SmartRecruiters Data: Entry-Level Jobs for New Grads and Where to Find Them

SmartRecruiters, the Hiring Success Company, today released internal data on the current top entry-level jobs for recent graduates. Determined using data from 700 hiring companies, 1 million job listings and over 100,000 hires, the data reveals which entry-level positions are available in the greatest numbers and in which industries, as well as how quickly grads can expect to be hired for them. In addition, SmartRecruiters identified the job boards companies are using most to post entry-level positions in each state.

Top Jobs for New Grads

Sales tops the list of most available entry-level positions nationwide, followed by customer service and administration:

1. Sales: 14 percent
2. Customer Service: 12 percent
3. Administrative: 6 percent
4. Biz Development: 6 percent
5. Marketing: 5 percent
6. Management: 3 percent
7. Art/Creative: 1.4 percent
8. General Business: 1.4 percent
9. Design: 0.66 percent
10. Advertising: 0.60 percent

For recent grads hoping to be hired quickly, sales is also the ticket – sales positions are filled most quickly, with an average time to hire of 43 days. Jobs in advertising are the next fastest to fill (44 days), followed by entry-level art/creative positions (45 days).

Top Industries Hiring Entry-level Positions

The technology industry is currently doing the most hiring, accounting for 21 percent of the entry-level positions on offer:

1. Technology: 21 percent
2. Healthcare: 11 percent
3. Communications: 9 percent
4. Retail: 7 percent
5. Food & Beverage: 7 percent
6. Recreation: 6 percent
7. Other: 5 percent
8. Consulting: 5 percent
9. Manufacturing: 4 percent
10. Not-for-Profit: 4 percent

Where and How Grads Should Look for Jobs

SmartRecruiters did a survey of paid job boards in every state and found that, in twenty-five states — including California, Colorado, Illinois and Massachusetts — Craigslist is where the highest percentage of entry-level positions are posted. New Yorkers and Texans should turn to Dice and The Muse is a better resource for recent grads in eleven states, including Michigan and New Jersey.

“We are excited to release the results of this research to assist all new grads looking for a great job or anyone looking for great new talent,” said SmartRecruiters CEO Jerome Ternynck. “We know that new grads face a lot of decisions to make — and loans to pay off — as they begin their careers, and we’re pleased we can provide some direction on what’s out there, and where. These results are based on the great number of jobs available for new talent and overall activity — ten million candidates and one million jobs — occurring on the SmartRecruiters Talent Acquisition Platform.”

The data also shows that when applying for jobs, recent grads should not neglect to write a cover letter. According to SmartRecruiters data, there is a 50% increase in hire rate among those candidates who use a personalized cover letter or message compared to those who don’t.

About SmartRecruiters

SmartRecruiters enables Hiring Without Boundaries™ by freeing talent acquisition teams from legacy applicant tracking software. SmartRecruiters' next-generation platform serves as the hiring operating system for 4,000 customers like Bosch, LinkedIn, Skechers, and Visa. Companies with business-critical hiring needs turn to SmartRecruiters for best-of-breed functionality, world-class support, and a robust ecosystem of third-party applications and service providers.

For more information visit www.smartrecruiters.com or www.linkedin.com/company/smartrecruiters.


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