Accounting, Computer Science Among Most Desirable Majors

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, members of the class of 2011 who majored in accounting will fare best in the current job market.

NACE asked employers participating in their Job Outlook 2011 survey which majors they found most attractive. Respondents overwhelmingly said business, computer science and engineering were the most desirable.

Some students appear to have taken notice of these trends -- according to the National Center for Educational Statistics, 21 percent of all bachelor's degrees granted in 2007-08 were in business, and the number of students majoring in engineering has risen by 8 percent between 2002-03 and 2007-08. (It is worth noting that computer science degrees fell by 33 percent from 2002-03 to 2007-08, but only after experience a whopping growth rate of 106 percent from 1997-98 to 2002-03.)

Below, check out which majors are most wanted by employers in 2011, and what percent of respondents said they would be hiring candidates with these qualifications. Are you surprised? Let us know in the comments section.

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62 percent of participating organizations would like to hire graduates who majored in accounting.

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62 percent of participating organizations would like to hire graduates who majored in accounting.

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Comments

[Art Dodger]

05:56 PM on 01/24/2011

Meanwhile few people can write even acceptably. I know because I am a tutor at a state college. Also, what about critical thinking? After all one should not live by bread alone! What about the arts, music, literature? Are we destined to become a nation of dullards who are good with numbers and nothing more? If so, our country will not hold its own internationally--there is more to life than numbers.

[Lisa Shields]

08:38 AM on 01/21/2011

Brilliant.

So I am just guessing that they assume "computer literate" means "language literate" as well? It seems to me I have read scores of articles in the last few years where employers have decried the basic writing skills of their applicants...yet not a single "hot major" is directed in that area.

When the Net first happened, the articulate were the Jaguars---most likely to shine. But between "chat speak" "text usage", etc. we are becoming less and less able to construct a simple paragraph. I signed up for a college course recently, and in the syllabus, there was a section on "text language". stating that text short talk would not be accepted in papers.

Excuse me? I would ask "Who would do that?", but I know the answer.

LOTS of people.

So, I wonder where the literate, the articulate, and the well grounded users of language are coming from. Certainly not this list...

[guitarguy22]

10:35 PM on 01/19/2011

Shoot. I know this is a very consolidated list, but I hope there is some room for demand for a Communications degree. Otherwise I'll be SOL

[Will Holston]

01:11 PM on 01/13/2011

So ... not Communications? Damn.

[guitarguy22]

10:33 PM on 01/19/2011

I'm in the same boat. I would think a company would love someone who knows the ins and outs of business/organizational communication.

[tobeginajourney]

09:50 PM on 01/11/2011

Are psychology majors safe for this economy?

[CptFreakout]

11:14 AM on 01/09/2011

Bob forbid we have any Engineers, Doctors,nurses,Historians,Astronomers,philosophers, or any one who can build cars robots etc or fix anything from plumbing to a circuit board . Nope none of that is useful in America or are skills we might need to rebuild our country .

[Andrew Wojtkowski]

10:04 AM on 01/21/2011

Uhh.... 2 people on the list are Engineering Majors.


And as important as those other jobs are... Most companies aren't hiring doctors.

[rightwing927]

09:05 AM on 01/07/2011

You mean Gender Studies didn't make the list? I'm shocked.

[sf omega man]

04:30 AM on 01/06/2011

balderdash. as a statistician (and one who just hired a bunch of folks) it does not appear their survey population was correctly sampled. I think perhaps only 10% of my coworkers in my group at (Dow 30 company) have anything like these degress.

[bannorhill]

12:16 PM on 01/15/2011

Look at starting salaries. They show the real demand.

[Lisa Shields]

08:40 AM on 01/21/2011

Not to nit pick...but you do use capitals on occasion?
"Balderdash" is a great word choice...but all lower case? It lacks.

[The Iron Cage]

10:00 AM on 01/21/2011

That is pretty nit picky.

[SirLaxer]

10:57 PM on 01/05/2011

My parents keep telling me to study business or accounting, but my worst subjects are math, science, economics, and the like. Looks like I'll be a flight attendant or something.

[Sunny California]

05:25 PM on 01/06/2011

Yea. We are in the same boat. I was studying Environmental Studies but was uninterested in it. Now I'm at a CC and I have been thinking about Engineering. But my worst subjects have been math. All thorugh college I was getting C's in my math classes. So if you're not good with numbers, you're pretty much screwed, unless you're a trust fund baby.

[SirLaxer]

11:18 AM on 01/07/2011

I wish haha

[littleraerae]

10:52 AM on 01/11/2011

Don't give up, I know many people in the engineering department at my school that are average at best in math. You'll just have to work harder.

[Blues02]

09:25 PM on 01/06/2011

Honestly I was horrible at math until I started college. Everything just clicked when I finally found an awesome professor. Just look at your College/University's Business degree plans and see how many courses in those subjects that are required. Some Universities are pretty lax when it comes to those courses and requirements.

[Sunny California]

04:40 AM on 01/08/2011

There are a few math classes I did alright in, I did well in an Algebra class I took in college a few semesters ago, but that is because I had a pretty good teacher and I had study buddies.

[NYC80]

09:18 PM on 01/13/2011

Just like me I was terrible in Math during high school, but then I went to good college had good math teachers and i was pretty good.

[alahnar]

03:02 PM on 01/05/2011

Wait, you mean child development isn't a go-to hire? :-) That aside, working with children, this is the year I realized I would rather make 30,000/year and love my job than make 80,000 sitting behind a desk. I never thought I'd say that - because money is important, and very important - but I never again want to hate my job, not after having a job I love. So here's to hoping my child development degree will help hire me in a few short years! :-)

[bannorhill]

12:19 PM on 01/15/2011

That is fine...as long as you do not complain about the pay.

[Hookedonfashion]

12:40 PM on 01/21/2011

If you get a master's you can teach at community college.

[gobamaaa]

01:30 PM on 01/05/2011

well that's bleak.

[Mark Goldstein]

09:13 AM on 01/05/2011

I knew I became an Accounting major for a reason... I thought maybe I was just a masochist :-)

[Mondayboy]

05:09 AM on 01/05/2011

what happened to physics, philosophy and psychology?

[yetiwatcher]

05:15 AM on 01/05/2011

I hear when the job market isn't in the toilet the physics majors can get engineering jobs.

[Matt Herren]

09:01 AM on 01/05/2011

As someone who has two degrees in social sciences from a major university, I can tell you that learning any skills that have real-world applicability that an employer would desire from an applicant.

[Arrive2 net]

04:14 AM on 01/05/2011

The few majors in highest demand is not the whole story. There are many other jobs out there beyond these seven majors.

Bernard Schuster
Arrive2.net
Twitter.com/arrive2_net

[Andy Clark]

02:43 AM on 01/05/2011

Of course big banks want more (and cheaper straight out of college) peons to handle money and do what they are told so we can head into another financial crisis.

Business administration/management? Please. I know more people that worked straight out of high school with better management/organization/leadership skills than kids coming out of college with these degrees. If businesses wanted to save a buck, hire non degree holders that are willing to work their butts off.

And, of course, i can't tell younger people this enough: LEARN EVERYTHING YOU CAN ABOUT COMPUTERS. if you can understand 2-3 coding languages, you will be set for life.

[Mark Goldstein]

10:36 AM on 01/05/2011

As a graduating Accounting and Management double-major, I disagree with your statement for a few reasons (although I admittedly have some bias).

"Of course big banks want more (and cheaper straight out of college) peons to handle money and do what they are told so we can head into another financial crisis."

1) One of the reasons that new accounting students are becoming more highly sought is quite the opposite of your belief. We are the first generation of accounting students who have extensive training in internal controls, information systems assurance, and fraud risk indicators. All of these components exist precisely for the purpose of the PREVENTION of future large-scale financial crises. We will be the people designing and auditing these systems in order to create larger-scale accountability in the financial world.
2) The global economy: We are also the first generation of American accounting students to have training in IFRS (the international standard which the U.S. is yet to adopt). Whether people like it or not, globalization is a reality, and knowledge of IFRS makes us marketable.

Our generation of accountants is far more expensive and valuable than people like you are giving us credit for.

In regards to your statement about management majors; you can't be taught to be a manager in business school, but those who already have managerial aptitude can learn valuable analysis tools and develop group-work skills.

[DJLenny]

12:38 PM on 01/05/2011

Finally, someone who knows what they are talking about.

[Andy Clark]

06:12 PM on 01/05/2011

excellent points, and I will forfeit the argument :)

[DJLenny]

12:44 PM on 01/05/2011

As accounting rules get more complex and with the US adopting IFRS in about 5 years who do you think is going to sort through all of it? And who do you think is going to get paid a whole lot to do so? Also, with the exception of a few outliers, accountants are the ones who usually have to fix and sort through said "crises."

"Hire non degree holders that are willing to work their butts off." - What do you think I have been doing for the past 3 1/2 years in college!

[Mark Goldstein]

02:34 PM on 01/05/2011

Exactly... Accounting programs are incredibly rigorous. I'd say about half of the people that begin an Accounting program are able to see it through... the rest are weeded out by the second Intermediate course.

[Andy Clark]

06:11 PM on 01/05/2011

I apologize for the generalization I had made. Thank you for the erudite analysis.