Recruiters estimate entry-level employees will be offered an average of $56,532 this year, up more than $10,000 since last year's estimate of an average of $45,361. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Things are looking up for the latest crop of grads: they're expecting good starting salaries and planning on a more-defined career path, which may mean they won't be job-hopping the way their elder colleagues have been doing.
According to the Society for Human Resource Management, reporting on data from talent acquisition software company iCIMS, the 2018 grads, composed of a blend of millennials and GenZ, are expecting an average starting salary of $54,010 in their first job. That represents a nearly $8,000 increase over what the class of 2016 expected.
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Survey results also found that recruiters estimate entry-level employees will be offered an average of $56,532 this year, up more than $10,000 since last year's estimate of an average of $45,361.
But the gender gap still lives. Not only do women expect less of a salary offer than men do—expecting an average of $49,002 compared to men's anticipation of an average of $65,558—but according to Susan Vitale, chief marketing officer at iCIMS, those women might be more realistic than their male counterparts in considering what recruiters are willing to offer, as well as realizing that more female graduates enter traditionally lower-paying fields such as teaching.
And despite their considerably higher expectations, 64 percent of this latest graduating class said they are likely to work side gigs to supplement their main income.
Then there's the matter of career, with 52 percent of grads putting type of work and career advancement opportunities at the top of the list when deciding whether to accept a job offer. In addition, 94 percent said they'd be willing to move for the right job, according to a report from recruitment technology company Yello. And 48 percent of college graduates plan on staying with their first post-graduation employer for more than three years.
"Campus recruiters will need to change their mindset, especially with how they close candidates," Jason Weingarten, CEO and cofounder of Yello, told SHRM, adding, "They are dealing with a new batch of graduates who are not basing job decisions on perks or pay but instead on career path. With almost half planning to stay with their company for more than three years, they want to understand growth plans and advancement opportunities before committing to an organization."
Recruiters could win or lose good candidates in the recruiting process, however, Yello warns, with 70 percent of survey respondents saying that the specific recruiter they worked with was a major factor in their decision to accept a position. Twenty percent said they turned down offers because the recruitment process took so long, and while 80 percent said that the average time between a first interview and an offer being extended—four weeks or less—felt "just right," 18 percent said it was too long.
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Marlene Satter
Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.
