Students at Ohio State walk to the different 2019 career fair booths

The Career and Internship Off-white Day One September 17, 2019. Credit: Courtesy of the Office of Student Life

With economical recovery from the pandemic on the horizon, this year'southward college graduates will have an easier chore search than last year's bunch.

With the get-go of the pandemic in March 2020, last spring's graduates entered into a shrunken job market. Various fields are now rebounding and employers are once once again looking for higher graduates, but they will face a large amount of competition from terminal year's graduates who are still looking for a chore, Brad Hershbein, senior economist and communications advisor at the W.Due east. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, said.

"The downside is that they're competing with a lot of grads from last year who may have found a job, but non the ane they were looking for, and are also looking to switch," Hershbein said. "So information technology's kind of crowded."

Job postings accept increased for all majors since last year, Jennifer Chilman, employer engagement and internship assistant director for Buckeye Careers in the Role of Academic Affairs, said in an electronic mail. She said job postings on Handshake, a career website for college students, increased past almost 200 percent from about 3,000 in April 2020 to nearly x,000 in April 2021.

The top five majors past enrollment in August 2020 at Ohio State were finance, biology, psychology, marketing and computer science and engineering, co-ordinate to Ohio State's analysis and reporting website .

ane. Finance

Hershbein said while the finance sector was non the hardest hit industry throughout the pandemic, companies did cut down on personnel. He said now, companies have started hiring once more.

Every bit of April, the unemployment rate for the finance and insurance sector was 2 percent, downward from 3 percentage just one month earlier in March, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job openings increased from the pandemic low of about 200,000 in November 2020 to merely over 260,000 in March.

Finance majors rank amid the highest-earning graduates from Ohio State with average annual earnings of about $46,000 one year afterward graduation and $98,000 10 years after graduation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

2. Biology

Because biology students frequently pursue higher degrees after their undergraduate degree, Hershbein said it can be hard to gauge how the task market for biology students fares.

Hershbein said there should be more jobs than last year due to the pandemic, which may create more opportunities afterwards for those who want to go into health care fields. He also said the emergence of "Long COVID" — the condition in which people who have technically recovered from the disease still experience symptoms long later on — could spur growth in therapy job markets.

"I think people will desire to become into something where they're not necessarily stuck in hospital hours only they accept a fiddling bit more control," Hershbein said. "Various types of therapy jobs, from respiratory therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, all those sorts of things accept been growing and likely will accelerate."

The unemployment rate for the health care and social assistance sector was 3.4 pct in April, downward from 4.1 pct in January, according to the U.South. Agency of Labor Statistics. Task openings accept increased from most 850,000 in May 2020 to over 1.2 1000000 every bit of April.

3. Psychology

It is harder to gauge job markets for psychology students considering degree-holders cease upwardly working in a variety of fields, Chilman said in an email. Hershbein said the versatility of a psychology degree gives graduates a larger assortment of fields to consider, which could benefit them when searching for a job.

"There should exist a lot of options available; information technology just may not be the 1 that you thought you would get, so to keep an open listen is probably the best case at that place," Hershbein said.

Psychology students besides have the option of going to graduate school. According to the U.S. Agency of Labor Statistics , those who hold main's or doctorate degrees volition have the best job prospects, such as psychiatry, clinical psychology and industrial-organizational psychology.

The average annual earnings for an Ohio State graduate with a psychology degree are about $25,000 one year later on graduation and near $l,000 ten years subsequently graduation, co-ordinate to the U.South. Census Bureau.

4. Marketing

Hershbein said marketing students should take similar chore prospects to finance students because companies are hiring more than as they resume normal operations. Marketing students should see an increase in openings, especially from companies like P&G, which sells consumer durables and other goods, Hershbein said.

The average almanac earnings for an Ohio Land graduate with a marketing degree are near $xl,000 one twelvemonth later graduation and about $fourscore,000 x years post-graduation, according to the U.Southward. Census Bureau.

5. Computer science and Applied science

Hershbein said computer science and engineering students shouldn't worry as well much because career opportunities in estimator science are expected to grow.

"Computer science has been going gangbusters for a while now and that'southward not going to modify," he said.

According to the U.Due south. Bureau of Labor Statistics, software developer jobs, a pop career for information science and engineering majors, are expected to increase by 22 pct from 2019 to 2029, a rate over five times faster than the average growth rate for all jobs, which is 4 percent.

Calculator science and technology students are as well some of the highest-earning Ohio State graduates, with average annual earnings i yr afterward graduation of near $sixty,000, increasing to nigh $80,000 5 years afterward graduation, co-ordinate to the U.S. Demography Bureau.