card, or remembering names of family members you’ve never met. You cannot possibly build as many deep, lasting relationships in your life, as you may be able to cram names into your address book. Yet one good friend is often worth more than dozens of names of people whom you barely know and have little in common with.

In essence, I am speaking of quality over quantity. It’s an old theme, but a valid one. It may sound overwhelming, but remember your objective. Here are the top seven steps you can take today that will have a great payoff tomorrow.

1.Volunteer

Volunteering is one of the most effective ways to build relationships with people. It runs much deeper than the informational interview. Your involvement with an organization bonds you to other members or volunteers within that same organization. By working together to reach a common goal, you are automatically building relationships. These individuals will be able to discover your talents, your values and your character. These are things that cannot normally be accomplished through a single 30 minute meeting.

2. Intern

This will provide you with an excellent opportunity to gain hand-on experience in your chosen field for either credit, for a nominal salary wage, or, if you’re lucky, both. Many national and local organizations, especially in the nonprofit and communication areas, have intern programs. There are many books which details thousands of these opportunities, including Peterson’s Guide to Internships and the Last Guide to Internships You’ll Ever Need, which is available for free from CollegeRecruiter.com. All you need to do to receive the book is to register for free at CollegeRecruiter.com .

3. Get a Part-Time Job

I don’t mean the flipping burger type of job. You can reap the rewards from working in an environment that you’re planning to spend most of your career in. It is also the perfect opportunity to get to know and connect with professionals within your chosen field.

4. Adopt a Mentor

No matter where you are in your career, it is always good to have a mentor. This is especially important in college, when you’re at a critical point in your career development. By associating yourself with someone already out in the field, you can learn all kinds of insights that you won’t get in the classroom:

• You can observe the person in action.
  
• You can learn how he or she developed into the position they currently hold. You will hear about the pitfalls as well as the victories.
  
• You can learn of the various types of positions within the field you wish to enter.
  
• You can gain a clearer direction for yourself from your mentor’s guidance in academic choices and extracurricular activities.
  
• From your mentor’s connections with other people, he or she may be able to find new opportunities to serve and learn.
  
• The mentor can help you be sure of your career choice decision.
  

The fact is that many of the professors you have right now can be invaluable sources of advice, guidance and networking. Teachers and professors have associations and relationships in the business world as well as the campus community. However, they don’t go around announcing this extra perk to the class. In fact, they are usually very discreet about their choices. You must go to them…on your own! Your assigned academic advisor can be a great person to start with, especially if you feel anxiety about approaching someone else.

6. Join Professional Student Organizations

Many professional and volunteer organizations have student chapters, especially on our nation’s larger campuses. If no student chapters exist, you can usually apply for a student membership in a professional organization at a reduced rate, and thus attend meetings normally held off-campus. What an opportunity to meet influential people.

7. Think of Who Else You Know

Through your intimates and family members, you probably already have a strong network in place. The only problem is that it is “asleep.” That is, most of the people in your network may not necessarily see you in terms of the career for which you are preparing. Instead, you are to them whatever is the nature of your relationship: the niece or nephew, the client, the patient, fellow club member, or the person next door. If you have a network that is a “sleep”, you must “wake ‘em up” and let them be aware of all you can do.

In this short read, I have given you quite a bit of work to do. But remember, you’re investing in your future. Every relationship, every deed, every time you go out and meet, greet and serve the needs of others, you are planting seeds. Take the time to nourish these seeds and you shall be successful in your career and in life.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 3, 2006 at 1:21 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

The average starting salary for college graduates with non-technical degrees is substantially lower than those with technical degrees. According to the Winter 2006 salary survey of organizations which are members of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the average grad with a non-technical degree employed by a non-profit was paid $28,793. Grad with technical degrees were paid an average of $36,295.

The breakouts for non-technical degree graduates by employer type was:

• Educational services $28,907
• Government (federal) $37,977
• Government (state and local) $32,525
• Healthcare services $43,300
• Religious / grantmaking civic / professional organizations $21,866
• Social assistance $32,000
• Other non-profit employers $28,786

The breakout for technical degree graduates by employer type was:

• Educational services $31,224
  
• Government (federal) $43,207
  
• Government (state and local) $36,013
  
• Healthcare services $20,000
  
• Hospitals $41,326
  
• Social assistance $46,000
  

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 2, 2006 at 12:42 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Hampton University, a traditionally black university, recently hit the national news when it came down with an addition to requirements for its Bachelors / MBA candidates. It added a dress code that requires not wearing hair in a certain style typically considered black or African influenced. While it is important to mold your future professionals and get them accustomed to the uniform in which they will work, it makes me wonder whether this dress code is appropriate for one race. It also makes me wonder whether it should be imposed at other professional schools and upon students of all races.

The furor developed when Hampton announced that male students cannot wear certain hairdos -- dreadlocks, cornrows, braids. If they do not conform, they're out of the program.

In addition to the hairdo requirements, students must wear a traditional black or blue suit once a week for business meetings and business casual the rest of the week. Tight and short skirts are also not allowed for women. However, women students are allowed to wear braids.

There are other requirements, but those are the ones most publicized in the recent news stories.

Now there are a few things about this code that bother me. If we are saying that the hairdo is offensive in that it is nontraditional or goes against the conservative, traditional grain, then it seems it should apply equally to both genders.

Although there are some styles that are done and maintained with a high degree of care, the braid do is becoming more than trite. For some people, encountering a swath of synthetic hair passing as one's own, and copycating person after person after person becomes wearying -- even for the most liberal thinkers. So why not ban braids for both genders? Dreadlocks can be done in a very attractive manner. But the ones seen in mainstream American look ill-kempt and a bit grungy. So why not ban dreadlocks for both genders?

The other thing about this new code is that it applies to just the MBA students. It seems these standards should be imposed on not just the School of Business but on all of the other five academic program students as well. The inclusiveness of the code, for the sake of equal application, should be focused not just on the black students but on all students. There is no language saying the school does not accept any other races. However, as you scan the iimages on the school's website, it becomes quite obvious that it is not a single-race institution but instead is multiracial and diverse. So my argument is that this new dress code should also apply to all of the races of the school. Those are essentially the biggest arguments I have with Hampton's dress code.

What I definitely agree with is the goal that Administration has for imposing these requirements. School is a time to train up those who will go forward to do work representative of the good training with which they were imparted. That training is supposed to prepare the candidates for being the best member of their business culture as possible. So, the code is actually moving the students in a positive direction. Start from the center in a very conservative mode. Gain the knowledge and skills necessary to do the job with the utmost professionalism in exacting strokes. Learn the culture of the business setting in which you ultimately get hired. Then blend in, adding a bit of splash here or there.

What Hampton is doing is pushing its mission statement forward in every aspect of its teaching and training. Its stated purpose is "the promotion of learning, building of character, and preparation of promising students." They have a 100% placement record. Their additional goal is to maintain that record.

Start off conservative, then add personality in little drops. Be excellent at what you do, in addition to being professional. What's wrong with that? Nothing that I can see.

Read the buzz:

• University Bans Certain Hairstyles for Students, WTOP
  
• Rules for workplace, Jenice Armstrong, Philadelphia Daily
  
• Dredded Decision, CNN transcript
  

Posted by Yvonne LaRose, CollegeRecruiter.com - Career Coach on March 1, 2006 at 6:47 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

We just launched a free web-based applicant tracking system for corporate employers, third party recruiters, staffing company, and any other organization that doesn't have an ATS or is unhappy with the system they now have. Did I mention that this is free? Yeah, I guess I did.

Major features are:

• Corporate Career Site. As soon as registered employers have logged into their accounts, they are at the Recruiting Desktop page. On that page, they'll see a prominent link to activate their own free Corporate Career Site. You can quickly and easily customize the look and feel of your site and link directly to their existing corporate web site using features provided through your Recruiting Desktop.

• Free On Site Job Postings. Once your Corporate Career Site is activated, you can post your jobs on your Corporate Career Site for free or upgrade to a paid premium distribution plan so that your postings will also run on CollegeRecruiter.com and the other 15,000 sites in our network. Most sites target candidates by occupational field and geography, not experience level, so you're going to want to post some and perhaps all of your jobs to our network. Your postings will only run on relevant sites, so an engineering position in California will not show up on sites that target nurses or people in New York.

• Advanced Job Posting Options. As part of our new offering, we have added additional features to our job posting process. When you click on “Post a Job” from your Recruiting Desktop, you will now see additional options. When all appropriate fields of a job posting are completed and saved, you will see a subsequent “Job Distribution Options” screen that will allow you to choose how they would like to receive candidates and whether you want their new job posted to your Corporate Career Site or across the network or both. If you previously purchased job postings but have not yet used them, you'll see the quantity of jobs remaining in your package. If you need to purchase more, you will be prompted to pay via your choice of a credit card or invoice. Once the job posting is saved, it will appear under their listing of active jobs.

• Variety of Other Free Services. In addition to receiving a free ATS, Corporate Career Site and Job Postings, employers can also take advantage of these other free services to round out their recruitment program:
  • Receive resumes for free from our Resume Distribution product
  • Free Blinded Resume Searching
  • Free Resume Alerts

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 1, 2006 at 4:46 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Students often ask which is the "best" major or "hottest" career field. The correct answer is that it depends upon the student's competencies, interests, and values. What are they good at? What do they like to do? What is important to them? If making the most money is important to them, then they should strongly consider majoring in engineering.

According to a report issued by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), engineering majors receive the highest offers, on average, of all majors. Indeed, the four highest paying majors are all for engineering disciplines. There was also plenty of good news for students in other majors. According to Marilyn Mackes, executive director of NACE, "seven of the top-10 majors with the highest starting salary offers saw increases in their offers over last year. Engineering remains strong, and another high point comes for economics/finance graduates, who saw a spectacular 11-percent increase to their average starting salary offers."

The following majors have the highest salaries paid to 2005-06 graduates (average salary offers are in parentheses):

1. Chemical engineering ($55,900)
2. Computer engineering ($54,877)
3. Electrical/electronics and communications engineering, ($52,899)
4. Mechanical engineering ($50,672)
5. Computer science ($50,046)
6. Accounting ($45,723)
7. Economics/finance, including banking ($45,191)
8. Civil engineering ($44,999)
9. Business administration/management ($39,850)
10.Marketing/marketing management, including marketing research ($36,260)

Hmmm. I don't see owner of college job board listed anywhere there.

Posted by Steven Rothberg, CollegeRecruiter.com on March 1, 2006 at 1:23 PM | Leave a Comment (1)