Supply and demand dictate
'banner year' for recruiting
Liberal arts majors with technical skills should have relatively little
trouble finding a job this year, according to Emory Career Center Director
Tariq Shakoor, who-along with his colleagues at other universities-experienced
a "banner year" in on-campus recruiting, career fairs and job
offers to students.
"It's a simple case of supply and demand," Shakoor said. "There
aren't enough computer science/engineering graduates in the marketplace.
Employers know they can train liberal arts majors in technical areas-and
they also appreciate the academic background, intellectual curiosity and
leadership/interpersonal skills they bring to the job."
Opportunities for law school graduates and MBAs are also on the rise.
The job market for law graduates continues to improve, both in Atlanta and
across the country, according to Carolyn Bregman, assistant dean for career
services at Emory Law School.
"We're already about two months ahead of where we were last year
in number of job listings," Bregman said. "It's a hopeful sign,
and the job market seems to be generally stronger among people I've talked
to all over the country."
She also is seeing aggressive recruiting by law firms in small- and mid-sized
cities who are pitching competitive starting salaries, a moderate cost of
living and a less-hectic quality of life. "Firms recruiting here from
Birmingham pointed out that you don't have to commute an hour and a half
to work and back, and that more affordable homes are available closer to
the office. It's a different spin on life," Bregman said.
Emory MBAs can anticipate receiving more offers and higher starting salaries
this spring, according to Samantha Renfroe, director of MBA career services.
Incentives companies are offering to newly minted MBAs include signing bonuses
and the promise of annual bonuses based on company performance.
As in previous years, Renfroe said, Emory students are benefiting from
the "insatiable appetite for MBAs," of consulting firms. Last
year more than 30 percent of Emory's MBA class went into consulting, a field
that continues to boom with all the deregulation and merger-and-acquisition
activity in the telecommunications, energy and utilities industries. Commercial
banks also are hiring more MBAs, Renfroe said, because they've taken on
more of the responsibilities of brokerage firms and need employees with
more technical expertise than in the past.
Regardless of the state of the job market, Shakoor advises students to
get acquainted with career center services early in their college careers.
-Nancy Seideman
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