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<TD vAlign=top><SPAN class=storysubheadline><STRONG><FONT size=5>Top 10
degrees in demand</FONT></STRONG></SPAN>
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<TD vAlign=top><!--endclickprintexclude--><STRONG><FONT
color=#666666><SPAN class=storytease>A new survey indicates a brighter job
outlook for new college grads compared with last
year.</SPAN><BR></FONT></STRONG><FONT size=1><FONT color=#666666><FONT
face=Verdana><SPAN class=timestamp>November 12, 2004: 10:55 AM EST
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<P><B>NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A majority of employers expect the job market
for the class of 2005 to be more robust than last year, with more
positions to fill and higher starting salaries. </B></P><!--startclickprintexclude--><!-- REAP --><!-- /REAP --><!--endclickprintexclude-->
<P>Graduates with a bachelor's in business, engineering and
computer-related fields will be in highest demand. </P>
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<P>Those are some of the key findings of the Job Outlook 2005 survey,
conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, released
Friday. </P><!-- CL type: context (narrow) --><!-- CL category: moneycollege -->
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<P>"We're seeing a number of positive indications that the job market for
new college graduates is improving," said Marilyn Mackes, NACE's executive
director, in a statement. "For example, more than 80 percent of responding
employers rated the job market for new college graduates as good, very
good, or excellent. In comparison, last year at this time just over 38
percent gave the job market those ratings." </P>
<P>The survey found that seven out of 10 respondents expect to increase
starting salary offers by an average of 3.7 percent. Employers also said
they would reassess their hiring needs more frequently. The largest group
(33.3 percent) said they would do so quarterly. In last year's survey, the
largest group (27.4 percent) said they would only do so annually. </P><!--startclickprintexclude--> <!--endclickprintexclude-->
<P>When asked which new college grads they were likely to hire, the
greatest number of employers said they were interested in hiring grads who
majored in <STRONG>accounting, electrical engineering, mechanical
engineering, business administration and economics/finance</STRONG>. </P>
<P>Rounding out the top 10 list were students who majored in
<STRONG>computer science, computer engineering, marketing or marketing
management, chemical engineering, and information sciences and
systems</STRONG>. </P>
<P>Of the 254 employers who took NACE's survey, 45.7 percent were
service-sector employers, 40.5 percent were manufacturers, and nearly 13.8
percent were government or nonprofit employers. Regionally, 35.8 percent
are from the Midwest; 30.7 percent are based in the South; 21.3 percent
are in the Northeast; and 12.2 percent hail from the West. </P>
<P>In an earlier NACE survey this fall, nearly 61 percent of employers
said they planned to hire more college grads from the class of 2004-05
than they did from the previous year's class. On balance, NACE expects to
see an increase in hiring of 13 percent.
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