Where the jobs for grads are

By U.S. News & World Report

If you are a college senior who will graduate in 2007, your job prospects are looking better. Employers expect to hire 17.4% more new college graduates in 2007 than they hired in 2006, according to an e-mail survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

About 42.6% of the 257 employers who responded plan to maintain the number of college gradates they hire, up from 15.3% a year ago. Only 5% of the employers said they plan to decrease their entry-level hiring, down from 18.2% last year. But to get that first job, you have to know where to look.

"We're still seeing a very heavy emphasis on financial-services employers interested in recruiting our students and recent grads," says Elaine Stover, the associate director of career services at Arizona State University.

The colleges-and-employers group said the largest increase in hiring (19.8%) is expected to be in the service sector, with smaller increases in hiring in the manufacturing (9.5%) and government/nonprofit (9%) sectors. In addition to financial services, the service sector includes banking, engineering, consulting and computer-software development. MonsterTRAK, a job-search Web site for students, says the highest number of entry-level postings are for jobs in accounting, financial analysis/research, human resources and administrative positions.

Try the South

The biggest hiring gains, the association predicts, will be in the South, where employers expect to hire 25.5% more new college graduates, followed by the West (23%), Northeast (16.9%) and Midwest (10%).

"There are definite differences in terms of supply and demand by state, so students must be aware of the market," says Warren Kistner, the director of the career center at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill.

Go to the fair

"Employers are coming to job and internship fairs in record numbers," says Matt Berndt, the director of career services at the College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin. Almost all the companies that responded (94.9%) plan to send representatives to career fairs to market their organization (64%) and meet students in informal settings (44.7%).

The companies that anticipate hiring increases cited growth as a major reason, but also attrition and a work force close to retirement age.

This article was reported and written by Emily Brandon for U.S. News & World Report.