Spotlight for Career Services Professionals, January 18, 2012
Spotlight for Recruiting Professionals, January 18, 2012 

Securities employers provided the highest average starting salary for Class of 2011 graduates at the bachelor’s degree level, according to the Winter 2012 Salary Survey.* Securities employers paid an average starting salary of $58,571. Overall, these employers provided jobs to 42,000 grads from the Class of 2011. 

Electric power companies followed with an average starting salary of $56,780. 

Rounding out the top five were firms involved in non-depository credit/related activities ($53,825), computer systems design ($53,547), and business support services ($50,280).  

Among the top five, computer systems design companies provided the greatest number of opportunities, accounting for 50,000 jobs for 2011 graduates, or approximately 3 percent of the estimated 1.69 million bachelor’s degrees conferred. 

Read the full report or executive summary at www.naceweb.org/research/salary_survey. (Top-paying industries graphic available to organizational members.)

* The Winter 2012 Salary Survey issue marks the first report using NACE’s new data collection method. This new and improved report contains employer-based data gathered from government and other sources, and the data are actual starting salaries, not offers. The change in methodology and the shift from salary offer data to actual salary data means it is not possible to compare the Winter 2012 report data with data published in earlier reports. Consequently, NACE has recalculated some of the data reported for 2011 graduates and compares it to data that also has been recalculated for 2010 college graduates.