Job prospects are looking up for spring 2017 college graduates, according to an annual St. Cloud State survey of Minnesota employers.
The Minnesota College Job Outlook survey of 78 employers reports 46 percent plan to increase new college hires.
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“By comparison, 36 percent of employers in last year’s survey indicated they planned to increase their hiring of new college graduates,” said Andy Ditlevson, associate director at St. Cloud State’s Career Center in Centennial Hall.
More than 50 percent of employers surveyed said they would maintain the number of new college hires, while only 3 percent reported a planned decrease, according to Ditlevson, who manages the 13-year-old survey.
Responses were gathered from employers active in college recruiting between Dec. 28, 2016, and Jan. 6, 2017.
“Graduating students interested in pursuing a career in human services/social services organizations should be particularly pleased as 70 percent of those employers plan to increase their number of new college hires,” Ditlevson said.
More than half the employers in these industries also reported they would increase new college hires: manufacturing (60 percent), staffing firms (57 percent), retail (50 percent) and education (50 percent).
Most common methods for recruiting new college graduates, in rank order, include college job fairs, posting on a company website, employee referrals, posting on campus website and posting on a job board and social media, according to the survey results.
St. Cloud State is hosting two job fairs for its students this month: the Jan. 18 Career/Job Fair Prep Party and Jan. 27 Diversity Job and Internship Fair.
View dozens of other metrics in the survey’s executive summary (PDF).
