Starting salaries in most fields are up despite anticipation of an economic slowdown, according to a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
Camille Luckenbaugh, employment information manager for the organization, said that although wages are going up, the change this year is moderate compared to previous years.
“Over the last few years we’ve seen such dramatic increases that now we’re just kind of settling in and seeing things settle down,” she said. “This is more usual. The last few years are what would be considered the anomalies, per se.”
The organization, founded in 1956, provides college career placement services and employers with information on the job market.
Luckenbaugh said the talk of a slower economy hasn’t been as bad as many people believe.
“Anything that we’ve heard anecdotally really doesn’t suggest anything tragic going on,” she said. “Some people are saying employers are pulling back a little to wait and see while other people are telling me, ‘Well we have as many employers on campus now as ever.’”
According to the survey, accounting graduates can expect a starting salary of about $38,739 - a 3.8 percent increase from the last quarter of 2000 - reported the Bethlehem, Pa.-based information organization.
The increase for business administration graduates was smaller than their accounting counterparts. They experienced a 1.3 percent increase, bringing the average starting salary up to $33,314.
Other careers fared much better.
Computer engineering graduates, for example, saw a larger increase in salaries, with the average wage at $53,443, up 14.3 percent from last year’s figures.
But Phil Gardner, director of Career Services and Placement, said the data doesn’t quite represent the whole picture yet.
“This is only an interim report,” he said. “Usually what we get in the interim report is a lot of the high numbers.”
Gardner also said less popular majors were the ones that experienced bigger salary increases.
“Computer engineering is a relatively small major,” he said. “When you get a major that has a lot of people in it, like mechanical (engineering), the salaries don’t move as fast.”
Higher wages also mean higher competition, Gardner said.
“Salaries are an indicator of how competitive the market is,” he said. “If they’re going up more than the rate of inflation it signals that in those areas there’s probably some competition for filling positions.”
Chemistry and education senior Richard Peterson said he was happy with the news but not worried about increased job competition.
“It’s always nice to know that you’re going in with a higher pay,” he said. “I’m going into chemistry and education and they’re both in high demand.”
Ana Soporean, an engineering mechanics senior, will be starting work with the Dearborn-based auto parts manufacturer Visteon Corporation in June. She said the job search can be frustrating.
“I was an intern for the past two summers,” she said. “I also looked around with other companies just to see what I could get and it was a little bit harder.”
But English senior Bradley Smock said the news doesn’t impact him that much.
“I don’t know if the increased wage makes me any more confident,” he said. “I’m just basically trying to find a job, and whether they pay 30 or 60,000 dollars doesn’t really matter to me that much.”
Salaries aside, Smock said the job search itself is a pain.
“It’s entirely cumbersome,” he said.
