The job outlook for recent Minnesota college graduates
You might remember my post in July about the Minnesota College Job Outlook, a survey by St. Cloud State University of employers who recruit Minnesota college grads.
The main point of the post reflected the one highlighted in an Alexandria newspaper article: Students need to get a clue about what kind of jobs they'll be getting.
The newspaper has since archived the article, but the university has since released a summary of the findings and of the survey itself:
http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/253409-2012-mn-jobsoutlook-survey-summary.html
MN College Job Outlook 2012
Hiring Plans
Plan to increase hiring 36.4%
Plan to maintain hiring 55.1%
Plan to decrease hiring 8.5%
Salary Plans
Plan to increase salary 10.1%
Plan to maintain salary 88.2%
Plan to decrease 1.7%
Hiring by Industry (for industries with at least four respondents):
Increase Maintain Decrease
Education 75% 25% 0%
Retail 54.5% 45.5% 0%
Business Services 50% 50% 0%
Technology 35.7% 50% 14.3%
Financial Services 35.3% 52.9% 11.8%
Non Profit/Human Serv. 33.3% 58.3% 8.3%
Manufacturing 22.2% 77.8% 0%
Government 16.7% 58.3% 25%
Healthcare 0% 100% 0%
Recruiting Methods for College Students/New Grads
Percentages reflects number of employers who selected each item
Job Fairs 92.4%
Job posting on company website 84.0%
Employee referrals 79.8%
Job posting on campus website 73.9%
Job posting on internet job board 65.5%
Hire from intern program 56.3%
Job posting on social media site 47.9%
On campus interviewing 47.9%
Job posting in newspaper classified 20.2%
Most Effective Recruiting Methods
Employers were asked to identify which method generally yields the greatest number of new college hires. Employers were only allowed to select their number one answer.
Job Fairs 28.6%
Hire from intern program 13.4%
Job posting on campus website 12.6%
Employee referrals 11.8%
Job posting on internet job board 11.8%
Job posting on company website 10.9%
On campus interviewing 6.7%
Percentage of employers who offer internships 80.7%
Skills Most Important for Students to Possess
Employers were asked, in an open ended question, to indicate the most important skill they seek in new college hires.
Top 10
One: Communication (verbal and written)
Two: Leadership
Three: Motivation/Self-starter
Four: Technical Skills
Five: Positive Attitude/Passion
Six: Experience (internship, coop, etc.)
Seven: Interpersonal communication
Eight: Eager to learn/ability to learn
Eight (tie): Flexible
Eight (tie): Professionalism
Skills Students Most Need to Improve Upon
Top 10
One: More realistic job expectations
Two: Professionalism
Three: Communication
Four: Interviewing skills/preparation
Five: Work Ethic
Six: Lose sense of entitlement
Seven: Writing skills
Eight: Flexibility
Eight (tie): Leadership
Ten: Knowledge of company/organization
What Colleges/Universities Need to do Differently and/or Better
A variety of suggestions/requests were made from employers but the most frequently cited comments by far tended to fall into three areas, which in order of frequency were:
Do more career coaching/career preparation. Comments included: do more career preparation in the classroom, teach interviewing skills, networking, resume writing, etc.; get students started on career exploration, career preparation and connecting with employers sooner; teach students about careers and career options and provide them with more realistic job expectations; promote your career services more.
Have students get more experience/get more students to do internships.
Have colleges work together to provide more centralized recruiting options, e.g., a joint job posting system, more consortium career fairs, etc.
Survey Background
The MN College Job Outlook survey is the only study of its kind which specifically surveys employers who are actively recruiting in MN for new college graduates.
The following is a summary of our eighth annual survey, conducted by Andrew Ditlevson, Associate Director, St. Cloud State University Career Services Center.
Survey Methodology
Two hundred and fifty-seven employers actively recruiting new college graduates in Minnesota were surveyed in August/September of 2011. One hundred and nineteen responses were received resulting in a 43.6% response rate.
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