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The Herman Trend Alert August 5, 2009 Highest Paid Jobs for Fresh Grads College students: Want the highest starting salary in this economy? Study engineering. According to a new report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), engineers earn the best starting salaries. NACE's Summer 2009 Salary Survey shows that four of the five highest starting salaries went to occupations involving engineering. The Law of Supply and Demand is alive and well in the global labor market. In our audiences around the world the oil and gas producers complain that petroleum engineers are in high demand, often being poached for salaries up to seven times what they are earning in their home countries. Marilyn Mackes NACE executive director confirms, "Even in a tight job market, there are simply more opportunities requiring an engineering degree than graduates available to fill those positions. That drives salaries up." In fact, as reported in the Digest of Education Statistics 2008 from the National Center for Education Statistics, out of the more than 1,524,000 bachelor's degrees awarded in 2007 (the latest data available), just 450 were in petroleum engineering and only 4,492 were in chemical engineering. To bring the United States' competitive position into focus, according to an article published in "Business Week" Magazine in December 2005, looking exclusively at four-year degrees, the US graduated 137,437 engineers, versus 112,000 from India and 351,537 from China, though the latter were reported under a "broader category". The NACE study reported the average starting salaries: Petroleum Engineers are the highest paid graduates at USD$83,121, followed by Chemical Engineers at USD $64,902; Mining Engineers are close behind at USD $64,404. Coming fourth and fifth are Computer Engineers at USD $61,738 and Computer Science graduates (in general) at USD $61,407. Until the US wakes up to the urgent need to support the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) subjects, it will continue to operate at a disadvantage on the world stage. An important part of earning the Employer of Choice® Award is to support programs that grow the next generation of workers. Wise employers, especially those that benefit from these graduates, will put increasing energy towards encouraging young people to go into these lucrative professions. © Copyright 1998- by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc." BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: RETENTION SPECIALIST PROGRAM A growing number of people have expressed an interest in attending our Employee Retention Specialist Certificate Program. We'd like to schedule on that's convenient for those who want to attend, but need your feedback to do so. Please place RETENTION SPECIALIST in the subject line and Joyce will personally call you back to schedule the workshop. Or you can call Joyce directly at 336-210-3548 (PDT this and next week). BUSINESS IS PICKING UP Most employers are unprepared. The recovery will bring a new set of challenges for employers that have been in prolonged contracted mode. They will need more skilled workers or will need now to begin to upskill their current staffs. But organizations can not engage in Strategic Workforce Planning, when they don't know how. That's where The Herman Group can help. We can help you with your "People Review"----large or small---so that you will know who you will need and when you will need them. . . and we can also guide you to the best sources for the people you will need. For more information, call Joyce at 336-210-3548 or e-mail joyce@hermangroup.com. FIND OUT WHAT YOUR EMPLOYEES REALLY THINK AND FEEL Discover what’s really going on in the hearts and minds of your employees. Our InnerViews interviewing service uses SPHRs and PHRs, certified human resource professionals to probe for the information you really need to know. Exit and Stay Interviews, as well as Why-Didn't-You-Take-Our-Offer Interviews. Call Rosalie Catalano at 937-416-7066, or read more at: http://www.hermangroup.com/retentionconnection/exit_interviews.html. Herman Trend Alerts are produced by the Herman Group, strategic business futurists, Certified Management Consultants, authors, and professional speakers. New subscribers are welcome. There is no charge for this public service. The Herman Trend Alert is received by over 30,000 subscribers in 78 countries, in addition to other websites and printed magazines. Do you enjoy receiving this weekly e-mail update? Contact us about our co-branded Trend Alert service. Click here to sign up for the Herman Trend Alert. Subscribe or Unsubscribe to weekly Herman Trend Alert View this week's Herman Trend Alert Archived Weekly Herman Trend Alerts

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