July 17, 2009

Starting salaries hold ground for grads

• 1 Comment |
• E-mail |
• Print
• • Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

In my continuing efforts to find as many silver linings as possible in the black, cumulonimbus clouds of this recession, I came across some moderately encouraging news from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) about recent graduates looking for work. After many months of depressing numbers for the Class of 2009, a study released this week says the salaries for those who do find work are holding relatively steady.

NACE's Summer 2009 Salary Survey found that the national average for starting offers was $49,307 per year for college grads across 70 bachelor's degree disciplines. This figure represents just a 1 percent dip from the $49,693 salary average last year at this time--pretty remarkable considering all that has happened in the job market in the last 12 months.

Some disciplines, of course, fared better than others. Here's a quick rundown of the bachelor's degree majors that enjoyed the largest average starting-salary offer increases this year compared to last year's at this time:

Software design and development - 5.6 percent increase to $65,619.

Electrical engineering - 5.6 percent increase to $60,125.

Marketing - 3 percent increase to $43,325.

Finance - 2.9 percent increase to $49,940.

Chemical engineering - 2.7 percent increase to $64,902.

Psychology - 2.1 percent increase to $34,284.

Accounting - 1.9 percent increase to $48,993.

History -- 1.7 percent increase to $37,861.

Computer science - 1.6 percent increase to $61,407.

English - 1.1 percent increase to $34,704.

The sectors that showed the largest starting-salary decreases in the NACE study included:

Economics - 1.3 percent decrease to $49,829.

Business administration - 2.1 percent decrease to $44,944.

Sociology - 4.4 percent decrease to $33,280.

Retail/wholesale management - 6 percent decrease to $40,220.

Those with degrees in the "increase" category above can be forgiven for not exactly jumping for joy. In a Spring Student Survey released by NACE in May, only about one in five 2009 grads (19.7 percent) who had applied for a job said they had received an offer. Last year, that figure was one in four (26 percent); in 2007, it was one out of every two grads (51 percent). Salaries don't mean much if you never get a call back.

Like I said, it's only a glimmer of hope. But at least the survey shows that, despite the current economic troubles, employers are still reluctant to cut back dramatically on salaries.

Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.

• 1 Comment |
• E-mail |
• Print
• • Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Read more

1 Comments

Rod Mattson on July 21, 2009 5:56 PM | Reply

I am so disappointed that the field of communication wasn't on that list. No matter what field anyone chooses, communication is involved. Everyone should study communication to one degree or another. It is the basis for all human interaction.

As Pericles in 5th Century BC Athens said, "A person who has the knowledge but lacks the power to express it clearly is no better off than if he never had any ideas at all."

In the State of Washington, there is no K-12 teaching endorsement for Communication graduates.

I have never understood why.

I am sure that if our field was surveyed, we'd come in right on par with a business degree as many of our graduates go into Public Relations, Marketing, Business Administration, Investor relations, Communication and Publications, Crisis Management, Sales, etc

Rod Mattson

Leave a comment

* required field

Your name: *

E-mail address: (Will not be displayed)

Your comment: *

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.