67% of College Grads Don’t Have Jobs Lined Up Yet

However, over 78% of those that have secured jobs are in their major

Graduating from college and entering the job market is an exciting time.

However, it can also be a stressful time for students as they look to secure post-grad jobs to start paying back the massive amounts of debt they’ve collected. New data shows that more than 38 U.S. colleges cost more than a quarter of a million dollars to attend for four years!

So what do the 1.86 million students projected to earn a bachelor’s degree in 2017 have waiting for them when they walk across that stage into post-grad life?

With more than 70,000 students on the Door of Clubs platform — from over 300 colleges and universities across the country — we decided to find out.

In April 2017, we conducted the Door of Clubs “College Graduates’ Views on Job Prospects” online survey in the United States with 517 students graduating with a bachelor’s degree and entering the job market in 2017.

The respondent sample was spread across the country with:

• 31% graduating from schools in the Northeast
• 21% graduating from schools in the Midwest
• 17% graduating from schools in the Southeast
• 16% graduating from schools in California
• 6% graduating from schools in the Mid-Atlantic
• 6% graduating from schools in the Southwest
• 3% graduating from schools in the Northwest

Specifically, graduating students from Carnegie Mellon, Harvard, Boston College, Notre Dame, Northeastern, University of Georgia, San Jose State University, Seattle University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Arizona State University-Tempe, Morehouse College, University of Illinois-Chicago, and many more, participated in the survey.

Here’s What We Found:

As of the end of April, over 67% of graduating college students have not accepted a full-time job that will start upon graduation.

However, the close to 33% of college grads that do have jobs lined up after graduation have secured well-paying jobs in their field.

Over 78% of those who do have a job lined up are taking a position related to their major and 61% will be making more than $60,000 annually when they enter the workforce.

This seems to illustrate a strong job market and that those without positions may be holding out for better paying jobs in their major versus being ‘underemployed’.

Previous research from Accenture found that 40% of 2015 grads made less than $25,000 with their first jobs and 51% were underemployed. That same Accenture survey found that 80% of 2016 grads expect to earn at least $25,000 in their first job.

2017 college grad salary expectations seem to be on the rise again. Even those without a job lined up don’t expect to be making less than $25,000.

In fact, of the responding group in our survey that does not have a job lined up, 87% still expect to be making more than $30,000 annually and 56% expect to making more than $50,000 annually with their first post-college job.

Compare that with research of 2016 grads from iCIMS that found only 42% of 2016 grads expected a salary of at least $50,000 with their first job.

Majors

Of those with a post-grad job already lined up — engineering students (outside of computer engineering) are the big winners.

42% of engineering students (e.g Biomedical, Electrical, Chemical, Civil, Industrial, Aeronautical, Environmental) already have secured positions upon graduation.

84% of those engineering students will be making more than $60,o00 with those jobs.

This goes along with previous findings from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce in Washington using Census bureau figures.

They found that chemical engineering majors have held down some of the best earnings of at least $60,000 a year for entry level positions since the recession.

One of the biggest surprises in our survey was how much better the job market looks for these engineers versus those graduating with computer engineering or computer science degrees.

Over 72% of 2017 grads in computer science don’t have a job lined for after graduation.

We’ve all heard the data. Almost a year ago we heard from Change.org that there were 500,000 open computer positions across the country and only 50,000 computer science graduates a year!

So clearly supply hasn’t caught up with demand already, so what gives?

One impact is certainly increased competition for the best computer science jobs out of school. Computer science is now the most popular major at the most prestigious universities.

It’s the most popular major for both women and men at Stanford. It’s the most popular major at Princeton, displacing economics, business, politics and history.

Therefore if you’re graduating with a computer science degree from a lesser known school in say the Southeast or Midwest you may be facing an uphill battle for top positions.

Furthermore the majority of computer science job opportunities are in major urban and coastal cities. It’s not surprising then that not a single computer science graduate in the Midwest or Southeast said they were planning to stay in the same region as they look for a computer science position.

A second thought is that for top computer science graduates — it’s still a bit of a job seeker’s market. Some of these computer science graduates may still be holding out for better jobs or better salary offers.

In fact, 67% of those in the field that have not lined up jobs expect to be making more than $60,000 upon entering the workforce.

However, engineers are not the only ones lining up jobs. Those graduating with business administration or business management related degrees are also doing fairly well in wading into the job market. In fact, 54% already have jobs lined up and 51% will be making more than $60,000 with those jobs.

This falls in line with data from hiring companies as well. Business graduates are in the most demand with 78% of employers planning to hire those with business related degrees.

Compare this with those majoring in health profession related programs (e.g. neuroscience, public health, nursing, physics, etc.)

Only 12% have post-grad jobs lined up and of the few that have secured a job — the majority are under $30,000 annually. It’s not much different in biology or biomedical sciences where 13% of respondents have post-grad jobs lined up.

However, the few students that do have jobs lined up are making over $30,000. It’s worth noting that some of these respondents may be moving directly into Master’s programs to continue their schooling.

Of those graduating with degrees in journalism, communications, social sciences, general liberal arts or humanities, 72% do not have full-time jobs lined up.

Their expectations are also much lower than those studying engineering or business. 54% are expecting to make less than $40,000 with their first full-time position after college.

Geography

In terms of where students are having the most luck finding a job? Those graduating in the Southeast are leading the pack. (Note: we didn’t include or analyze results for the Northwest as we didn’t have a big enough sample size).

Have job lined up:

• 34% Southeast
• 32% Southwest
• 32% California
• 31% Northeast
• 30% Mid-Atlantic
• 29% Midwest

Salary by region?

While those in the Southeast are securing jobs, they have the lowest expectations in terms of securing a $50K+ job upon graduation. Those graduating in California and the Mid-Atlantic have the highest expectations for starting salaries upon graduation.

• 63% of those without jobs lined up in California are expecting more than $50,000 with their first position.
• 63% of those without jobs lined up in Mid-Atlantic are expecting more than $50,000 with their first position.
• 61% of those without jobs lined up in Southwest are expecting more than $50,000 with their first position.
• 60% of those without jobs lined up in Northeast are expecting more than $50,000 with their first position.
• 52% of those without jobs lined up in Midwest are expecting more than $50,000 with their first position.
• 51% of those without jobs lined up in Southeast are expecting more than $50,000 with their first position.

Relocating to a new region or urban area?

It seems like those that are expecting higher salaries after graduating from Mid-Atlantic based universities are planning to relocate to find those salaries. Students graduating from schools based there were the most likely to say they were relocating.

The Southeast was tied with those most likely to relocate, so perhaps they are relocating to secure the jobs they have lined and/or to find higher earning positions.

Those graduating in California were the least likely to indicate they planned to relocate to a different region for their first post-college position.

• 49% of Mid-Atlantic graduates are planning to relocate to a different region for their first post-college job
• 49% of Southeast graduates are planning to relocate to a different region for their first post-college job
• 45% of Southwest graduates are planning to relocate to a different region for their first post-college job
• 40% of Midwest graduates planning to relocate to a different region for their first post-college job
• 33% of Northeast graduates planning to relocate to a different region for their first post-college job
• 22% of California graduates planning to relocate to a different region for their first post-college job

We know from previous research that it’s safe to say that most technical talent about to hit the job market is looking to live in cities. 2014 marked the first time since the 1920’s that population growth in cities outpaced growth outside of cities. That trend should continue.

Those graduating from schools in the Mid-Atlantic are most likely to be relocating to an urban area. This group seems to be the most mobile — aiming to relocate regions and to a city for a post-graduate job.

They were followed by those in the Midwest and the Southeast. Not surprisingly — those in the Northeast and California (with many urban-based institutions) were the least likely to relocate to an urban area.

Likely because they believe they can find opportunities post graduating nearby in the city they currently reside.

• 58% of Mid-Atlantic graduates are planning to relocate to an urban area for their first post-college job
• 53% of Midwest graduates are planning to relocate to an urban area for their first post-college job
• 53% of Southeast graduates are planning to relocate to an urban area for their first post-college job
• 48% of Southwest graduates are planning to relocate to an urban area for their first post-college job
• 43% of Northeast graduates are planning to relocate to an urban area for their first post-college job
• 35% of California graduates are planning to relocate to an urban area for their first post-college job