Employers will hire more college grads this year

Good news (finally!) for young college graduates.

According to a survey released on April 16, employers said they plan to increase the number of college graduates they hire this year by nearly 9 percent.

Good employment outlook for Class of 2014

The National Association of Colleges and Employers asked 161 companies about their hiring plans for the survey. Overall, employers said they expected to hire 8.6 percent more graduates from the Class of 2014 than they did from last year’s graduating class.

This is an increase from employers were surveyed last fall, when they said they expected to hire 7.6% more graduates.

The positive hiring outlook for the Class of 2014 is a welcome change. Now that companies are recovering from the Recession, it will be easier for college graduates to find jobs than over the past 5 or so years.

And with better job prospects, college graduates will have a better chance of being able to pay of their student loans–or at least be able to make payments on a manageable student loan repayment plan.

Business, technology majors in high demand

According to the survey, employers are most likely to hire graduates who majored in business, engineering, accounting and computer science. This has been the case for several years, experts say.

Over the past few years, these in-demand majors, particularly STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) degrees, have also tended to pay better than degrees in the social sciences and humanities.

Employers value problem solving, communication skills

But if you’re a student who majored in one of the degrees on the bottom of this list, don’t fret. Employers in the survey said they actually valued “soft skills,” such as strong decision-making and problem-solving abilities, along with communication skills, as the most important skills for their hires to possess.

These skills can be learned in any major–and may actually favor students who take most of their classes in the liberal arts and humanities, as students in these majors are often asked to think abstractly and read and write often.

Plan for student loan repayment before graduation

Even with good job prospectives, however, if you’re a member of the Class of 2014, it’s important to remember to start thinking about repaying student loans BEFORE you graduate.

You won’t receive bills from your federal student loan lenders until 6-9 months after graduation, but if you have unsubsidized loans, those loans have been accruing interest since you started college and will continue to do so before you ever receive a bill.

So if you’re able to pay at least the interest on these loans, you should do it to keep interest from compounding and increasing your overall student loan balance.

Whether you’ve graduated or not, if you need help figuring out the best student loan repayment plan for your situation or managing your monthly payments, feel free to reach out to us through our contact form or call us at 1-888-234-3907.