List Represents More Than 100,000 Entry Level Jobs for Class of 2003; Hiring Up 4.2% Over 2002
CollegeGrad.com, has announced the Top 500 Entry Level Employers for 2003. The list represents more than 100,000
jobs from employers hiring as many as 6,000 new grads to those hiring as few as ten. But large or small, they all are all in hiring mode for the Class of 2003.
This list of employers provides critical job search information for college students who will be graduating in 2003. It gives specific hiring numbers and Web addresses needed to make contact with employers that are actually hiring, said Brian Krueger, Founder and President
of CollegeGrad.com and author of the best-selling book on job search for college students, College Grad Job Hunter.
We have already printed out the first page of the Top Entry Level Employers survey results and posted it on our bulletin board to entice students to visit CollegeGrad.com and learn more about the entire list of hiring employers, said Robin Schowalter, Recruiting & Employment Coordinator at Eastern Washington University. It's important for
students to know that there definitely are employers out there that are hiring. The students just have to spend more time searching for them than in years past, said Schowalter.
The results are based on a recent survey of more than 5,000 entry level employers. The full employer list is located at: www.collegegrad.com/topemployers.
The survey results shows future hiring plans for the 500 top entry level employers representing more than 100,000 entry level positions.
While many of the largest employers (over 10,000 total employees) are hiring the same or fewer college grads as last year, most medium employers (1,000-10,000 employees) and small employers (under 1,000 employees) are showing increases for 2003, which accounts for an overall 4.2% increase in year-to-year hiring. Krueger noted: Itís
often the small to medium companies that spur the initial hiring demand when coming out of a recession.
John Petrik, Dean of Career Services at DeVry University also noted the trend: We are finding that more entry level job opportunities are currently with small and midsize companies and businesses. Nancy Nish, Director of the Career Center at University of Nebraska-Omaha agreed: This report bears out what students often donít realize about
the employment marketplace. Too many students focus on the ëname brandí employers in their job search while great employment opportunities can be found in the smaller to mid-size employers whose names students do not readily recognize.
Others also noted that entry level hiring is making a comeback. While our on-campus activities are down from two years ago, remaining at the pessimistic levels of last year, we are very excited that our off-campus recruiting has been very well received in New York, Boston,
and DC, stated Burt Nadler, Career Center Director at University of Rochester.
Krueger also noted the recent increase in entry level job postings at the CollegeGrad.com site. We have seen a 15% increase in entry level jobs being posted in the past two months, another sign of renewed interest in entry level hiring.
While many companies are still struggling in the current economy, those companies that are in a growth mode are using entry level hiring to fuel their growth. We continue to search the country for future leaders to drive the record breaking sales we have experienced this
year, stated Gregory Pond, National Recruiter for 84 Lumber Company.
As other companies continue to lay off employees and fight off bankruptcies, we will continue to hire entry level Manager Trainees to sustain the growth we have encountered in 2002.
The industries showing the strongest hiring demand continue to be defense, healthcare and government services. Consulting services, which once showed the highest demand for entry level hiring in the late ë90s, but was down dramatically in 2000-2002, showed the largest year-to-year increase in hiring expectations at 16% growth in 2003.
Thatís coming off a very slow year for consulting services, noted Krueger, but the trend is still a very positive one, since consulting growth is typically the result of projected economic growth.
The majors most in demand? Accounting, Engineering, Business and Management continue to be the highest demand majors, with Computer Science, Finance, Marketing and Biology not far behind.
Many employers are finding the current entry level job market to be a great source of new talent. Mike Shepelak, Director Human Resources at SWIFT said, We recently instituted a new college hire program and hired 6 new college graduates in 2002. These new college hires have
done so well and are so well qualified that my management team is asking for more new grads. We donít have to twist arms to hire new grads. They want even more new grads in 2003! Chris Garrity, National Field Service Manager at DAP noted: Given the state of the current economy, we have experienced a dramatic improvement in the quality of the candidate available for entry level employment
opportunity. Candidates of today seem to be finding companies with strong track records of earnings, brand strength and a proven career path to be a more attractive alternative to the less predictable, often unproven entry level positions that were found to be so glamorous in the boom years of the late ë90s and early ë00s.
The list includes many household name employers such as Disney, Boeing and HP. But it also has many lesser known employers such as Eckerd Youth Alternatives, Archelon and Noland. The key, said Krueger, is that each of these employers is hiring. Itís important for college
students to focus on employers that are actively hiring. Donít listen to the doom-and-gloom forecasts. These are real companies with real jobs.
Advice for new college grads? Start early, start now. Itís never too early or too late to get started in your job search, advised Krueger. The jobs are out there. You just need to search a little harder to find them.
The full listing of Top Entry Level Employers for 2003 is posted as of today at the CollegeGrad.com Web site at
CollegeGrad.com Names Top 500 Entry Level Employers
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