Top Entry Level Majors Announced for 2008 College Grads

CollegeGrad.com Reveals Employers' Top Picks for Entry Level Majors

STATE COLLEGE, PA--(HR MARKETER)--May 22, 2008--In the midst of what many consider to be a difficult employment economy, college students, recent grads and parents all wonder exactly who is being hired. Just in time for graduation, CollegeGrad.com, the #1 Entry Level Job Site, today announces the most employable majors at all levels for 2008 college grads.

The results of the 2008 Top Entry Level Employers Survey show that accounting is the most sought after major for 2008. Employers project that accounting students and grads will comprise 23% of entry level hires, 30% of internship hires, and 24% of master's level hires in 2008.

The survey results indicate that 44% of employer respondents ranked a student's major as the top priority for hiring consideration. This is up slightly from 42% in 2007. Interviewing skills and a student's internships and experience ranked second and third.

According to this year's survey results, the top 5 majors being hired for entry level positions are:

1. Accounting 23%
2. All Engineering 13%
3. Marketing 11%
4. Computer Science 10%
5. Business Administration 9%

The full list of Top Entry Level Majors for 2008 is available at CollegeGrad.com: www.collegegrad.com/topemployers/majors.shtml. Also listed are Top Internship Majors and Top Master's Majors.

While no single engineering degree made it into the Top 5 list, collectively, engineering majors came in at #2, and will account for nearly 13% of entry level hires in 2008. The top engineering degree was electrical engineering at 3.5%, followed closely by mechanical engineering at 3.2%.

Why are these highly skilled degrees so employable? According to CollegeGrad.com, positions in industries such as accounting and engineering require a defined skill set, typically met only by specific majors. Combine that with the sheer number and size of companies in these industries, and there will be a glut of technical openings.

For example, in 2008, the Big Four accounting firms will hire nearly 13,000 college grads, most of whom are accounting majors. That number is further boosted by mid-size and smaller accounting firms, banking firms, financial firms, and even non-accounting firms who hire accounting majors for in house positions.

Similarly, firms such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman each hire thousands of engineers each year.

In contrast, the required skill sets for general business openings are typically more diversified soft skills, and more easily filled by a variety of majors. Plenty of firms outside of the accounting and engineering fields also hire thousands of college grads, but those numbers will be split among a variety of majors.

To prepare for entry into the work world, Tony Gibert, Recruiting Director for NAVSEA Warfare Center, reminds college students that even in technical fields, major specific skill sets do not stand alone. "New college hires need to understand that the academic knowledge they acquire, the global understanding of social, economic and political factors, their leadership and communication skills, and their professionalism, are all important elements of their success and essential to our jobs."

For those still in school, CollegeGrad.com reminds students that it's never too early to start building employable skills. And with more than 2000 pages of entry level job search content, there's no better resource for learning such skills than CollegeGrad.com

The Top Majors information was gathered while compiling the list of more than 500 Top Entry Level Employers for 2008. Employers were asked to rank criteria in order of importance for hiring consideration. Employers were asked to break down their number of projected hires by major. A copy of the full survey is available at: www.collegegrad.com/surveys/topemployers/.

About CollegeGrad.com:
CollegeGrad.com is the #1 entry level job site on the Internet and is the leader in the field of entry level job search. Established in 1995, CollegeGrad.com has been conducting the Top Entry Level Employers Survey since 1997.

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