BY PERRY BROTHERS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Fall recruiting is raging at Tristate universities and colleges, and the early signs indicate that many graduates can expect more of the same when they leave school this spring: higher starting salaries and multiple job offers.
A recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) confirmed placement officials' suspicions that 1997-98 graduates found companies willing to offer once unheard-of perks -- such as signing bonuses -- to win the competition for entry-level employees.
Last year, job postings rose an average of 19 percent nationwide, and the number of employers requesting student resumes increased by 25 percent.
"It's pretty amazing the kinds of offers that were made to new graduates," said Katrina Jordan, interim director of University of Cincinnati's Career Development and Recruiting office.
According to NACE's survey, in which UC participated, petroleum engineers made the biggest leap in average starting salaries nationwide, up 14.9 percent to $49,926.
Computer science grads had a 12.7 percent jump to an average of $41,949, with consulting and computer software - data processing firms offering many new grads closer to $50,000 a year to start. Even liberal arts graduates, often left behind in starting salary increases, saw a double-digit jump -- 10.4 percent -- to an average of $27,267.
Accounting graduates remained in high demand and highly rewarded, with an 8.9 percent increase to $32,825.
The Cincinnati offices of Deloitte & Touche -- one of the nation's top five accounting firms -- hired 35 graduates for its Cincinnati offices last year, about 10 more than the previous year. D&T Cincinnati plans to hire at least 35 new graduates this spring.
Bill Bagley, director of human resources and recruiting for the Cincinnati office, had a team of recruiters at UC last week to find some of those new hires.
D&T's "Big Five" national accounting firm status helps attract new grads, but Mr. Bagley said smaller firms likely will have increased difficulty drawing "the best and the brightest."
"I have noticed that the recruiting classes are much smaller. Some are opting to go to graduate school and some companies are locking people up early," he said. Some D&T interns receive post-graduation job offers before their internships end, he said.
"Most of the students now, that have done well academically, they know they're going to find a job," he said. "Students are much more comfortable and confident about their prospects now because they know the market is good. That makes it easier for us in interviews."
On the first day of fall recruiting (last Monday), UC had more employers signed up for on-campus recruiting than it had at the end of the fall season last year.
"Already we are almost booked to capacity for our fall on-campus recruiting program," Ms. Jordan said, noting that more than 160 companies are scheduled to interview on campus.
Students like Mike Blankestyn aren't wasting time lining up their first jobs.
Mr. Blankestyn, a 22-year-old Columbus native who will graduate in May with an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering, interviewed with National Steel on the first day of on-campus recruiting.
He's comfortable not only that he'll get a job, but he's pretty sure his starting salary will be around $45,000.
"It (the career opportunity) seems pretty good to me," he said. There's lots of people coming to campus for us."
Although most of the companies he's interested in -- he has four interviews scheduled so far -- are global players, he's not concerned about the Asian economic flu.
"I'm not really worried about it yet," he said. "We'll see what happens."
If area companies have taken hits from the lagging global economy, across the board their recruiting patterns haven't shown it, Ms. Jordan said.
"Business is just booming and it's not only just technology and business degrees, but we're actually seeing a lot of the liberal arts students who are also recruited fairly heavily also," she said.
At Xavier University, public relations - communications senior Brian Brockman displays that easy confidence of a soon-to-be-grad in a highly charged labor market.
Mr. Brockman, 21, hasn't started his job hunt, but he does have a resume packed with work experience -- including a summer marketing internship at Paramount's Kings Island. One thing missing, he said, is an internship with a PR agency and he hopes to add that to his resume in the spring, before graduation.
Mr. Brockman anticipates a starting salary in the mid-20s, about half of his engineering grad counterparts, but he represents another work force trend, according to the NACE survey. More students are making career choices based on personal fulfillment, rather than diving for the highest dollar.
"Knowing that I could have made a little more money right off the bat doesn't matter as much because I know I'll be in a field that suits me better," Mr. Brockman said.
