Job market looks fertile for college graduates

The hot fields for college graduates in northern Nevada this spring shouldn't come as any surprise to anyone who's watched the regional economy lately.

Graduates with degrees in nursing and accounting probably had jobs lined up weeks if not months before graduation ceremonies.

Mechanical engineers are likely to be considering an offer or two. Ditto for specialists in transportation and logistics.

And, less intuitively, graduates with degrees in social work are a hot commodity this spring as the region's population grays both from the migration of retirees as well as the aging of baby boomers.

"The market looks very good. The employers are very interested in our students," says Judy Carrico, coordinator of career opportunities at the University Nevada, Reno.

Employers from the West and a few from East Coast cities filled all the available tables at UNR recruiting fairs that spotlighted engineering, technical and business students this spring.

Many accounting students nail down jobs in northern Nevada a year or two before graduation, says Jane Bessette, director of career services and alumni relations at UNR's college of business. No matter when they sign on with an employer, recent accounting graduates are getting 10 to 20 percent more in starting pay than graduates just a couple of years ago.

And the hot demand extends to students who complete two-year degrees in accounting-related fields, says Paul Muller, a professor of accounting at Western Nevada Community College in Carson City.

"The starting pay is higher than most fields for two-year degrees, and there are a lot of jobs in all levels of accounting," Muller says. "Here in Carson City, state government employs hundreds of people in accounting positions."

Business school graduates who specialize in supply-chain management also are heavily recruited.

"We don't have enough of those graduates to fill the bill," Carrico acknowledges.

And mechanical engineering graduates are so highly prized this year that UNR hosted twice as many recruiting companies this year than last.

"They seem to be desperate for our engineering students," says Carrico.

The region's hot construction market, meanwhile, is reflected in strong demand for graduates of a construction technology program at WNCC.

Many of the graduates the program, which was developed with the Builders Association of Western Nevada, walk directly from the graduation ceremony into jobs that pay $15 to $18 an hour, says Gene Martin, a construction technology instructor at the school.

A hot new field convergence technology is so new in northern Nevada that WNCC graduates in the field are highly recruited, says Emily White, a teacher in convergence technology.

Convergence technology covers the integration of services such as voice, video and data that merge on a single network, and it involves the integration of communications and computer technology.

Strong demand for some graduates today doesn't necessarily mean that freshmen flock to those same subjects.

"Gingerly, we try to guide them to an understanding that what is hot today could be cold tomorrow," says Pru Jones, a career counselor at UNR.

A better strategy, counselors suggest, is finding a career that interests and excites a student.