I am puzzled by the headline in the article Strong job market fails to employ GW graduates (Feb. 22, p. 1), and concerned about the inaccurate indirect quotes in paragraphs three and four;…employment fairly stagnant? …no boost in salaries? Not true, not true!
The employment news for our sought-after GW grads is exceptionally good and looks as if it will only get better.
More and more employers seek access to GW students.
Your article stated that A recent Jobtrak survey shows a 40 percent increase in job postings aimed at college graduates since last year. Jobs for GW students (posted online for us by Jobtrak) increased 50 percent last year, and 50 percent the year before that. Our career fairs see ever more employers participating, with a 30-percent increase last year, ditto for the previous year.
Employers have discovered, as The Hatchet correctly reported, that GW graduates are well-prepared for the workplace. That’s why more and more employers hire our co-op students and part-time students as well as our graduates.
GW students are getting more multiple offers from employers and the salary offers for GW students are greater than the national average. In 1997, 37 percent of GW undergraduates reported a starting salary more than $30,000; the number rose to 49 percent in 1998, and preliminary data for 1999 indicate that 61 percent had starting salaries more than $30,000, with 23 percent between $40-50,000 and 11 percent in excess of $50,000.
The statistic that best illustrates the stunning success that GW graduates are enjoying in the job market is one you chose to print in the eighth paragraph of the article – the extraordinary news that a mere two percent of last year’s class was seeking employment at survey time. And this year will be another banner year.
GW students are at the helm of this booming market – they are not missing the boat.
-The writer is communications coordinator of the GW Career Center
