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Springtime in Boston: The Red Sox are back at Fenway, sailboats are cruising the Charles -- and this year's crop of college graduates is looking for a job. Final exams are almost history, but thousands of area twenty- somethings must still endure the resume-writing/interviewing/waiting-for- an- offer ordeal that is a rite of passage.
So, what's the word from corporate America? Pretty good, actually.
The chances for landing a job are the best since 1990, especially for grads who know their way around a computer or a science lab. Even the outlook for the oft-maligned (and under-appreciated) liberal arts major is better this year.
But before you grads start pushing the limits on your credit cards, a word of caution: Be prepared for highly demanding bosses who will work you hard and keep you waiting for promotions and raises. Just because you aced those tough engineering or computer science courses doesn't mean you are guaranteed the pole position on the fast track.
''What employers have been saying is that the attitudes and expectations of new college graduates are higher than their actual value in the marketplace,'' says Patrick Scheetz, director of Michigan State University's employment research institute. ''Students may have proved themselves in college, but now employers are expecting them to prove themselves all over again.''
One reason for the pickup in job offers is greater demand from a booming service sector, especially financial institutions. That should be good news for ex-students who'd like to stay in Greater Boston because banks, mutual funds and insurance companies are engines for the local economy.
''We've been interviewing literally hundreds of students on college campuses,'' reports Steve Levinsky, vice president of staffing at Boston's Fidelity Investments, the nation's largest mutual fund company.
Robert Weatherall, director of career services at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, expects high demand for MIT grads. But he didn't expect it from the service sector.
''I've been here 25 years, and we have never had as much attention from the service sector and financial institutions as we have had this year,'' notes Weatherall.
Reality check: Even though this year's employment picture is prettier than in previous years, it's a far cry from the peak hiring levels of the mid- 1980s. Moreover, graduates hitting the pavement in June will be competing against unemployed but experienced professionals who are willing to work for lower wages, as well as previous graduates who have yet to land a stable job.
''Competition is still tough, so graduates are going to have to scramble,'' says Scheetz.
And don't forget small firms of all kinds, adds Diana Walton, human resources representative for Mitotix Inc., a Cambridge biotechnology company. The company, which has 51 employees, hired six persons last year.
That's small change, but multiply such gains by tens of thousands of fast- growing companies across the country and you've got a key factor behind the 3.5 million new jobs that were created in 1994 and a current unemployment rate of 5.8 percent, down from 6.4 percent last spring.
But it can be harder to link up with smaller companies, which don't have the recruiting resources of big corporations. ''The major growth is in small companies that seldom recruit on campus,'' says Jack Erdlen, president of Strategic Outsourcing Inc. in Wellesley.
According to a widely watched recruitment survey from Michigan State University, companies encouraged by an improved economy will make 5.9 percent more job offers this year than in 1994. Starting salaries are up 1.3 percent to 2.6 percent over last year.
The anticipated increase in hiring is the second annual jump; offers were up 1.1 percent in 1994, ending a four-year drought in which they plummeted 30 percent. All regions of the country report healthy demand for entry-level positions.
One caveat: Recent data suggest that the torrid pace of economic growth at the end of 1994 cooled substantially in the first part of this year. While few analysts expect a recession, the degree to which business slows will affect the strength of the job market.
''Internships really make good business sense,'' says Ray Fisher, manager of Local Area Network Services at Gillette Co. in South Boston. ''It's a win- win situation for companies and interns. They gain experience and we get a chance to evaluate them as potential employees.''
One beneficiary of an internship: Paul Fife, 27, of Dorchester. Fife became a full-time student at the University of Massachusetts in Boston in 1991, after obtaining a certificate in computer programming and pursuing vocational opportunities that led nowhere.
When Fife landed a job as a computer network analyst at Gillette early this year, he attributed his good fortune to his 3.45 grade point average, his major in computer information systems and an internship he secured through a national program called Inroads. ''Companies are more willing to take on interns because they can see whether or not a student has the potential to learn,'' says Fife. ''The experience definitely opens doors.''
But if you spent long hours tooling away in a lab or cruising around the World Wide Web, you are in luck, too. Engineers and computer scientists are hot commodities.
''If all 2,400 of our graduating seniors were software engineers, we would have 100 percent employment,'' says Carol Lyons, dean of the Department of Career Services at Northeastern University. ''That's how hot the field is right now.''
Better yet, seniors with degrees in these areas pull down some of the best starting paychecks, averaging from about $33,000 for computer science to $41,000 for chemical engineering, according to the Michigan State survey. By contrast, liberal arts majors can expect offers of around $21,000, while social science grads will see about $22,600.
Nevertheless, career specialists say the outlook for liberal arts graduates is on the upswing, a change attributed to overall economic growth. Add to that some previous work experience and a solid grade point average and job offers shouldn't be as difficult to pin down as they have been in the past, they say. ''I don't buy into the notion that computer science graduates are the only ones getting jobs,'' says Richard Leger, director of career services at Boston University.
''It is true that with a degree in computer science or the allied health professions you can pretty much write your ticket, but there are also job openings in other areas,'' Leger says.
- Network. Ask your school for a list of alumni in your field and then call, set up information interviews and ask for advice. Tell neighbors, friends, your minister and others about your job hunt.
- Polish your resume. Go to the library, check books on various types of resumes and find the one tailored to your needs. Check spelling, punctuation and ask a career counselor at your college or university to review it for you.
- Become computer literate. Knowledge of software applications -- word processing, spreadsheets and database management, for example -- make new graduates in any field more employable. Employees who use computers at work earn 10 to 15 percent more than those who don't, according to Princeton University economist Alan Krueger. Also, familiarize yourself with job listings on the Internet and then distribute your resume -- by mail and electronically.
- Do research. Investigate companies before the interview and have a list of questions ready.
- Be prepared to start at the bottom. Even graduates with top grades and credentials will be starting at lower rungs of the corporate ladder. So don't shy away from support, entry-level or even summer and temporary jobs.
Heather Cabral, 22, of Watertown, Conn., graduates from Northeastern University this year with a degree in journalism. She is interested in public relations and says she is willing to take a support position at a high-tech public relations firm in Cambridge because it will give her a toehold.
''The job market seems pretty thin, but if you're energetic about pursuing every prospect it should work out one way or the other,'' said an optimistic Cabral.
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