College: How to Hear 'You're Hired!'

05/16/2005
NewsWeek

Here's some good news for the class of 2005: there are more jobs and bigger bucks waiting for college grads than at any time since the dot-com hiring craze, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Employers say they'll hire 13 percent more graduates than they did last year, and they'll pay them more, too. Marketing grads will see average starting salaries rise 6 percent, to $37,832; business majors' starting salaries are up 3.2 percent, to $39,448, and even those dogged liberal-arts majors are looking at a 4.2 percent boost, to $30,337 a year. Here's how to get your piece of the action.

Go to that campus career center you've been avoiding. It's the only time in your life you'll be able to get free advice, connections and someone to rewrite your resume, says Tim Luzader, who runs the one at Purdue University.

Hit up your teachers, too. A decent professor should have contacts in the industry she lectures on. Ask for an intro.

Use targeted job Web sites that specialize in your field. Find a bunch at 4Jobs.com.

Learn everything you can about your chosen company before you go in for the interview. Scour the company's Web site and talk to any alums who work there.

Finally, delay your start date so you can have a last fling with your friends before you discover the sad truth: the real world is nothing like "The Real World."

Linda Stern