Big Demand For Today's High-Tech Graduates -- Graduates Get Wined, Dined - And Multiple Job Offers

Recruiters lure them with free dinners, nights on the town, even paid trips to football bowl games. The best recruits, some as young as 21 or 22, get signing bonuses and salaries that dwarf the income of many families.

But these aren't athletes. They likely know more about RAM than about the Rams, more about hardware than hard tackles.

The really hot college stars today are computer scientists, electrical engineers and other graduates in technical fields, according to college career centers, professors and employers.

"They are averaging five or six offers each, even the mediocre students," said Gaetano Borriello, a professor of computer science at the University of Washington.

"I know a bunch of MIS (management information systems) majors who didn't do anything in college but party. But now they are making $8,000 more than me, and I got a high offer," said Robert Ruotsi, a mechanical engineer with General Electric who, three months after graduating from Washington State University, is making $42,000 a year.

Average starting pay: $45K

The growing demand for technical services and products, combined with a decline in students majoring in computer science, means graduates are almost guaranteed several job offers before they leave school.

A January salary survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) said recent computer-science graduates were paid an average starting pay of $44,878, and only 10 percent earned less than $36,000. By comparison, accounting majors received an average starting pay of $33,477; economics or finance majors, $35,016.

College career counselors and professors have seen salaries of as much as $60,000 and signing bonuses of as much as $6,000.

Things are a little slower this year because of concerns among large businesses about a slowing economy, but top students are still getting what they want.

John Thimsen, 23, a UW computer-engineering student who will graduate this spring, has had a job lined up with Microsoft since January. He wouldn't go into details about his salary or contract, but he said he turned down seven other job offers with salaries as high as $58,000 and signing bonuses as high as $5,000.

And the offers keep coming in.

`Trying to feed us all the time'

Thimsen has a 3.7 grade-point average and about four years of experience with high-tech companies.

Besides the traditional visits to job fairs and career centers on campus, recruiters have taken to sponsoring student clubs, hosting pizza or video-game nights, and wining and dining top students.

"A presentation here, a dinner there, they are trying to feed us all the time," said Erin Moore, a UW computer-science major with a 3.86 GPA who has been besieged with interviews, phone calls and e-mail from potential employers.

Moore said one particularly aggressive recruiter from a Texas company was nicknamed "Amex" because all students had to do was hint an interest in her company, and "she'd take out the card and take you out to lunch."

"Nothing is off limits," said Laura Freeman, a senior recruiter with Visio. Because of the shortage of qualified candidates, Visio is starting to look at college graduates after years of hiring only people with experience.

In one case of particularly aggressive recruiting, a 22-year-old Ohio State University student being courted by an Internet commerce company in Austin hinted that he was looking at a job at Microsoft. The company wanted him so bad that it flew him and two friends to the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day to see Ohio State play.

Many job openings

Computer-science professors and employers say the companies' behavior is just a reaction to the market. The Information Technology Association of America reported last year that there were 346,000 job vacancies for computer scientists, engineers, programmers and system analysts.

The Washington Software Alliance also claims there are 7,300 vacant jobs in software companies in Washington state, about 15 percent of the total jobs in the field.

The supply of young graduates hasn't kept up. In 1986, colleges and universities produced 41,889 graduates in computer science, compared with 24,098 in 1996, according to NACE.

Ed Lazowska, chairman of the UW Computer Science and Engineering department, said the decline resulted from insufficient room in college programs, and also a lack of interest among students who considered computer science too difficult. Enrollments have started to climb again in the past three years, he said, but not nearly enough to meet the demand.

"There's a big national gap and a big regional gap," Lazowska said, "and that is causing companies to behave in strange and wonderful ways."

Roberto Sanchez's phone message number is 206-464-8522. His e-mail address is rsanchez@seattletimes.com