Good news for college seniors: The job market is booming

Good news for college seniors: The job market is booming

Transcript¹

College graduates are entering a hot labor² market with national data showing employers are significantly boosting recruitment. Many seniors are accepting job offers months before they graduate.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

All right. Just about to graduate from college and looking for a job? Actually great timing³. The growing competition for graduates is allowing for earlier job offers, higher starting wages and more control during the hiring process. Rich Kremer from Wisconsin Public Radio reports.

RICH KREMER, BYLINE⁴: The final months before college graduation can be a time of anxious job searches and streams of outgoing resumes. That's not the case for University of Wisconsin-River Falls senior Nissy Obasi. The computer science and economics double major accepted an offer in August to become an investment analyst⁵ with Deutsche Bank in New York.

NISSY OBASI: I've had the chance to really enjoy senior year without having that on my back.

KREMER: Her advice to other students who may still be looking - don't be afraid to counter an offer because you may have the upper hand.

OBASI: I feel like negotiation⁶ skills, not a lot of people have them. So if you're given an offer for 100k, you just take it. You can get that to 120k and maybe throw something on top. You can just negotiate.

KREMER: A spring survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows businesses planning to boost college grad recruitment by more than 30% this year. That's the sharpest year-to-year increase in at least a decade.

JOSHUA KAHN: This is an even hotter period for recruiters than they thought it was going to be in the fall.

KREMER: Josh Kahn is assistant director of research for the group. He says recruiters are keenly aware of increasing competition for college grads. Their average starting salary is projected to top $50,000.

KAHN: They know that they need to make good offers. They know that they need to raise wages and benefits to make attractive offers, competitive offers.

KREMER: Taylor Schmidtfranz is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, who landed a teaching job in April just one day after her first interview.

TAYLOR SCHMIDTFRANZ: February and March, I was kind of freaking out a little because I'm like, what am I doing with my life? Like, where am I going to live and all that stuff? But it feels really good. I feel ready to graduate now.

KREMER: Even for seniors like U.W. Eau Claire's Hannah Leah (ph), graduating without a job offer isn't that scary.

HANNAH LEAH: It's a really big job market right now, so I'm not really too concerned, especially because there's, like, a teacher shortage and they're paying people to go back to school to become teachers because they need them so bad.

KREMER: The national unemployment rate for those with at least a four-year degree was 2% in March. The unemployment rate for those with high school diplomas was twice that. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported a record pay gap last year of $22,000 between those with bachelor degrees and those without.

JIM KWAPICK: With a college degree, your ability to be employed is greatly enhanced.

KREMER: That's Jim Kwapick, district director for international talent recruiting company Robert Half.

KWAPICK: Many employers are getting out ahead of the graduating class, and they're locking students in well before they graduate, unlike it's ever been.

KREMER: But college enrollment⁷ has fallen since 2020. Elise Gould with the Economic Policy Institute says the pandemic added new roadblocks for many minority and lower income potential students who may not have been able to come up with tuition.

ELISE GOULD: That's just not accessible to many people across the country.

KREMER: As the race to recruit college students heats up, those watching the trends expect things to cool, though they're not sure how or when. In the meantime, those nearing graduation appear to be calling the shots in today's hiring economy, and they know it.

For NPR News, I'm Rich Kremer in Eau Claire.

(SOUNDBITE OF UNWED SAILOR'S "AJO")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

7 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。