Latest JSU Graduates Likely to Benefit
from Healthy Job Market

By Sara Polsky
Star Staff Writer
07-18-2007

A stronger job market has eased the transition from the classroom to the workplace for members of Jacksonville State University’s class of 2007.

“My sense is that … the job market is better, absolutely better” than it has been in recent years, said Janet White, director of JSU’s Career Placement Services.

The strong job market for JSU grads reflects a nationwide trend. Due to business growth, employers planned to hire 19.2 percent more new graduates this year than they did from the class of 2006, according to an annual job outlook survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Job prospects were even better for students hoping to work in the South, where employers expected a 25.5 percent increase in hiring, the NACE survey found.

White said her office does not yet have job placement statistics for 2007 graduates, since students come to the placement office when they’re looking for jobs but often don’t report back once they’ve found them.

But White said she’d seen increased recruiting by the federal government, particularly the Department of the Treasury and the Defense Contracting Management Agency, at JSU this year. Honda also continued to recruit a significant number of JSU students.

Demand for technology and engineering majors, computer science majors, and teachers remained high this year, and White said she also saw increased demand for accounting majors.

Jason Webb, an Oxford resident who graduated from JSU this year with a major in accounting, said he’d had a fairly easy time getting his job as an accountant with the Treasury Department in Birmingham.

The career placement office at JSU set up Webb’s interview with the Treasury Department, and he said two of his professors also helped him prepare for the job search.

The process seems to have gone equally smoothly for Webb’s peers in the accounting department.

“I don’t know of anyone who has had a hard time finding a job,” he said.

New graduates, particularly those who majored in accounting, economics, and management information systems, also can expect higher salaries for entry-level positions, according to a NACE report on salaries released this month.About

About Sara Polsky

Sara Polsky is an intern for The Anniston Star. A native of Summit, N.J., Sara graduated in May from Harvard University.

See story at The Anniston Star's website: www.annistonstar.com .

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