Your Chances of Getting Hired Just Got Better

Joerres says that, in past years, early grads have succeeded by getting a head start on their classmates, "but not this year."

He explains that there remains a lingering "hangover" and "backup" from last year's springtime graduates who have still not found jobs. He fears they might be a lost generation of sorts, left ignored as recruiters chase fresh graduates. Companies could also ignore graduates who have been on the job hunt for a year or more and set their sights on candidates with job experience.

Early graduates may be able to turn their challenge into a benefit, Purdy says. Because recruiters are less active, and employers are not flooded with job seekers, "now is a great time to create something more meaningful" by approaching employers with "a creative pitch for a customized internship, for example."

"You really need to understand that it is up to you to create those new opportunities," he adds.

How many jobs could be added in the months and year ahead?

Well's Fargo's (WFC) economics group, in its 2012 Economic Outlook, is calling for slow and steady job growth throughout the year. The banking giant expects the creation of about 123,000 jobs per month, roughly 1.5 million positions by the end of 2012.

ManpowerGroup estimates that approximately 9% of employers will add jobs in the first quarter of 2012.

Survey data collected by staffing company Robert Half International (RHI) projects that an estimated 10% of employers will hire professional-level staff in the first quarter of 2012.

Approximately one in three lawyers interviewed for its quarterly hiring index plan to add legal staff in the first quarter of 2012, with an average of two full-time positions (including lawyers, paralegals and legal secretaries) in Q1. Also, 20% of CIOs said they plan to expand their IT departments in Q1, and that same percentage of CFOs plan to add full-time accounting and finance employees.

-- Written by Joe Mont in Boston.

>To contact the writer of this article, click here: Joe Mont.

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