perspectives page 3
Jobs in demand pay more; offer few benefits
By Tom Prentiss
Yes Virginia, there is life after college.
And if you're in engineering programs, chances are
things are really going your way.
. But while some students on a national level are being
offered added fringe benefits to choose one firm over
another, it appears that little of that type of recruitment
is happening in Nebraska.
So as the college seniors prepare for graduation, job
opportunities and interviews become common talk among
peers. And it appears that engineers are still staking the
claim to king of the lull of the job demand market.
Alfred Witte, interim assistant dean for the College of
Kngineering and Technology said the average starting
salary of last December's graduates was approximately
$21,000 to $22,000.
Witte said most engineering firms are recruiting with
offers of salaries and little in added fringe benefits to lure
graduates.
Engineering firms with aggressive hiring procedures
may offer a bonus to candidates, Witte said.
Witte said most graduates will take seven or eight plant
trips to check out prospective employers and then will
choose from about three or four firm offers.
Two engineering students are finding the market right
for their pickin's.
Lonnie Abelbeck, 22, is majoring in electrical engineer
ing and wants to go into integrated circuit design.
Abelbeck said the common denominator between most
job offers is the salary. Most offer roughly the same in
terms of medical plans and benefits, he said.
Dave Hild, 21, is majoring in chemical engineering and
says many firms will pay for moving students to their
place of employment.
Hild may put several offers on hold so he can go to
graduate school and get his master's degree. He has an
offer for an assistantship at UNL for next year.
He said there is no real monetary benefit to waiting but
he said he wants to stay in Nebraska while his fiance
finishes dental school.
Hild is interested in process design work, which in
volves the designing of a plant. He said designing a petro
leum refinery is a typical job he may be involved in.
Both Hild and Abelbeck said they have been able to
pick their own jobs.
Abelbeck too, is considering staying in college to get
his master's degree.
He said he has an offer from a firm that will pay his
tuition, books, fees and give him a half a year's salary to
live on .
Average starting salaries for engineers are a reported
$22,000. Hild said he top offer was $21,250 while Abel
beck's highest was $24,500.
Abelbeck said the demand for engineers has been
especially high because of the growth and new develop
ment in electronics.
He said the development of the integrated circuit has
opened up many job possibilities.
"Technology breeds new career openings as it grows
and grows," he said.
He said colleges can't keep up with the demand for
graduates and probably von't in the near future.
Hild said opportunities for chemical engineers are weak
in Nebraska but good nationwide. Tlus is because there
are not many chemical engineering plants in Nebraska, he
said, except opportunities with fertilizer companies, he
said.
Both Hild and Abelbeck said they had little idea that
salaries would be so lucrative upon graduation. Money
wasn't the real reason for choosing their fields.
Abelbeck said he chose electrical engineering because
he liked the math and science. "I just enjoyed the field."
Hild said he became aware of the good opportunities in
lus sophomore and junior years. He sees it as a reward for
the work he has put in at UNL.
Careers in nursing, geology and architecture are finding
their own levels of demand.
Beverly Cunningham, student affairs advisor for the
UNL Division of Nursing, said nursing graduates in Nebra
ska are trying to stay in the state.
Lincoln is one city in the nation that gets many appli
cations, she said. Omaha needs nurses on a large scale, she
said.
She sai ' Nebraska's conservative attitudes don't lend
themselves to offering fringe benefits to recruit nurses.
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Some hospitals in the Chicago area are offering to pay
moving expenses for a prospective employee.
Cunningham said Nebraska has the second lowest rate
of unemployment for nursing graduates in the nation be
hind Alaska.
Geologists are finding jobs in the energy industry said
associate professor Frank Smith of the Geology Dept.
Smith said petroleum companies are always looking for
qualified geologists and are paying about $20,000 to
$25,000 a year.
Smith said graduates aren't being offered anything
special in fringe benefits saying "they are not athletes,
these people are scientists."
Cecil Steward, Dean of the College of Architecture,
said the demand for architecture graduates is not as high
as engineering graduates.
Steward said there are about the same number of jobs
this year for graduates as there was last year.
Architecture has a strong recovery rate after bad
economic periods but even high interest rates have not
hurt graduates severely.
This is because few architecture graduates take jobs in
the housing market which is affected by high interest rates
the most, he said.
Ticket tor
Standard On Company Hndanl
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Photo by Mitch Hrdlicka
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