Employers Boost Entry-Level Hiring for New Graduates After Years of Decline

College students crossing the graduation stage in just a few weeks may have a brighter outlook when it comes to landing their first job after years of steady decline. A new survey finds employers expect to boost new graduate hires by more than 5% this spring compared to the same time last year. Separate research found the unemployment rate for young college grads dropped sharply in March to just over 5%. That's down from nearly 9% last fall. Let's go ahead and bring in LinkedIn career expert Katherine Fischer. thanks for being here. Um, this is clearly a complex environment for new grads. So, help us explain what is happening right now.

Yeah, it is really complex and part of it is that hiring overall is down. So, when you're hearing stories about it's a tough market, that's what people are referring to. But when you look at the entire landscape, so you've got the middle, you know, manager roles, those are actually more hard hit than entry level. That's why you're seeing these little sparks of joy in terms of uh you know new grads looking for a job. What industries are showing the most potential? You know the industries that are really um gearing up right now are ones that are looking to invest in technology. So technology, information and media. And then also some of those industries that

are really about building infrastructure. So think real estate, utilities and construction. So, as you're looking for a job, you want to be open-minded in terms of where you may go. And it might not be in an industry that you were thinking about. So, you really want to kind of approach this job market because it is complicated. Um, maybe going somewhere that you wouldn't have thought of. I mean, I'm I'm kind of shocked at media because I feel like the media industry has been shrinking and certainly in this newscast and many others that we have, we talk about investment in AI companies increasing. We hear about

other companies like Meta and Nike doing layoffs. What role is AI playing in all of this? Well, so AI is actually adding jobs for those career starters. So what we're seeing is that when the you know the top jobs that companies are looking for AI engineer so this is exciting but then also a lot of the roles that really kind of help companies run. So think marketing coordinator, you know, recruitment assistant, those types of roles are really popular as well. So that's what companies are looking to hire. So it's both innovation and then just, you know, running the company. So if you're looking for a role knowing that it's competitive and complicated, again, look at the industries, look at the jobs that are most popular right now

with those hiring companies. What advice what other advice do you have for grads? You know, I think that when you're really trying to stand out, you want to stand out with your skills. So, it's really easy to try to talk about your, you know, major and okay, you looked at psychology, for example. But what you want to do is instead of talking about your psychology major, talk about what did you learn? Was it writing? Was it, you know, collaboration, etc. You also want to demonstrate doing. So, what we know is that companies really like that growth mindset. So, you might not have a ton of experience because of course you're you were in school, you're, you know, new to the job market, but

what you can show is how did you teach yourself new skills, how did you apply that in different situations, you also want to take those in between moments. And what I mean here is that as you're looking for a role, an internship might come up, a contract work might show up, or freelance. use those opportunities to build your skills because we know that companies are doing skills-based hiring. You're also going to want to show with AI how have you applied this in your life. You really want to demonstrate that growth mindset. So, how have you used AI in, you know, whether it was with a job during summer or in school

work, etc., or just your personal life, they want to show some AI fluency. And you also want to lean into your network. And often times people you know who are entering the work force they think well I don't have a network. The answer actually is you do have a network. Think about your college professors or did you babysit for a family? Those parents that's a network. So really leaning into that network. Ask for help. Be really specific about what you're asking help for though and start with the people who have the jobs or in the industries that you're interested in. Many industries is about who you know.

I'm I'm still just baffled. I think it used to be like a notch against you that you were using AI. It was like cheating and now they want to see it. It's just incredible the world we're living in now. Katherine Fischer, thank you.