Recent liberal arts grads can look forward to being wooed (and won) by employers willing to pay for their skills and knowledge!  Political science and psychology majors are especially in demand.

The national news supplement Parade (06/14/98) reports that "the 1997 job market for 1.2 million [recent] college graduates was the strongest in memory.  Campus recruitment by Fortune 500 companies jumped 20%, and some types of firms (public relations, communications, advertising, city government, and not-for-profit organizations) showed up for the first time in years.  IBM bypassed crowded campuses by sending recruiters to Florida's Daytona Beach during spring break.

"The most sought-after students were those with degrees in computer science, finance, business administration, and marketing, but recruiting was up among liberal arts majors too.  Political science and psychology majors, for example, were sought out for their 'people skills' and problem-solving abilities [italics ours]."

The National Association of Colleges and Employers announces that not only are new liberal arts grads being offered more jobs, they are being offered higher salaries.

A recent press release reports: "Recruiters, faced with the strongest economy in years, [cast] their hiring nets wider and deeper than ever before in hopes of finding candidates to fill a rapidly growing number of jobs... Students, of course, were in the most enviable position of all. For many, the most difficult task of the job search was deciding which of many offers to accept...

"Liberal arts majors also did well.  The vast majority saw increases in their salary offers since September 1997.

"Letters graduates are now  averaging $27,608, an outstanding 15.9 percent increase over what 1996-97 graduates were offered. The majority of their offers came from consulting firms, educational institutions, and merchandising firms, which seek employees for sales, teaching, and writing/editing jobs.

"Political science/government graduates saw a substantial increase of 9.7 percent, bringing their average offer up to $28,736. Employers typically extending offers to these graduates are consulting firms and legal services organizations looking to fill consulting, management trainee, and sales positions.

"Psychology graduates, although still on the lower end of the pay scale, have made tremendous progress -- their average offer jumped 8.9 percent since September, to $25,499. The employers extending the most offers to them include social services organizations, merchandising firms, and consulting firms. Psychology graduates have received offers in a variety of areas, mainly in sales, counseling, and customer service work."