Job outlook good for college graduates

Seniors have just a few more weeks until they take stroll across the stage to get their diplomas. Graduation is right around the corner and in Thursday’s Dollars and Sense Derica Williams has some good news for the class of 2012 who is anxiously looking for employment.

CareerBuilder surveyed more than 2,000 hiring managers across various industries.  54% said they plan to hire recent college grads this year, that's up from 46 % last year.

The employers surveyed said the areas where they're most likely to recruit new grads include:

-- Information technology 

-- Customer service 

-- Sales 

-- Finance and accounting, and

-- Marketing. 

And college grads shouldn't underestimate the value of their social networking skills.  Reports show about one-in-ten employers said they'd consider maintaining a blog or other platform as relevant experience.  All of those things can work in your favor.

As far as starting salaries go -- the survey shows the majority of offers will come in under $50,000. It seems, the job outlook for new college grads still isn't great, but it's much better than it's been in recent years.