(Bloomberg Business) -- Good news for the class of 2015: Recruiters filling positions this spring are planning to hire 9.6 percent more college graduates this year than they did last year, a new report shows. To get those jobs, however, it takes being a certain type of graduate.
For a report published on Wednesday, the National Association of Colleges and Employers looked at which majors and college degrees will be in highest demand this year, based on a survey of 1,029 employers in 21 industries, including manufacturing, social services, finance, engineering, and consulting. Below: what their findings can tell you about the job search.
1) Shelled out for your MBA? You might have been better off with a bachelor's
NACE's data suggess that, over the next year, people with bachelor's degrees—not those with MBAs or Ph.Ds—will be in highest demand among employers. Nearly 82 percent of employers said they want bachelor's degree holders. Only 17.3 percent said they want people with master's degrees, and just 10.6 percent said they want MBAs—less than the share that want people with associate degrees (13.9 percent). This shows there are more jobs for BAs, not necessarily better ones. And the pool of people competing for those bachelor's degree-requiring jobs is also larger than, say, the number of people with Ph.Ds.
2) If you majored in creative writing, you might be all right.
Employers most want to hire engineering majors, followed by business majors, computer science majors, and accounting majors, NACE's data show. No big surprises there. But the stereotype of creative writing majors heading straight for the bottom of the employment pool doesn't quite bear out. Rather, liberal arts degrees such as humanities and communications fell somewhere below the middle of the pack. The degree in lowest demand was health services—perhaps because most employers in the health- care fields want to see you earn additional degrees or certifications before they'll hire you.
3) Employers are posting more jobs, but applicants' résumé game is weak
In the last year, employers said they put up an average of 148 postings each—a huge jump from the 2013-14 hiring cycle, when they said they put up 99 postings apiece. Yet job applicants haven't ramped up their "To Whom it May Concern" e-mails at the same rate. In fact, the number of applications per posting decreased slightly in the year spanning 2014-2015, to 23.4, from 28.4 in 2013-14. If the trend keeps up, graduates may be lucky enough to face slightly less competition for jobs this year.
4) Many more employers are gearing up to expand hiring than are slowing down
It looks as if the economic recovery has given businesses the chance to plump up their hiring budget. Nearly 56 percent of employers plan to increase the number of people they hire this year, up from 48 percent last year. Just under 12 percent plan to keep hiring levels the same, and 32 percent are cutting back on the number of hires.
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