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Associate Degree and Credential

Hiring 2010-2011

Preface: This report continues a series of special reports extracted from Recruiting Trends

2010-2011 database. For those unfamiliar with these reports, our intention is to examine the

hiring intentions for associates’ degrees and credentials earned at two-year institutions. The

report’s general format begins with describing characteristics of organizations hiring two-year

graduates (size, economic sector, location, recruiting strategies), followed by hiring estimates

that are analyzed by organizational characteristics. We have provided as much information as

possible based on the limitations of the data set.

Over the past decade The Recruiting Trends report has attempted to be more inclusive by

gathering as much information on associates’ degrees as possible. During the past year, CERI

participated in a research project sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gate for their Post-

Secondary Success Program. This project expanded our understanding of the importance of

two-year colleges in preparation of the workforce and introduced us to the role of credentials

in assisting low-income earners to obtain livable employment. As part of this year’s labor

market study, we invited a number of two-year colleges to join the coalition that assists the

Institute through invitations to their employers, asking them participate in the survey. The

number of employers seeking two-year degrees nearly doubled. The information presented

below is the most robust data we have yet to collect on two-year degrees. Caution needs to be

taken in interpreting results as two-year college labor markets tend to be local. We still do not

have enough employers from some regions to establish solid trends.

This report should be used in conjunction with the national report, Recruiting Trends 2010-

2011, and the four regional reports for EACE, SOACE, MWACE, and MPACE. All these reports are

available on the CERI website (www.ceri.msu.edu) for download.

Highlights for Associate Degrees

Tend to be recruited by larger organizations than the national average

Leading sectors include Government, Manufacturing, Health Services, Education, and

Professional & Scientific Services

Higher involvement in internships and co-ops than national average

Nearly 30% will definitely hire in 2010-2011

Overall associate hiring will be down 3%

Small firms and establishments, under 4,000 employees, will see hiring increases; only

the largest companies will decrease their hiring of associate degrees

Positive gains in Manufacturing and Professional & Scientific Services

Strongest growth in jobs in Midwest and Southeast

Part I. Associates’ Degree

Approximately 1375 employers indicated that they sought graduates from two-year associate

degree programs. 550 were considering only two-year degree graduates and the remaining 826

were interested in both two-year degrees and credentials from two-year institutions. 60% of

two-year employers provided complete hiring details for two-year degree graduates. This

section of the report provides information that pertains to two-year degree completers.

Characteristics: The average number of employees per company seeking two-year associate

degree graduates was reported as 8,667 with a median size of 217. A breakdown by size

categories indicates that companies and organizations hiring associate degrees tend to be

small, with 63% having 500 or fewer employees.

Category Employees Number: Associates

Percentage

Very Small < 9 125 9

Fast Growth 10 - 100 375 27

Small 101 - 500 377 27

Medium 501 - 3999 293 21

Large > 4000 203 15 Note: Fast growth companies are also referred to as second-stage companies, meaning they

have exited the start-up or entrepreneurial stage.

Economic Sector: Companies and organizations represent a diverse mix of economic sectors,

based on the North American Industrial Classification system. We have grouped organizations

into 20 different NAIC groups. Listed below are the leading economic sectors that contributed

hiring information for associate degree graduates.

Economic Sectors Percent of Respondents

Government 14

Manufacturing 13

Health Services 13

Education 12

Professional & Scientific Services 11

Financial and Insurance Services 8

Non-profit Organizations 7

Specific economic sub-sectors that expressed an interest in associate degree graduates are

listed below. The sub-sectors that have been listed comprised at least 2% of the total response.

Overall, 144 sub-sectors reported that they had an interest in candidates who had obtained a

two-year degree.

Subsectors Number of Companies Responding

Hospitals 56

Insurance Carriers 55

Legislative Offices 45

Employment Agencies (temporary help not executive management searches)

34

K-12 Education 34

Police and Fire Protection 31

Engineering Services (drafting, surveying, inspection)

29

Computer Systems Design & Services 29

Commercial Banking & Saving Institutions 28

Manufacturing (not classified) 27

Merchant Wholesalers 26

Location: Every attempt was made to capture information from across the U.S. We approached

a number of two-year institutions who were not able to participate in the study at this time.

Fifteen two-year colleges did assist with the project (Our goal for 2011-2012 is to have 30 two-

year institutions participating). Unfortunately, their distribution was not uniform, thus some

regions of the country were more represented than others. The following report provides the

geographic distribution of regional based employers. Employers who indicated that they

recruited across the U.S. for talent have not been included.

Recruiting Areas (geographic):

Recruiting Region Percentage

New England States 8

Mid-Atlantic States 9

Great Lakes States 30

Upper Plains States 12

Southeast States 19

South-Central States 12

Southwest States 10

Northwest States 9

Recruiting Strategies: Employers have a number of recruiting strategies that they can utilize to

identify and recruit college talent. The following list illustrates the level of participation by

organizations seeking two-year graduates. Since this question did not specify type of institution,

many of these strategies were employed at four-year institutions rather than two-year

institutions. The one strategy to note is the use of internships and co-ops among these

employers. Their overall usage is slightly higher than the national average of all employers who

responded. Internships and co-ops are very important to the successful transition of community

college graduates into the workplace.

Recruiting Strategy Percentage

On-campus Presentations 41

On-campus Interviews 27

On-campus Career Fairs 59

On-campus Resume Referral System

43

On-campus Faculty Connections

37

On-campus Web-based Employment System

85

Internships and Co-ops & Other Programs for Professional Experience

63

Organization’s Web Portal 74

Employees and Alumni Connections

54

Job Fairs – Off Campus (can still be University-sponsored)

39

Targeted Job Fairs 30

National Web-Based Employment Service Provider

59

State & Local Job Boards 37

Consultants 22

Social Media (all forms) 31

College Labor Market Outlook: Before providing their actual hiring targets for the year,

respondents were asked their perception of the college labor market (overall and then for their

industry) on a scale that ranged from 1 = Poor to 5 = Excellent. Overall, these employers believe

the overall college labor market is FAIR (mean 2.09), which is slightly higher than the average of

the entire national sample. They even feel better about how their own economic sector is doing

with respect to the college hiring with a FAIR to GOOD rating (mean 2.58), which is one of the

highest ratings of any sub-group examined.

Hiring Intentions for 2010-2011: Entering the 2010-2011 academic year, approximately 70% of

these employers had hired a new college graduate the previous academic year. Based on their

expectations this year, 29% have definite plans to hire college graduates during 2010-2011.

Intentions Percentage

Definitely will hire 29

Preliminary plans to hire 22

Uncertain would like to hire 39

Will not hire 10

Uncertainty about the economy is prevalent in these hiring plans, as 39% said they would like to

hire but economic uncertainty kept them from committing at this time. Among employers who

hired last year, 35% are uncertain about hiring this year. Among those who did not hire last

year, uncertainty is much higher, with 49% saying they would like to hire but are waiting until

conditions improve.

Hiring Last Year Definitely Hire Preliminary Plans

Uncertain Will Not Hire

YES 38 23 35 4

NO 7 19 49 25

Hiring Targets for 2010-2011: The following hiring projects are based on the complete

information provided by 817 employers. Overall associates hiring is decreasing slightly, 3%,

compared to last year. Small companies seem to be increasing their hiring projects for associate

degrees at a good clip. The decline among large companies points to where the erosion in

opportunities is concentrated. Large companies will decrease opportunities for associate

degrees by 19%.

Degree Level Average Hires 09-10 Average Hires Expected 10-11

Percentage Change Year over Year

Associate (all) 10.7 10.4 -3

Very Small (<9) 3.6 5.8 61

Fast Growth 2.2 3.3 50

Small 5.0 5.4 8

Medium 10.0 11.3 13

Large 42.8 34.6 -19

Economic Sectors: Hiring targets have been provided for the economic sectors where enough

information has been provided to make the projections reliable. Please remember that some of

the sectors may be represented by a small number of employers. Small numbers can produce

sharp swings that may not be representative of the entire sector throughout the country.

The decline in hiring can be attributed to the sharp decrease in projected hires in the

information service sector which is comprised of publishing, broadcasting, telecommunications,

and web service providers/software providers. Two other key sectors for two-year graduates,

health services and government, are also decreasing their hiring outlook.

Two-year Associate Degree Hiring Projections by Economic Sector

Economic Sector Average Hires 09-10 Average Hires Expected 10-11

Percentage Change Year over Year

Utilities 2.7 4.7 74

Construction 9.8 10.4 6

Manufacturing 1.4 2.0 43

Wholesale 4.4 5.4 23

Retail 6.0 6.0 NC

Transportation 2.8 3.3 18

Information Services 130.4 89.0 -32

Finance & Insurance 5.9 8.0 36

Professional &

Scientific Services

3.2 5.4 69

Administrative

Services

21.2 24.0 13

Education 10.1 10.9 8

Health Services 14.6 14.0 -4

Arts & Entertainment 4.8 6.0 25

Hospitality 6.1 5.9 -3

Non-profit 2.3 2.2 -4

Government 9.4 8.7 -7

Location: Strong declines in hiring projects in the Northeast, middle-Atlantic, and Northwest

states are not offset by the hiring increases planned by employers throughout much of the rest

of the country.

Hiring Projects for Two-Year Associate Degrees by Location

Location Average Hires 09-10

Average Hires Expected 10-11

Percentage Change Year over Year

Northeast 9.1 7.9 -24

Middle Atlantic 11.1 10.0 -10

Great Lakes 6.3 6.4 2

Upper Plains 7.1 8.9 25

Southeast 9.6 12.6 31

South-central 15.1 14.5 -4

Southwest 5.8 6.3 7

Northwest 6.7 5.7 -15

Who are Two-year College Employers Seeking for Their Talent Pool? Employers were asked to

indicate which academic programs they were targeting for their talent pool. This question was

not institution-specific and the options reflected academic programs typically found at four-

year institutions. What is interesting is the high number of employers in this group who seek

talent regardless of academic discipline (the All Major category below). This figure suggests that

these employers are looking for skill and competency combinations that transcend academic

training. This list probably does not articulate the choices employers are making at the two-year

college level. In the future we will address this issue and hopefully find a strategy that does not

overload the respondent with an endless list of program choices.

Majors Percentage of Employers Seeking

All Majors (no specific major specified) 45

All Technical Majors (engineering and computer science, major not specified)

28

All Business Majors (specific major not specified)

28

All Liberal Arts (no specific major specified) 19

Accounting 26

Marketing 26

Finance 23

Human Resources 21

Computer Science & Comp. Sci. Infosystems & Communications

20

MIS (Comp) & MIS (Business) 19

Computer Programming 18

Public Relations & Information Systems 17

Social Work 16

Nursing & Electrical Engineering 14

Psychology 13

Types of positions being filled: Listed below are the top positions that these employers expect

to fill with new college hires this year. Please note this breakdown is not degree-specific and

does not pertain exclusively to associate degree earners.

Type of Position Percentage of Employers Filling this Position

Accounting 26

Administrative Services 23

Customer Services 21

Computer Services 20

Sales 18

Human Resources & Business Services 17

Marketing & Educational Services 16

Management Training Programs 15

Information Services 14

Financial Services 11

Starting Salaries: The following list of starting salaries by academic discipline is not complete. We have only included salaries where 30 or more companies have provided their salary information. For additional information about associate salaries broken out by company size and economic sector, please refer to Recruiting Trends 2010-2011 Special Report 5-11: Starting Salary Offers which can be found at our website: http://www.ceri.msu.edu/recruiting-trends-2009-2010/recruiting-trends-2010-2011-special-report-5-11-starting-salary-offers/.

Associate Level

Degree Average Starting Salary ($) Salary Range ($)

All Business Majors 33,984 12 – 65K

All Technical & Engineering Majors

41,430 22 – 77K

All Computer Science & IT 40,761 20 – 77.5K

Nursing 40,511 22 – 67.5K

Health Sciences 35,573 18 – 55K

All Other Majors 27,786 13 – 45K

Highlights for Credentials

Slightly smaller organizations hire credentials than two-year degrees

Leading sectors: Health Services, Manufacturing, Government, and Professional &

Scientific Services

Sharp decrease in hiring of credential in 2010-2011 (down 35%)

Decreases occurring in companies with 100 or more employees

Biggest declines in Information Services, Professional & Scientific Services, Health

Services, and Government

Biggest gains in Manufacturing, Retail, and Finance & Insurance

Part II. Credentials

This is the first year that a credential category has appeared in the Recruiting Trends survey.

Because of the magnitude of credentials options available and the variety of providers, we

restricted credential hiring to those earned at a two-year college. We have little experience

interpreting credential hiring information. The information presented here has to be considered

a benchmark to build upon. Overall, the credential hiring data confused the total hiring picture

because of the sharp decline in number of credential earners being sought. We are still

evaluating if we should continue to collect data on credentials in future surveys.

950 employers indicated that they sought two-year college credential earners. Within this

group 125 only sought credential earners and 826 sought both credential and two-year degree

completers.

Characteristics: The average size of the organization hiring credential earners was 8214

employees, with a median size of 190 (slightly smaller than organizations seeking two-year

degrees). Over 65% of these organizations were smaller than 500 employees (slightly more than

for two-year degrees).

Category Employees Number: Associates

Percentage

Very Small < 9 94 10

Fast Growth 10 - 100 270 28

Small 101 - 500 263 28

Medium 501 - 3999 191 20

Large > 4000 129 14

Economic Sector: Companies and organizations represent a diverse mix of economic sectors,

based on the North American Industrial Classification system. We have grouped organizations

into 20 different NAIC groups. Listed below are the leading economic sectors that contributed

hiring information for credential earners.

Economic Sectors Percent of Respondents

Health Services 15

Manufacturing 14

Government 14

Professional & Scientific Services 10

Financial and Insurance Services 7

Non-profit Organizations 7

Specific economic sub-sectors that expressed an interest in credential earners are listed below.

Overall, 132 sub-sectors reported that they had an interest in credential candidates. The

numbers were distributed fairly evenly across most of the sub-sectors: between 1% and 2%.

The following sub-sectors occurred most frequently at 3% to 4%.

Sub-sectors Number of Companies Responding

Hospitals 42

Insurance Carriers and Agencies 37

Legislative and Executive Offices 33

Employment Services (placement, temporary services)

29

Location: Every attempt was made to capture information from across the U.S. We approached

a number of two-year institutions who were not able to participate in the study at this time. 15

two-year colleges did assist with the project (Our goal for 2011-2012 is to have 30 two-year

institutions participating.). Unfortunately, their distribution was not uniform, thus some regions

of the country were more represented than others. The following report provides the

geographic distribution of regional-based employers who seek credential graduates. Employers

who indicated that they recruited across the U.S. for talent have not been included.

Recruiting Areas (Geographic):

Recruiting Region Percentage

New England States 9

Mid-Atlantic States 9

Great Lakes States 29

Upper Plains States 12

Southeast States 18

South-Central States 13

Southwest States 10

Northwest States 10

Leading states for credential earners include: Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Illinois, North

Carolina, Minnesota and Ohio.

(Note: At this point we have no other descriptors on credential earners. We have yet to find a

short, useful dichotomy of programs to use in the survey. We simply ask for all credentials. We

have no information at this time on types of credentials, positions being filled, employment

outlook, and salary.)

Hiring Targets for 2010-2011: In calculating the hiring projections for credential we have two

ways to break out the data. First, we can examine only the companies that indicated that they

recruited or had relationships with two-year schools (302 provided complete hiring

information). Second, we can examine all employers who hire credential graduates (557 with

complete information, including 302 in the first group). Employers who are engaged with two-

year colleges will be increasing their credential hires; however, the 255 who hire credential

earners via off-campus strategies (like posting to a national web host or local job board, for

example) expect to decrease credential hiring this year. Small organizations are more likely to

be increasing their hiring of credential earners than large companies. Large companies expect

to reduce credential hiring by 24% to 58%.

Degree Level And Company Size

Av. Hires 09-10 Campus Rel.

Av. Hires Expected 10-11 Campus Rel.

Percentage Change Year over Year

Av. Hires 09-10 All Hiring

Av. Hires Expected 10-11 All Hiring

Percentage Change Year over Year

Credentials (all)

8.4 10.1 20 13.9 9.0 -35

Very Small (<9)

5.4 17.5 >100 3.4 10.3 >100

Fast Growth 1.7 4.4 >100 2.1 3.2 52

Small 4.9 5.0 2 4.4 3.9 -11

Medium 13.3 16.9 27 14.4 12.4 -14

Large 25.4 19.4 -24 63.6 26.7 -58

Economic Sectors: Hiring targets have been provided for the economic sectors where enough

information has been provided to make the projections reliable. Please remember that some of

the sectors may be represented by a small number of employers. Small numbers can produce

sharp swings that may not be representative of the entire sector throughout the country.

The decline in hiring can be attributed to the sharp decrease in projected hires in the

information service sector which is comprised of publishing, broadcasting, telecommunications,

and web service providers/software providers. Two other key sectors for two-year graduates,

health services and government, are also decreasing their hiring outlook.

Two-year Credential Earner Hiring Projections by Economic Sector

Economic Sector Av. Hires 09-10 Campus Rel.

Av. Hires Expected 10-11 Campus Rel.

Percentage Change Year over Year

Av. Hires 09-10 All Hiring

Av. Hires Expected 10-11 All Hiring

Percentage Change Year over Year

Construction 30.0 35.7 19 87.0 90.0 3

Manufacturing 8.9 15.5 74 8.9 9.6 8

Wholesale ** ** ** 3.4 3.4 NC

Retail 3.9 7.1 82 2.6 5.8 >100

Transportation 11.9 13.4 13

Information

Services

11.0 4.0 >-100

Finance &

Insurance

3.0 9.3 >100 2.6 5.8 >100

Professional &

Scientific

Services

2.9 3.3 14 32.0 2.9 >-100

Administrative

Services

12.9 28.9 >100 11.6 22.9 97

Education 5.6 4.0 -29 13.8 7.1 -48

Health Services 12.4 8.2 -34 11.2 7.3 -35

Hospitality 13.6 11.8 13 9.1 8.5 -7

Non-profit 2.1 2.5 19 2.6 2.5 -4

Government 10.2 10.0 -2 14.9 6.4 >-100

From our work with the Gates Foundation, we learned that an essential component of any earn

and learn program is the necessity for the alignment between the three parties: educators,

learners, and employers. The evidence above supports this element in that employers who are

engaged at the institutions from whom they recruit credential talent are more likely to have

positive hiring targets. On the other hand, organizations without these types of relations seem

to have wide fluctuations in their hiring targets year-to-year. Administrative services

(essentially placement/staffing firms) seem to play an important role in job acquisition for

credential graduates. While health service hiring can be expected to improve when the

economy gains more momentum, concerns that government (a big champion of credential

attainment) hiring will continue to shrink should be taken seriously.

Location: Strong gains in hiring projects in the Northeast and Upper Plains are offset by the

hiring decreases planned by employers throughout much of the rest of the country. Again,

employers with a close working relationship with their local community colleges tend to reflect

stronger hiring.

Hiring Projects for Two-Year Credential Earner by Location

Location Av. Hires 09-10 Campus Rel.

Av. Hires Expected 10-11 Campus Rel.

Percentage Change Year over Year

Av. Hires 09-10 All Hiring

Av. Hires Expected 10-11 All Hiring

Percentage Change Year over Year

Northeast 13.8 28.6 35 9.7 18.8 94

Middle

Atlantic

15.0 22.1 47 16.1 14.3 -11

Great Lakes 4.1 7.7 89 6.3 5.5 -13

Upper

Plains

5.6 11.8 >100 4.5 8.6 91

Southeast 11.9 14.7 23 20.2 20.0 -1

South-

Central

18.2 20.0 10 14.8 13.1 -11

Southwest 5.0 5.6 -12 4.6 3.8 -17

Northwest 9.1 11.2 23 3.2 2.7 -16

This first attempt in dealing with credentials at the two-year college level has been a struggle to

interpret what is transpiring year-over-year. One thought is that as the college labor market

improves, employers shift from low-cost, specific task workers to higher cost degreed talent

that can either perform at a higher level or is more versatile in the range of assignments that

can be covered. More details on the labor market dynamics is needed to make any inference on

the long-term viability of this type of skill acquisition. For example, we need to explore

questions like these:

What types of institutions are more trusted to provide credential training and skill

verification?

What do employers think when they hear the word certification and credential? Some

leaders in workforce development are well aware and prize credential talent; but what

about the broader spectrum of employers?

If employers are focused on skills, what would make credentials more appealing in

positive labor markets?

These questions and others continue to surface as we explore the credential market. Feedback

and insights into credentials market dynamics are appreciated and will be considered in future

trends research.