EXPORTED - Top Grads Foregoing Lure Of Dot Coms While Internet Is Perceived As "Hottest" Industry, Grads Still Prefer Environments Offering "Big Company" Benefits Like Mentoring Programs, Training And Salary -- A new WetFeet.com survey released today reports that more top college and business school graduates would rather work for management consulting and investment banking firms than dot coms, despite the fact that nearly two-thirds of respondents named Internet-related ventures as the single "hottest" industry today. E-business consulting was rated as the second most desirable career and was also listed as the second hottest industry, presenting the "best of both worlds" for students looking for the training and career foundation provided by a consulting organization, and Internet experience coveted at dot coms. The Student Recruitment Report 2000 by WetFeet.com, a leading career information site that also provides online recruitment consulting and research for corporations, found that good quality job training is the most important factor in graduates' job selection. Training far outranked dot com incentives such as stock options, and was also rated much more important than quality of life considerations such as the ability to dress casually, have a personal office and take weekends off. With a strong job market and students receiving an average of 3.3 job offers -- up from 2.9 last year -- hiring the best graduates is one of the biggest challenges facing corporations today. The report is available now at www.wetfeet.com While 18 percent of respondents indicated they are interested in working for Internet-related companies, the majority would rather work in careers such as management consulting (44 percent) and investment banking (25 percent) that were perceived to provide solid training, mentoring and business credentials, establishing a foundation for future career moves. Despite the stories about people dropping out of school to pursue IPO glory, our research shows that students are being surprisingly thoughtful and careful about choosing their first job," said Steve Pollock, co-founder and president of WetFeet.com. "These results underscore our belief that graduates aren't all chasing the gold rush; most are seeking jobs that offer a challenging assignment, great colleagues and strong career development opportunities." WetFeet.com's Student Recruitment Report 2000 reports key findings based on a survey of 869 undergraduate, business and graduate school students from top universities across the United States including Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California at Berkeley, and Stanford University. The full report is available as a PDF file at: www.wetfeet.com/corporate/student_recruit2000.asp for $995. Highlights of the report, including the Executive Summary, are available at the same URL free of charge. In addition to providing insight into the job search activity of college students, WetFeet.com's report also identifies several key areas in which companies can improve their strategies for more effective student recruiting. Respondents indicated that the three most important attributes of a potential job are training for future work, a challenging assignment and good colleagues. Salary ranked fourth overall, and financial benefits such as stock options and bonuses were far less important to students than attributes of the job and workplace factors. These findings remain consistent with graduates' attitudes from WetFeet.com's Student Recruitment Report 1999. Other interesting findings from Student Recruitment Report 2000 include: The Internet has emerged as students' key job search tool. More than 90 percent of MBAs and nearly 80 percent of undergraduate students report using company websites in their job search. On average, students report that they use the Internet 8.7 hours per week on job search activities, up from 4.8 hours per week in the 1998 - 1999 school year. Students have high salary expectations. Undergraduates expect to receive a base salary of $45,000, while MBAs expect to receive a base salary of $93,500 plus signing and year-end bonuses totalling about $37,000. Overall, women expected to earn $6,000 less in salary than men did. Stock options ranked sixth in a list of eight important economic benefits, behind 401K plans, health care plans and year-end bonuses. Students are spending an average of four months on their job search, interviewing with an average of 10 firms, and spending an average of 2.4 hours a day on job search activity--exactly the same amount as last year Despite high turnover rates, 75 percent of respondents say they expect to stay at their first job for two or more years. Students' job searches focus heavily on opportunities that come through campus recruiting, largely because of the ease with which students can examine and apply for positions and the growing multitude of companies recruiting on campus. Even in today's strong economy, students regard the job search as a difficult process with an uncertain outcome. Eighty-five percent of MBAs and 74 percent of undergraduate students are uncertain or doubtful that they will land the job they really want. http://www.wetfeet.com Sent in by: Company Contact Home, school, Kids, family, games, cooking, learning, education, K-12 - 5/29/00 Back to the Topic Index