Business majors approaching graduation may have more to toast after graduation besides getting a diploma.
A new survey from CareerBuilder shows that business is the major that the highest number of employers (38%) consider to be the most sought-after.
More than 2,000 human resources personnel and hiring managers from a variety of industries were surveyed.
When asked about specific positions that hiring managers are looking to hire, business-related positions also topped the list.
Information technology was the top position (30%), followed by customer service (28%), finance and accounting (22%), sales (21%) and business development (19%).
Recent graduates can also look forward to a good number of career prospects and higher beginning salaries, according to the survey.
Sixty-five percent of respondents said that they intend to hire recent graduates this year, an 8% increase from last year. This marks the highest number in this category since 2007.
Not only are companies looking to hire recent graduates, but they also have plans to pay them more right from the start.
One-third of hiring managers plan on offering recent grads higher starting salaries this year, with about 25% planning to offer $50,000 or higher.
Most hiring managers (65%) said they would be willing to negotiate salaries with recent graduates.
However, hiring managers also identified areas where many recent graduates need work.
Almost half (46%) of employers are concerned that graduates have had too much focus on learning from a book and not enough focus on real world skills.
Organizations also expressed concern over a lack of certain skills among recent graduates.
More than half (52%) named interpersonal skills as the area that recent grads most often lack when entering the workforce.
Other problem areas included problem-solving abilities (46%), oral communication (41%), leadership (40%) and written communication (38%).
