College Grads' Job Prospects Look Brighter
Job prospects are looking up for college graduates.</br></br>"The hiring picture is a lot better than it has been," says John Howard, who is getting his master's degree in business administration at the University of Mississippi. In August he'll become a $20,000-a-year management trainee at Deposit Guaranty National Bank in Jackson, Miss.</br></br>Many 1984 graduates are facing a choice of jobs. Allan Darr, who will get his master's in industrial administration from Carnegie-Mellon University this month, received offers from eight companies. He signed with TRW Inc. at a starting salary of $40,000.</br></br>Corporate recruiting has rebounded with the economy. A Northwestern University survey of major corporations shows that graduates are receiving 20% to 25% more job offers this year than last, when recruiting took place just as business was beginning to pick up after a deep recession. But recruiting activity hasn't returned to its pre-recession level.</br></br>"This year all 10 of our interview rooms were filled every day from Oct. 1 to May 1," says Christopher Shinkman, Stanford University's placement director. During the first quarter almost twice as many employers recruited at Stanford as a year ago. "This has been as good a year as we've had," Mr. Shinkman says. "And some of the best news is that not all of the increases have been on the technical side."