The new year is bringing good news for newly minted college graduates.
Class of 2012 graduates earned higher salaries on average than their 2011 predecessors – an increase of more than 3 percent, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, or NACE.
The findings from NACE's January 2013 survey show salary hikes for new graduates across a range of disciplines.
The average starting salary for a 2012 graduate is $44,455, compared with $42,987 for 2011 grads, according to the survey.
"The encouraging news that the overall average salary for this group is 3.4 percent higher than the average salary for last year's class is bolstered by the fact that salaries have increased across all broad categories of majors," the salary survey says.
Salaries rose in the eight disciplines surveyed: business, communications, computer science, education, engineering, health sciences, humanities and social services, and math and sciences.
The sharpest salary gains were found in education, where 2012 grads' salaries at $40,668 were 5.4 percent higher than those of the average of $38,581 earned by 2011 graduates.
At the bottom of the scale were humanities graduates with an average salary of nearly $37,000, or 2 percent more than their previous year's counterparts.
The top earners were engineering graduates, with an average salary of $61,913 – an increase of nearly 4 percent over 2011 graduates. They were followed by graduates in computer science with an average salary of $59,221, about a 4 percent bump from 2011.
"We've seen a steady increase in the average starting salary for bachelor's degree graduates over the past two years, indicating improvement in the job market for college graduates," says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director, in a statementt.
Find the survey at www.naceweb.org/salary-survey-data.
CalVet job fairs coming
CalVet, the California Department of Veterans Affairs, is hosting job fairs from 8 a.m to 4 p.m. in Fresno on Jan. 23 and Redding on Jan. 30 to fill positions at new Veterans Homes of California in the two cities.
CalVet is seeking applicants for numerous positions including nursing, food service, medical billing, plant operations and other jobs.
The Fresno job fair is being held at the Veterans Home of California – Fresno, 2811 W. California Ave.
In Redding, the event will be at the Veterans Home of California – Redding, 3400 Knighton Road. For more information on the Redding event, call the California Department of Veterans Affairs contact line at (530) 224-3300 or toll free at (855)769-5791.
For more information on the Fresno event, call CalVet at (559) 493-4400, or toll free at (855) 769-5792.
Find information online at www.calvet.ca.gov/ AboutUs/Jobs/
LinkedIn event this week
Job seekers can improve their LinkedIn skills in a free workshop Wednesday at the North Natomas branch of the Sacramento Public Library.
The 1 p.m. workshop, "Job Searching with LinkedIn," led by the Sacramento Professional Network, shows attendees how to create profiles on the social networking site and how to join LinkedIn groups. The branch is at 4660 Via Ingoglia.
For information, call the library at (916) 264-2920 or visit www.saclibrary.org.
Let us hear from you
Is your company hiring? Is your organization hosting a career fair? Is your campus rolling out a job-skills program? Contact Job Front at dvsmith@sacbee.com.
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