Logo

The State of the Graduate Job Market (Infographic)

Published: May 13, 2015

 Consulting       Education       Grad School       Job Search       MBA       Networking       Salary & Benefits       Workplace Issues       
Article image

It's graduation season, which means that it's also that time of year where you start seeing lots of articles about the most inspiring graduation speeches, along with the occasional piece on how this generation is, like, the least well-equipped for the workforce, like, everrrrr.

Turns out, though, that the disdain runs both ways: Accenture's most recent U.S. College Graduate Employment study finds that just 15% of graduating students this year want to work for a large company. It's not that they're not prepared for you, bigco's; they're just not that into you.

Note that this upcoming generation of workers is not against making pragmatic decisions when it comes to their careers: they might not want to work for Kraft or a Big Four accounting firm, but they've been signing up for employer-friendly STEM subjects in their droves—the report found that STEM subjects were the most popular choice of major this year, while 63% of graduates reported having been advised to pursue STEM subjects, up from 52% last year. Additionally, some 82% percent of new grads considered the job market before choosing a major, up from 75% in 2014.

One of the most interesting features in the Accenture study is that it provides a snapshot not only of the current class and their expectations, but how those expectations have measured up to reality with recent grads.

For example, while 85% of new grads expect to earn more than $25,000 a year from their first job, 41% of grads surveyed from the past 2 years are currently making less than that figure.

The infographic below has more of the headlines from the report (click it to enlarge), while you can find the full report by clicking here. Before you go (or y'know, when you come back after), be sure to let us know what you think in the comments below.

Accenture 2015 Grad Report

***