RECRUITING TRENDS 2014-2015

44th Edition

Recruiting Trends 2014—2015 is published by Career Services and the Collegiate Employment Research Institute and copyrighted, © 2014-2015, by Michigan State University. All rights reserved. This electronic version is for individual use only. No part of this electronic report may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without written permission from the Institute. Users are not permitted to mount this file on any network servers or distribute this report by email without written permission from the Institute. Material from this report can be used in classrooms and newsletters with proper citation of Michigan State University and the Collegiate Employment Research Institute.

Dr. Phil Gardner, Principal Investigator & Director, CERI

ContentsMeet the Completers •2

Summary •3

The State of Hiring •4

Employer Outlook •5

Starting Salaries •6

Hiring by Region •8

Hiring by Economic Sector •9

Hiring by Company Size •10

Hiring by Education Institution •11

Hiring by Academic Major •12

Recruiting Strategies & Hiring •15

Interns & Co-ops •16

Respondent Concerns •17

Final Thoughts •18

2

Role in College Recruiting

Full-time positions 56%

Internship or co-op positions only 16%

Short-term hiring 9%

Experienced hiring 19%

Company Size

Very small > 9 employees 9%

Fast-growth 10-100 employees 32%

Small 101–500 employees 23%

Midsize 501–3,999 employees 19%

Large 4,000–25,000 employees 14%

Very large > 25,000 employees 7%

Key Economic SectorsProfessional and scientific services 22%

Manufacturing 13%

Nonprofits 9%

Finance and insurance services 8%

Educational services 7%

Government 7%

Healthcare and social assistance 5%

Information services 4%

Key Sources of ResponsesCalifornia and Michigan 8%

Colorado 7%

Utah 5%

Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin 4%

Arizona, Georgia, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, and Virginia

3%

Institutions Where Companies Recruit TalentTwo-year public college 31%

Four-year public college 66%

Four-year private college 54%

Two- & four-year for-profit institution 23%

Institution with bachelor’s & advanced degree programs

80%

Institution with advanced degrees only 13%

Historically black college 18%

Hispanic-serving institution 14%

Active Recruiting by Region

International 6%

Entire U.S. 27%

Regional recruiting only 65%

Meet the Completers

We generated this convenience sample from employers currently seeking college talent through their interactions with college and university career services offices. Nearly 300 career service centers from around the country invited their employers to participate in this study. Nearly 5,650 employ-ers provided sufficient information on their surveys to be retained in the study. We also included information from respondents recruiting talent for full-time positions, intern-ships, and co-ops. Readers can use the following key sample characteristics to determine how our survey results apply to their campus employer base.

AcknowledgementsRecruiting Trends 2013-2014 is made possible by the efforts of many dedicated and generous colleagues, friends of the institute, and corporate sponsors. We thank all the colleges and universities who encouraged local, regional, and national organizations to participate in our survey for their confidence in our contribution to research on college recruiting. Please visit our web page, Consortium For Student Transition Studies, for a complete list of participants. We also thank our editor, Stephanie Schlick.

We extend special appreciation to several people whose special insights contribute to CERI’s research activities: Jeff Beavers (Chief Marketing Officer, RecSolu LLC), Duncan Ferguson (Managing Director, Vantage Leadership Consulting), James Spohrer (Director of University Programs Worldwide [and numerous other titles], IBM Almaden Research Center), and Roberto Angulo (Chief Executive Officer, AfterCollege.com).

1

Summary

In past years this section summarized the employment outlook from several sources, which sometimes presented conflicting projections for job growth. This year proved different: all the sources agreed that the labor market had strengthened considerably and expressed confidence that job seekers would find more opportunities. Rather than reiterate these reports, we will focus on college recruiting.

Despite the drag within the financial services sector in 2013-14, the college labor market for new bachelor’s degrees had a breakout year. After several years of modest growth, which recaptured a small portion of the job opportunities lost to the recession, the market expended by more than 10 percent (excluding financial services). We witnessed this surge with increased activity at career fairs, higher numbers of job postings, and more employer engagement with students. Not all regions or academic majors fared equally, however, and some sectors lagged in receiving this boost in opportunities.

This year all cylinders appear to be in sync: job opportunities are improving for all degree levels in all geographic areas no matter the company size. Only utilities appears to be struggling. That said, we captured this information before market manipulations caused the oil and gas sector to begin shedding jobs. This contraction will affect the larger labor market and the general economy but probably not the new college labor market to any great extent. We expect first quarter 2015 economic data to be worse than earlier projected.

Despite the optimistic projections, the labor market for master’s degrees still appears to be sluggish. One possible explanation for this sluggishness may trace to master’s degree programs in accounting. Students who enter college with credits already earned may now find it less expensive to obtain the 150 credits required by the accounting accreditation body by taking additional courses at the bachelor’s degree level. Another explanation may be that international students comprise the largest percentage of the

students enrolled in master’s degree accounting programs. Many U.S. firms will not actively recruit international students. The result is a shift in recruiting from the master’s level to the bachelor’s level where accounting hiring remains strong.

MBAs are rebounding from a terrible year. Because the average hires remain small, the percentage increase over last year is large. The good news for MBAs is found in the more strategic positioning many organizations, especially large corporations, are presently taking. During strategic periods, MBA hiring strengthens.

This year looks to be an excellent year for new graduates, the first since 2007. Will the opportunities be plentiful enough to provide all graduates looking for a position to find one? Unfortunately, the pool of jobs still lags the number of jobs lost to the recession between 2008 and 2010. Yet, this market is a big step in the right direction.

2

Employers are recruiting new college graduates at levels not seen since the dot-com frenzy of 1999-2000. Is this sudden surge another one-year growth spurt before the college labor market settles down to steady growth of 5 to 7 percent? Or will double-digit increases become the norm? This year’s projections indicate more chaotic, fast-paced recruiting and post-hire churn.

Nearly 5,700 employers responded to our survey:

• More than 50 percent (3,130) were outside recruiters and company HR managers looking for full-time employees.

• Nineteen percent were recruiters seeking experienced talent

• Sixteen percent were internship and co-op managers seeking short-term placements in exchange for academic credit or hourly wages.

• Nine percent were recruiters hiring for short-term assignments of less than six months.

• The employers represented here will hire nearly 120,000 new graduates this year; of these, 78 percent will have bachelor’s degrees.

SECTOR. Almost all sectors will hire graduates with bachelor’s degrees. Six sectors are reporting double-digit growth for these graduates, ranging from 16 to 51 percent. These sectors typically return the most responses and constitute the hiring base for new college graduates. The two sectors reporting declines are Educational Services and Utilities. The slight decline in Educational Services (-2%) indicates that hiring in this sector never gels until late spring. Utilities is still retrenching: the reported decline of 17 percent tallies with jobs data from other sources. The 31 percent growth in Finance and Insurance Services shows regional banks, insurance companies, small investment firms, and personal financial service firms are making up for last year’s reductions.

COMPANY SIZE. The majority of companies employ fewer than 100 people (41%). Another 35 percent employ between 500 and 1,500 people; 14 percent, between 1,500 and 10,000; and 11 percent, more than 10,000 employees. Companies will increase hiring for all degrees with two exceptions.

• Companies with 101-1,500 employees will hire fewer graduates with master’s degrees.

• Companies with 1,501-10,000 employees will hire fewer graduates with professional degrees.

• Neither group, however, will dampen overall growth.

EMPLOYER OUTLOOK. The vast majority of employers were fairly confident about the strength of the college labor market this year:

• Eighty-four percent hired at least one new college graduate during 2013-14. This year, 97 percent will do so.

• Of the 18 percent that did not hire last year, only one-fifth will not be hiring anyone this year.

• Seventy-four percent rated the overall new college labor market good to excellent. The average rating of 3.2 (on a scale of 1 to 5) was considerably higher than last year (2.8), compared closely to 1999 levels, but fell just short of the high set in 2007.

• Eighty-two percent rated the new college labor market for their sector very good to excellent. The average rating of 3.6 was higher than last year (3.3) and comparable to the ratings in 1999 and 2007.

• Employers seeking graduates with associate’s and bachelor’s degrees will increase hiring.

• Slightly more than 40 percent of employers recruiting graduates with MBAs, master’s degrees, PhDs, and professional degrees will also increase hiring, an improvement for each degree level.

LABOR MARKET DRIVERS. These drivers are influencing the college labor market:

• Sixty-six percent of employers indicated growth was very important for their hiring. Growth as an engine of change in both companies and the labor market has reached its highest level since 2008.

• Three years ago employers rarely talked about turnover; workers wanted to keep the jobs they had. This year 45 percent of employers reported turnover is an important consideration in the number of new graduates they will seek.

• Twenty percent of employers indicated retirement influenced their hiring decisions. The percentage may seem small but represents employers that cannot tap easily into global labor markets (e.g., Educational Services, Government, Retail, Transportation, and Utilities.)

The State of Hiring

Job opportunities for associate's and MBAs degrees will grow by double-digits this year.

Percent change from 2013-14

Degree< 100

employees101-1,500 employees

1,501-10,000 employees

> 10,001 employees

Associate's 96 18 12 11

Bachelor's 12 17 11 20

MBA 28 11 12 82

Master's 14 -5 0 1

PhD 39 5 12 26

Professional 33 10 17 19

-2!

8!

16! 17!

24! 24!

31!

51!

-10!

0!

10!

20!

30!

40!

50!

60!

Educ

atio

nal!

serv

ices!

Hea

lth!

serv

ices!

Non

profi

ts!

Man

ufac

turi

ng!

Gov

ernm

ent !

Prof

essi

onal

,!bu

sine

ss &!

scie

ntifi

c se

rvic

es!

Fina

nce

&!

insu

ranc

e!

Info

rmat

ion!

serv

ices!

Perc

ent

chan

ge fr

om 2

013-

14!

Six sectors report double-digit growth in !hiring for bachelor’s degrees.!

Double-Digit Growth !

3

Employer outlook for the overall labor market has nearly reached levels last reported in 2007. More employers will recruit this year; those who sat out the last five years are renewing their efforts to hire new talent. All the signals bode well for a robust market that will keep employers on campus into the spring.

We asked employers to rate hiring activity across the entire college market. They rated the college market “good” this year (average 3.2 out of 5). When asked to rate the condition of the college labor market within their industry’s sector, respondents were more positive, rating their markets “very good” (average 3.6).

Organization size influenced employers’ perception of the college labor market for both measures. Organizations with fewer than 100 employees rated the overall market at 3.0, while the largest organizations reported an average of 3.5. All size categories rated their industry’s sector higher than

the overall market. The smallest organizations reported an average of 3.5 while the largest organizations reported 4.0.

Every sector rated the overall college market “good,” with averages ranging from 3.0 to 3.5. However, some sectors reported higher averages for their own market than others. Sectors that rated the market “very good’ included Finance and Insurance Services; Mining and Oil; Professional, Business and Scientific Services; Real Estate and Leasing; and Transportation. The sectors clustered around an average between 3.2 and 3.4 (good) were Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation; Information Systems; Manufacturing; Nonprofits; and Government.

Factors Shaping the College Labor Market. Growth and expansion are motivating employers to hire more aggressively. Nearly 70 percent of respondents felt these factors were driving their recruiting, a 10 percentage point increase over last year. Turnover is also causing organizations

to seek more new college talent, a 5 percentage point increase over last year. Retirement is moderately important; only 20 percent rated it very important.

Intentions. Nearly 85 percent of the respondents indicated that their organizations hired at least one new college graduate in 2013-14. This year 94 percent plan to do so. At the beginning of the college recruiting season, which begins after Labor Day, most employers started the season without hiring targets.

Employer Outlook

Growth and expansion are driving recruiting this year.Quite to very important (%)

Mean 2014-15 2013-14Growth 3.8 66 55

Turnover 3.1 44 39

Retirement 2.2 20 19

Increasing experienced talent 2.3 18 28

Filling open acquisitions 1.9 15 13

Reducing staff levels 1.6 8 10

Note: Measured on a five point scale: not at all important (1) to very important (5).

Employer hiring targets, 2014-15Hiring targets set 23%

Preliminary hiring targets set 31%

Hiring targets not set, but companies actively recruiting

37%

No hiring in 2014-15 7%

3.3

1.2

3.4

1.9

3.2

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 1 = Poor 2 = Fair 3 = Good 4 = Very good 5 = Excellent

Employer outlook is approaching prerecession levels.

Average Rating

4

Starting SalariesMost employers (62%) will keep starting salaries at the same level as last year. About 37 percent of employers will increase starting salaries by 3 to 5 percent.

Pressure on employers to increase starting salaries has been minimal since the market crash. Many employers decreased starting salaries and eliminated the signing and performance bonuses new college graduates expected as part of their job offers. This year competition for qualified job candidates is heating up. More employers are increasing their incentives to attract the best candidates.

• Eighteen percent of employers will increase salaries by more than 10 percent.

• In 2008-09, 17 percent of employers offered signing bonuses. Although low by historical standards, 7 percent of employers will offer signing bonuses this year.

• Twenty-eight percent of employers will award performance bonuses at the end of the first year of employment.

• Commissioned-based salaries will creep up; 14 percent of employers will pay a base salary plus commission.

SECTOR. Some sectors will increase starting salaries at rates higher than the overall average of 5.2 percent.

• Within Manufacturing, Finance and Insurance Services, and Professional, Business, and Scientific Services, some employers will increase salaries by more than 10 percent.

• Information Services, Real Estate and Leasing, and Agriculture and Natural Resources will increase by more than 7 percent.

• Wholesale, Healthcare and Social Services, and the majority of employers in Finance and Insurance Services will increase by 6 to 7 percent.

• Government, Educational Services, and Utilities will offer the smallest increases at 4 percent.

The sectors offering a mix of base salary and incentives will change this year as well.

• Retail and Professional, Business, and Scientific Services will offer signing bonuses.

• Construction, Transportation, and Healthcare and Social Services are more likely to offer performance bonuses.

• Mining and Oil, Utilities, and Information Services will offer a mix of both incentives.

COMPANY SIZE. This year, small and fast-growth companies are leading the new college labor market with increases in starting salaries and incentives.

• Very small and fast-growth companies (< 100 employees) will increase starting salaries, some (23%) by more than 10 percent.

• Midsize and large companies (1,500-10,000 employees) will increase salaries by about 4 percent. Of these, only 13 percent will increase their offers by more than 10 percent.

Salary incentives, though still lagging behind pre-recession levels, are growing this year.

• Although smaller companies (under 500 employees) rarely offer signing bonuses, 5 percent will offer them this year.

• Between 10 and 15 percent of very large companies (> 10,000 employees) will offer signing bonuses.

• About 30 percent of small companies (< 1,500 employees) will offer performance bonuses.

• Only 25 percent of larger companies (1,500-5,000 employees) will offer performance bonuses.

One college labor market condition does not change year after year: at every degree level, graduates with engineering degrees receive the highest starting salaries. The selected average starting salaries shown here for 2014-15 reflect base salary only and do not include commissions, stipends, bonuses, housing and moving allowances, or other incentives.

Extremely low and high salaries were examined to see if they fit within an acceptable range. A few extremely low salaries were omitted. Extremely high salaries were not omitted because few were reported; the highest salaries still tended to be moving toward the mean.

WAGE PRESSURE. During the hot job market from 1996-2000, starting salaries soared past salaries of employees hired during the economic slowdown of 1990-93. Starting salaries for new graduates also exceeded salaries of those who survived multiple rounds of downsizing or rightsizing. The disparity disrupted organizations where wage gaps were egregiously wide. The same dynamics were in play from 2006-07 before the recession nipped salary growth in the bud.

What does the overall labor market look like? The Employment Situation (October 3, 2014), a monthly payroll report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicated very

53

32

12

1720

25

32

37

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15

Perc

ent

of e

mpl

oyer

s

Academic year

Thirty-seven percent of employers will increase starting salaries by 3-5 percent.

10

17

7

1

5 5 6 7

20

33

20

5

18 19

25

28

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15

Perc

ent

of e

mpl

oyer

s

Performance bonuses for new college graduates are approaching pre-recession levels.

Signing bonus Performance bonus

5

little wage growth throughout the economy. The 2 percent increase for most employees could change quickly, especially if starting salaries increase sharply over the next 10 months. (Of course, the expectations for higher starting salaries could dampen if the global economy slips into another recession, depending on how the EU countries stimulate their economies.)

If wage pressure escalates, employers might switch to hiring lower cost labor. In the college labor market this often means degree substitution; that is, a bachelor’s degree instead of an MBA or an associate’s degree instead of a bachelor’s degree will get the job done. In fact, a recent article suggests starting salaries for some associate’s degrees already top those for bachelor’s degrees (“Where the Jobs Are,” USA Today, September 30, 2014).

Will the college labor market jump-start wage growth? Large corporations could start bidding wars over job candidates, or companies could award more and higher signing bonuses. Although a 3 to 5 percent increase is not enough to move all salaries, a 10 or 20 or 30 percent increase will carry over into the workplace. With a 5 percent increase in starting salaries, new hires will still lag behind current employees.

These incentives could pressure companies to increase wages for all their employees beyond the percentage estimated in the BLS report. The data, however, do not solidly suggest that wage pressure will escalate starting salaries.

WAGE PROGRESSION. Analysis of salary patterns during the recession and recovery reveals wage progression for new college graduates may be moving toward historically high levels. What remains to be seen is whether the college labor market can sustain these increases year after year.

• Before the market tanked, 33 percent of employers offered performance bonuses and 17 percent offered signing bonuses to new college graduates. The percentage of employers offering incentives dropped precipitously by 2010-11. Employers are slowly returning these incentives to salary packages, but only performance bonuses are approaching pre-recession highs.

• Except for the early years of the recession, recent salary progressions of 5 percent or more per year have exceeded inflation (cost of living indices). The majority of employers, however, have held salaries steady over the entire recession and recovery.

Another way to infer the patterns in starting salaries is to examine the reported averages over the last eight years from employers who increased, decreased, or maintained salary levels. The numbers have not been adjusted for inflation. Each year’s sample represents a different mix of employers with only about 40 percent repeating each year.

Starting salaries declined during the first few years of the recession.

• Salary recovery is uneven. Of the majors listed here, advertising may still be in flux.

• Although more employers will increase starting salaries, aggregate salaries will lag behind inflation.

Hiring for MBAs shows the largest gain since 2007.

Degree Employers

(no.)

Number of new

hires per organization

(avg.)

Change from

2013-14 (%)

Associate's 698 12.3 19

Bachelor's 2,116 43.8 16

MBAs 638 5.9 38

Master's (MA, MS) 705 12.5 0

PhD 254 7.3 20

Professional (e.g., law, pharmacy) 161 4.2 8

Total hires 2,191 54.3 16

Starting Salaries, 2014-15

Associate’sAll Engineering $48,558

All Computer Science & Information Technology $46,543

Nursing $40,481

All Business $39,164

All Healthcare and Social Services $36,170

Bachelor’s All Majors $39,045

Electrical Engineering $57,030

Computer Engineering $56,576

Mechanical Engineering $56,055

Software Design $54,183

Computer Programming $54,065

Chemical Engineering $53,622

Computer Science $52,237

Civil Engineering $51,622

Mathematics (includes applied) $47,952

Construction $45,591

Supply Chain $45,508

Finance $44,699

Accounting $44,525

Nursing $43,481

Chemistry $43,344

Human Resources $42,495

Marketing $41,481

Economics $41,118

Humanities & Liberal Arts $39,162

Agricultural Sciences $38,854

Biology $38,806

Public Relations $38,568

Psychology $36,973

Social Work $36,639

Advertising $36,638

Master’s Engineering $69,284

Computer Science & Information Technology $66,281

MBA $62,060

Physical & Biological Sciences $53,271

LIR/Human Resources $51,368

Social Sciences & Humanities $45,312

Starting Salaries

6

Data come from all employers who indicated they recruited in a specific region. Regional employers indicated that they drew candidates from the designated region. National employers comprised slightly less than 40 percent of the responses in each region. The figures presented in the tables and figures are based on the employers who sought bachelor’s talent only.

• International employers will be increasing hiring for bachelor’s degrees by 20 percent.

• National employers will increase by 18 percent.

• Regional employers will increase by 13 percent.

National employers were more likely to recruit in the central Midwest (OH, MI, IN, and IL) and California. Regions showed very similar hiring patternsç this year, increasing 12 to 17 percent at the bachelor’s level and 13 to 18 percent for total hiring across all degree levels. The good news for the college labor market is that hiring for bachelor’s degrees is surging across the country with confidence emerging everywhere.

Hiring by geographical recruiting orientation of employers for bachelor’s degrees and total hires

Employers (#)

Total hires (avg.)

Change from

2013-14

(%)

Bachelor’s degree

hires (avg.)

Change from

2013-14 (%)

International 119 59.7 20 47.1 20

National 597 135.2 19 116.0 18

Regional 1,577 25.6 11 18.4 13

Regional hiring prospects for bachelor’s degrees

RegionEmployers

(#)

Total hires (avg.)

Change from

2013-14 (%)

Bachelor’s degree

hires (avg.)

Change from

2013-14 (%)

New England (MA, ME, NH, VT, CT, RI) 356 147.5 14 124.7 14

Upper Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA, DE) 566 108.7 14 90.1 15

Mid-Atlantic (MD, DC, WV, VA) 467 125.8 18 105.7 17

Southeast (NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, LA, TN, KY)

666 109.3 14 87.0 13

Central Midwest (OH, MI, IN, IL) 729 95.3 15 79.3 14

Upper Plains (IA, WI, MN, ND, SD) 426 117.1 14 97.5 13

South-central Plains (AR, MO, NE, KS, OK, TX, CO)

578 114.5 13 93.3 13

Mountain West (CO, MT, WY, ID, NM, NV, AZ, UT)

611 99.5 13 83.6 12

Pacific Coast (CA, OR, WA, AL) 556 119.0 16 96.9 15

Hiring by Region

AL

AZAR

CA CO

CT

DE

FL

GA

ID

IL IN

IA

KS KY

LA

ME

MD

MA

MI

MN

MS

MO

MT

NENV

NH

NJ

NM

NY

NC

ND

OH

OK

OR

PARI

SC

SD

TN

TX

UT

VT

VA

WA

WV

WI

WY

HI

AK

DC

NewEngland 14%

UpperAtlantic 14%

Mid-Atlantic 18%

Southeast 14%

CentralMidwest 15%

UpperPlains 14%

South-centralPlains 13%

MountainWest 13%

PacificCoast 16%

7

We grouped organizations according to their North American Industrial Classification code, using the first two digits of the code to create 19 major sectors. Organizations with multiple NAIC codes have been assigned their primary number in this survey. The hiring projections have been provided by sector

for the degree levels for which sufficient employers provided valid information.

Hiring looks solid across nearly every sector. Only Utilities and Entertainment reported lower hiring targets at the

bachelor’s level this year than last. The decline in Educational Services can be traced to two school districts; otherwise school districts appear to be positive early in their hiring cycle for the fall of 2015.

Hiring by Economic Sector

Number of hires (avg.)

Sector/degree 2013-14 2014-15Change year over year (%)

AccommodationsAssociate’s 5.6 7.3 30

Bachelor’s 231.3 287.4 24

Administrative ServicesAssociate’s 12.5 16.7 33

Bachelor’s 76.5 83.6 9

AgricultureBachelor’s 12.5 16.8 35

Arts & Entertainment

Bachelor’s 10 8.7 -13

ConstructionAssociate’s 4.2 5.7 35

Bachelors 10.9 11.2 3

MBA 2.7 1.7 -37

Educational Services Bachelor’s 112.9 110.5 -2

Master’s 22 19.2 -13

PhD 4 3.8 -5

Finance & Insurance ServicesAssociate’s 10.1 12.1 20

Bachelor’s 27.7 36.2 31

MBAs 4.9 6.2 25

Master’s 3.2 4.3 33

GovernmentAssociate’s 9.1 9.4 3

Bachelor’s 67.4 83.5 24

Number of hires (avg.)

Sector/degree 2013-14 2014-15Change year over year (%)

MBA 4.4 24 >100

Master’s 9 13.2 46

PhD 5.7 9.2 62

Healthcare & Social ServicesAssociate’s 38.7 40.6 5

Bachelor’s 19.8 21.3 8

MBA 2.4 4.5 84

Master’s 14.3 14.3 NC

Information ServicesAssociate’s 5.8 7.8 34

Bachelor’s 20 30.4 51

MBA 7.7 11.1 44

Master’s 3.1 5.8 85

ManufacturingAssociate’s 6 7 17

Bachelor’s 20.5 24.3 17

MBAs 4.6 4.7 2

Master’s 7.1 8.3 16

PhD 6.2 9.1 47

Mining & OilBachelor’s 78.1 84.8 8

NonprofitsAssociate’s 33.2 47.7 44

Bachelor’s 52.3 60.9 16

MBA 2.7 3.3 24

Number of hires (avg.)

Sector/degree 2013-14 2014-15Change year over year (%)

Master’s 4.6 4.8 5

PhD 9.1 9.2 1

Professional, Scientific & Business Services Associate’s 2.8 4.1 43

Bachelor’s 16.5 20.4 24

MBAs 3.7 4.7 29

Master’s 15.1 15.1 NC

PhD 4.6 5.1 12

Professional 3.7 4.9 32

Real Estate & LeasingBachelor’s 24.1 28.9 20

RetailAssociate’s 4.6 6.8 48

Bachelor’s 48.8 58.9 21

MBA 2.4 2.8 19

TransportationAssociate’s 12.7 12.7 NC

Bachelor’s 49.8 64.3 29

MBAs 3.9 4.5 16

UtilitiesBachelor’s 11.2 9.3 -17

WholesaleBachelor’s 5.5 7.2 30

8

Hiring by Company Size

Organizational size plays an important role in shaping job prospects for college students. For much of the decade, small companies have consistently contributed to the increase in job opportunities.

Organizations are clearly optimistic about hiring this year. Returns from 2,191 employers who provided complete hiring data indicate hiring will improve across all degree levels, except for master’s degrees. These are likely to hold at last year’s average. Bachelor’s hiring will be up a solid 16 percent during the year.

Large organizations expect a breakout year: they will increase bachelor’s hiring by 20 percent. Smaller organizations are feeling the competition in the labor market and are slowing their growth. They are expanding at a modest 12 percent.

After taking an unexpected hit from the financial sector last year, MBA hiring will improve. The percentage increase is the strongest in many years. However, the average hires per organization will remain low based on historical comparisons (see previous Recruiting Trends).

Results for hiring expectations by size of organization are very consistent. Declines are only anticipated in two categories, both at advanced degree levels. Note, however, that the small number of respondents reporting information for advanced degrees (PhD and Professional) warrants caution when interpreting these figures.

Almost half of all survey respondents are small companies.< 100 employees 41%

100 - 1,500 employees 33%

1,500 – 10,000 employees 13%

> 10,000 employees 12%

3.4

9.9

1.4

1.8 2.2

1.4

11.4

96

12

28

14

39 33

18

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Associate's Bachelor's MBA Master's PhD Professional Total

Perc

ent c

hang

e

Ave

rage

num

ber o

f new

jobs

Entrepreneurial, Very Small & Fast-Growth Companies (<100 Employees)

Hires in 2014-15 (avg.) Change from 2013-14 (%)

9.8

22.2

3.7

6

2.3

4.4

29.3 18 17

11

-5

5

10

15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Associate's

Bachelor's MBA

Master's PhD

Professional Total

Perc

ent c

hang

e

Ave

rage

num

ber o

f new

jobs

Small to Midsize Companies (101-1,500 Employees)

Hires in 2014-15 (avg.) Change from 2013-14 (%)

39.1

98.5

7.5 25.9

7.5 4.5

124.8 12 11

12

0

12

-17

10

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Associate's

Bachelor's MBA

Master's PhD

Professional Total

Perc

ent c

hang

e

Ave

rage

num

ber o

f new

jobs

Midsize to Large Companies (1,501-10,000 Employees)

Hires in 2014-15 (avg.) Change from 2013-14 (%)

26.2

163.9

17.2

44.2 29.2

11.3

203.8

11

20

82

1

26

19 20

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

0

50

100

150

200

250

Associate's

Bachelor's MBA

Master's PhD

Professional Total

Perc

ent c

hang

e

Ave

rage

num

ber o

f new

jobs

Very Large Companies (>10,000 Employees)

Hires in 2014-15 (avg.) Change from 2013-14 (%)

9

We asked employers to identify the types of schools they actively recruit from for talent. While the majority focused on public and private institutions, 727 employers recruited from for-profit institutions for bachelor’s degrees; approximately 560, from historically black colleges and universities; and 427, from Hispanic serving institutions (assuming the employer was aware of that designation).

• Associate’s degree hiring will expand 16 to 18 percent, depending on the type of institution.

• Bachelor’s degree hiring will increase by 16 percent or more at both public and private colleges.

• University bachelor ‘s degree hiring targets are expected to expand by 15 percent.

• Historic Black Colleges and Hispanic serving institutions will see employers increasing hiring by 13 to 14 percent, mostly among large organizations.

Hiring by Education Institution

Hiring projections for education institutions

InstitutionEmployers actively recruiting

(#) Employers (%)

Average hires per company

(#)

Change from 2013-14

(%)Two–year public colleges 968 31

Associate’s degrees 452 (hiring info) 15.2 18

Four-year private institutions (bachelor’s degrees only) 1,697 54

Bachelor’s degrees 1,226 (hiring info) 46.8 16

Four-year public institutions (bachelor’s degrees only) 2077 66

Bachelor’s degrees 1,519 (hiring info) 42.1 17

Two-year & four-year for-profit institutions 727 23

Associate’s degrees 277 (hiring info) 18.9 16

Bachelor’s degrees 501 (hiring info) 40.2 13

Universities (public and private) 2,501 80

Bachelor’s degrees 1,835 (hiring Info) 48.1 15

MBA 595 6.0 42

Master’s degree 663 12.9 NC

PhD 240 6.2 17

Professional 148 3.8 5

Advanced degree institutions only 412 13

MBA 112 (hiring info) 13.4 100

Master’s degree 148 14.2 7

PhD 87 8.4 59

Professional 46 5.5 33

Historically black colleges and universities 563 18

Bachelor’s degree 380 (hiring info) 133.4 14

Hispanic serving institutions 427 14

Bachelor’s degrees 282 (hiring info) 126.8 13

10

Hiring by Academic MajorRespondents identified all the majors that they would seek during the 2014-15 recruiting season. About 39 percent (1,227) of employers sought at least one business major, which influences the outcome in the list. A broad segment of employers selected computer science disciplines and IT.

When interpreting the hiring information for selected academic broad disciplines, readers should keep in mind the following:

• The average bachelor’s degrees an organization anticipates hiring may include candidates from several majors of which the listed discipline is a part. Do not assume that all the hires will be in that discipline.

• The concentration figure indicates the anticipated composition of all hires drawn from the discipline. In the case of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 43 percent will hire 10 percent or less of their total hires from this discipline, while 15 percent will hire only within this discipline (100%).

• The percentage increase reflects the expected increase for the total hires but may not reflect the increase for that specific discipline.

All disciplines are expected to grow this year. Educational Services expects to expand hiring by about 7 percent, although this figure is preliminary because education hiring does not coalesce until spring. All other disciplines report increases of 14 to 15 percent.

Information for specific majors within the disciplines indicates that respondents returned sufficient information for this report. For example, 126 employers indicated that they would be hiring agribusiness majors as part of their 64 expected hires (average).

Most requested bachelor’s degreesa

All majors 38%

Accounting 29%

All technical majors 28%

Marketing 27%

Finance 27%

All business majors 26%

Computer science 25%

Computer programming 21%

MIS (Business) 21%

Computer information systems 21%

MIS (Computer Science) 20%

Communications 20%

Human resources 18%

Information sciences 18%

Economics 18%

Electrical engineering 18%

Public relations 17%a. At least 17 percent of employers requested the degrees listed here in descending order.

Hiring for bachelor’s degrees by major group, organization size, and concentrationConcentration of hiring (%)

Major

Total employers

seeking

Employers with <500

employees

Bachelor’s degrees per

company (avg.)

Change from

2013-14 (%)

Within the discipline

(<10%)

Within the discipline

(100%)Agriculture & natural resources (all) 202 50 60 14 43 15

Arts & humanities & social science (all) 433 58 84 23 45 3

Business (all) 1,227 58 47 20 24 17

Communications (all) 573 60 74 25 51 3

Computer science & IT 725 59 60 20 38 12

Education (all) 279 60 69 7 24 30

Engineering (all) 769 58 37 18 23 25

Health sciences 188 54 91 14 49 10

Sciences 388 54 72 19 53 6

Social sciences 288 63 109 24 45 7

All majors 1,184 61 65 16

All technical majors 888 64 36 16

All business majors 805 60 44 19

All liberal arts 390 63 67 17

11

Hiring for selected bachelor’s degrees

MajorTotal employers

seeking (#)

Average bachelor’s

degrees per company (#)

Change from 2013-14 (%)

Agriculture & natural resources

Agribusiness 126 64 15

Agricultural sciences 84 117 15

Agriculture, food & environmental sustainability 122 77 12

Animal sciences 112 102 12

Environmental sciences 236 70 11

Food safety 121 100 14

Natural resource management 127 101 15

Park & recreation 97 119 16

Plant & crop sciences 103 96 17

Arts & humanities & social science

Criminal justice 174 92 20

English 385 62 15

Film Studies 90 71 19

Foreign languages 232 84 11

History 217 76 17

Interior design 90 62 9

International relations 220 67 20

Law/legal studies 226 67 15

Performing/visual arts 143 80 13

Philosophy/religion 129 94 24

Political science 270 72 17

Psychology 384 58 17

Public administration 255 58 18

Sociology/anthropology 253 66 21

Business

Accounting 908 55 19

Building construction 232 54 18

E-commerce/ entrepreneurialism 308 86 19

Economics 589 78 24

Entertainment & sport management 202 160 23

Finance 839 58 23

Hospitality 234 139 21

Human resources 582 54 17

International business 387 100 22

Logistics/supply chain 489 92 23

Hiring by Academic Major

Hiring for selected bachelor’s degrees

MajorTotal employers

seeking (#)

Average bachelor’s

degrees per company (#)

Change from 2013-14 (%)

Marketing 859 61 22

Merchandising 267 114 21

MIS 653 84 22

Risk management 298 62 2

Communications arts & sciences

Advertising 425 53 25

Communication 619 53 23

Film & video production 163 83 25

Interactive media design 235 50 25

Journalism 295 69 20

Public relations 533 49 22

Telecommunications & broadcasting 219 71 27

Computer science

CIS 669 65 18

Computer programming 649 59 18

Computer science 778 59 18

Information sciences 562 74 17

Information security 446 85 18

MIS (computer) 627 67 20

Multimedia design/graphic 361 90 18

EducationPre-k & kindergarten 186 94 8

Elementary 199 91 8

MS Math & science 192 93 8

MS Language arts 183 97 8

MS Social science 180 85 7

HS Math & science 226 81 9

HS Language arts 202 73 4

HS Social science 203 84 8

Special education 208 76 9

EngineeringAerospace/aeronautical 152 72 22

Agriculture/biosystems 108 111 22

Architectural 163 78 20

Bioengineering/biomedical 152 89 27

12

Hiring by Academic Major

Hiring for selected bachelor’s degrees

MajorTotal employers

seeking (#)

Average bachelor’s

degrees per company (#)

Change from 2013-14 (%)

Chemical 243 64 25

Civil 325 51 21

Computer 441 62 17

Electrical 558 38 15

Engineering technicians 341 42 17

Engineering technology 389 52 15

Environmental 210 83 18

General engineering (applied) 331 57 21

Industrial 335 39 18

Materials 205 66 24

Mechanical 406 38 22

Packaging 128 74 25

Petroleum 88 107 20

Health sciences & social servicesCounseling 247 74 17

Family/community services 212 69 21

Health administration 140 108 21

Health information systems 104 132 17

Hiring for selected bachelor’s degrees

MajorTotal employers

seeking (#)

Average bachelor’s

degrees per company (#)

Change from 2013-14 (%)

Nursing 192 111 12

Physical therapy 106 137 14

Social work 278 79 14

Therapists 107 124 15

SciencesActuarial science 107 148 17

Biochemistry 164 109 21

Biology/zoology 183 109 17

Chemistry 257 93 16

Environmental sciences 211 96 17

Geo/earth sciences 150 129 16

Human biology/genetics 135 131 14

Math/applied math 305 96 15

Molecular/microbiology 127 123 11

Physics 209 108 15

Statistics 236 87 19

13

Nearly 2,200 recruiters and hiring managers returned complete data for this section:

• Only 25 percent of respondents had definite hiring plans at the beginning of the academic year.

• Consistent with the past three years, 33 percent had preliminary hiring plans.

• Except for 2011-12, when definite hiring plans soared to 50 percent, fewer and fewer organizations entered the recruiting season with definite hiring plans.

During the next 12 to 18 months, these conditions will drive the recruiting season:

• The season will lengthen commensurately with competition in the college labor market.

• Companies will recruit through spring and summer, necessitating more trips to campus.

• Companies may need to broaden their talent pool to find qualified candidates.

• The pace of recruiting will be rapid despite the longer recruiting season. Its effects will be felt both on and off campus.

• Many students will be unable to adjust their schedules and accommodate interview requests on short notice. Nor will they like accepting or declining offers in a hurry.

• The normal downtime built into college academic calendars will not provide respite for career center staff responding to increased employer activities.

• Recruiters already burned out by this fall’s career-fair fatigue will be stretched thin. They will need to absorb the pressure of expanding campus visits and processing more applicants.

Average Bachelor’s Degree Hires by Recruiting Strategy

Recruiting strategyEmployers selecting

(%)Bachelor’s degree hires per organization (avg.)

Change from 2013-14 (%)

Campus orientedPost positions in employment system 2,616 46.3 16

Career fairs 2,022 59.0 16

Internship/co-op 1,888 46.5 15

Information sessions 1,569 73.3 16

Resume referrals 1,501 60.3 17

Faculty connections 1,365 68.4 17

On-campus Interviewing 1,253 82.7 16

Alumni organization 593 93.3 16

Organization drivenPost on company web site 2,177 49.5 17

Recruiting Strategies & Hiring

14

The internship scene is improving this year. More than 53,000 intern and co-op positions will be available, an average of 25 positions per company.

• Ninety-two percent of survey respondents offer college students some form of experiential or pre-professional experience, including practicums, apprenticeships, clinical rotations, professional practice, and other work-integrated learning.

• Nearly 60 percent of employers offer internships.

• Nearly 40 percent will enlarge their intern and co-op pool compared to last year. (Only 4 percent will decrease the number of interns.)

• More than 25 percent offer professional work experiences during summer.

• About 15 percent offer co-ops.

The mix of paid and unpaid positions is changing this year.

• Seventy-one percent of employers will pay interns, up slightly from 67 percent last year.

• About 15 percent will not pay, a slight improvement from 17 percent last year.

• Another 14 percent will provide a mix of paid and unpaid opportunities depending on the intern’s assignment.

SECTOR. All sectors offer some form of pre-professional experience. Survey respondents reported their plans as follows:

• Ninety percent of Utilities, Agriculture and Natural Resources companies will hire interns and co-ops.

• Eighty percent of Accommodations (Hospitality); Arts and Entertainment; Construction; Manufacturing; and Nonprofits companies will hire interns and co-ops.

• Accommodations (Hospitality); Agriculture and Natural Resources; and Mining and Oil will hire an average of more than 70 interns per company.

• At the other end, Construction, Nonprofits; Real Estate and Leasing; and Wholesale will bring on 15 or fewer interns per company.

• Most companies in Construction; Manufacturing; Mining and Oil; Retail; and Transportation will pay their interns; fewer than 5 percent will offer unpaid internships.

• Educational Services and Healthcare and Social Services will hire the fewest interns because these sectors offer other forms of pre-professional practice.

The following sectors have the highest percentage of unpaid internships:

• Nonprofits (56%)

• Arts and Entertainment (48%)

• Healthcare and Social Services (41%)

• Educational Services (41%)

• Government (31%)

• Information Services (23%)

COMPANY SIZE. When viewed by company size, hiring for interns and co-ops runs along similar lines.

• Eighty percent of large organizations (> 10,000 employees) and about 70 percent of the smallest companies will bring on interns and co-ops this year.

• Nearly 90 percent of the largest organizations will pay their interns and co-ops; while 57 percent of the smallest organization will pay theirs.

•

• About 24 percent of small companies (< 100 employees) are more likely to offer unpaid internships.

ACADEMIC CREDIT. Higher education institutions promote internships and co-ops as part of a student’s academic program. Some encourage students to work in exchange for academic credit. Employers reported on their willingness to comply with the requirements for awarding credit:

• Approximately 55 percent of employers are willing to hire interns and meet the education institution’s reporting requirements.

• Another 20 percent will hire them (somewhat reluctantly) if the institution requires credit, the internship is unpaid, and the job requirements satisfy the Bureau of Labor’s conditions for unpaid internships.

• Only 25 percent will not deal with academic credit.

• By company size, the percentage increases slightly. Nearly 30 percent of the very large organizations (> 10,001) will not deal with academic credit; the rest are willing to do so.

Interns & Co-ops

Companies will hire an average of 25 interns or co-ops.

Employees per companyInterns per

company (avg.)

< 100 6

101-1,500 17

1,501-10,000 40

> 10,001 94

Hourly wages are calculated from hourly and monthly salary data sent by employers.a

DegreeHourly (mean)

Company size

Very small< 100

Small100-

1.500

Medium – large

1,501-10,000

Very large

> 10,001Engineering $16.47 $15.07 $16.00 $18.08 $18.86

Accounting $15.08 $14.14 $14.51 $16.08 $16.46

Physical & biological sciences

$14.31 $12.78 $13.97 $16.54 $14.77

Business $14.15 $12.53 $13.71 $15.33 $16.48

Social science, humanities & communications

$13.03 $11.82 $12.89 $14.22 $15.00

Healthcare $12.80 $12.00 $12.15 $13.59 $14.00

Agricultural & natural resources

$12.60 $11.82 $12.17 $12.88 $14.04

a. Stipends, commissions, housing and food allowances, and other payments are not included.

15

Every year recruiters and employers weigh in with their concerns about the new college labor market (1,800 sent comments). Everyone presumes they will achieve their hiring targets; however, six common obstacles are emerging early this year.

1. Competition for qualified candidates is escalating to a degree rarely seen in the past ten years. Large companies targeted an average of 70 candidates in 2012–13. This year they will target more than double that number (160).

2. Recruiting staff are stretched to the limit. After cutting recruiting positions and budgets during the recession, organizations are now rehiring as quickly as their budgets allow. Still, they come to campus events understaffed and have trouble maintaining their branding on core campuses. Adding stress to an already challenging environment, some companies suspect their industry may lack certain cool factors — unglamorous locations or salaries lagging behind industry leaders — that prevent qualified candidates from giving them than a passing glance.

3. Employers want to identify talent, recruit qualified candidates quickly, and bring new hires on-board smoothly. Increasing red tape on campus is barring their way. Employers

intuit the reason for red tape: everyone wants money. Especially troubling are the academic departments suggesting financial support will increase an employer’s access to students and faculty. Employers complain about the resulting communication breakdowns: unanswered phone calls, delays in posting positions, email spam, and growing arrogance among career center staff. The climate on campus influences how aggressively organizations will pursue students. The education institution’s reputation may rise or fall depending on how many of its graduates obtain jobs, even in a growing labor market.

4. After recruiters jump through the requisite hoops and gain access to students, they find themselves underwhelmed by the pool of qualified candidates. They perennially and rightfully complain about new graduates who lack the experience, skills, and competency to work for their company. For example, some candidates in the sciences lack the laboratory experience necessary for basic bench jobs. Some candidates cannot pass the organization’s background checks. Although the college labor market tilts in the student’s favor this year, employers are not lowering their expectations for new hires or supporting a workplace in which any warm body will do.

5. Recruiters and employers observe students entering the recruiting season with lackluster résumés and slipshod cover letters. The students who receive interviews appear unfocused and unmotivated. The ones who receive job offers display unrealistic expectations about starting salaries and ignorance about labor market conditions. Such candidates may be diamonds in the rough, but employers want to see at least a modicum of polish.

6. Reneging is the bane of the recruiting season. If parents and employers themselves encourage young adults to take the best deal, anytime, anyplace, why should reneging be a problem? In fact, nobody likes it, and everybody tends to blame the student. While a graduate’s indecision can be irksome and seem irresponsible, so are parents who exert pressure on their child to renege on one offer and take another with a company the parents deem acceptable. So, too, are employers who, having lost the battle to attract their chosen candidate, fail to respect the candidate’s decision or try to poach graduates who already have jobs.

Respondent Concerns

16

Final Thoughts

As I finally pen these lines, I realize trying to multitask does not work for some folks. I really thought I would be able to prepare this report despite working two other full-time jobs here at MSU. The good news is that the release of the basic forecast in early October was a big hit. With additional short reports on starting salaries and internships everyone had basic information they could use to help students and recruiters frame their decisions. The media also appreciated the shorter versions.

Still many of you wanted more detailed information in one big report. We struggled putting this together so that you could have detailed breakouts with a minimum of written text. While the final report is months late, we do hope you find the numbers helpful as you plan for next fall.

We anticipated a strong labor market through the spring. The length of the labor market serves as a proxy for the level of competition and number of available opportunities this year. Macroeconomic benchmarks for the first quarter (January through March) were disappointing; many observers were

riveted to the Fed’s decision to raise interest rates. Because of sluggishness in the global economy from Europe to China and South America, the U.S. economy may show some contraction. But overall there seems to be resiliency in our economy. The question we wrestle with is how long do we expect this college market to perform at double-digit growth

Without a Black Swan Event (unexpected events with huge economic impacts), we should anticipate several years with an expanding and competitive new college labor market. As the largest yearly Boomer cohorts enter their prime retirement years, companies will be challenged to replace them quickly. Retirements and turnover will be two key drivers in keeping the market moving forward.

While the new college market will be competitive for employers, students should not become complacent. This year’s market will not resemble the chaotic markets of the late 1990s when employers hired any graduate with a pulse. Employers are still concerned about the readiness of many college graduates to enter the labor market. Employers may

widen their talent pools, but candidates who are unprepared, lack pre-professional experience, and cannot clearly articulate their academic and work history and career goals may fail to make it through the company’s front door.

The new college labor market is more robust than it has been in years. Seniors still seeking a job and students transitioning from college over the next several years, remember no matter how great the labor market outlook, you still need to be:

Focused, Directed & Connected

Collegiate Employment Research Institute113 Student Services Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824 Phone: (517)355-2211 Fax: (517 )355-9523 E-mail: gardnerp@msu.edu

Recruiting Trends 2014—2015 © 2014-2015 Michigan State University