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Nationwide
Insurance Jobs
The Nationwide
Insurance Jobs picture for college graduates is likely to
improve this year for the first time since 2001, but competition
for work remains fierce because of a tight employment market.
Companies said they will hire almost 13 percent more graduates
in 2004, compared with last spring. It marks the first time
in three years that employers said they would increase hiring.
Companies predicted a 3.6 percent decline in hiring last year
and a 20 percent decline in 2002, according to the annual
survey.
Top Nationwide
Insurance Jobs include accounting and finance, entry-level
management posts, sales, teaching and engineering, according
to the survey. Starting salaries for those jobs range from
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$29,396
to $44,518 a year. In another positive sign, average salary
offers for science and technology graduates are moving higher,
the association said. For instance, the average offer to computer
science majors has risen 8.9 percent above last year to $48,656.
But they'll be competing with recent college graduates who
didn't find work in their respective fields during the past
few years and recent retirees who are rejoining the work force
to pay for higher health care costs. The college association
survey found that 60 percent of the nation's employers will
recruit this spring, compared with 58 percent last year. The
association sent 1,800 surveys to employers - 457 responded.
The group, which conducted the survey from Sept. 1 through
Jan. 12, said it sent 390 questionnaires to colleges - 90
were returned.
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