A fall 2024 survey of the Class of 2025 found seniors were less than optimistic about their futures after graduation due to a competitive job market. Just weeks before commencement, new data from Handshake finds the sentiment remains true, with 56 percent of graduating students reporting feeling “very” or “somewhat” pessimistic about their careers.
Those sentiments aren’t entirely surprising given the downward trends in the U.S. economy and job market. But there’s an upside, said Christine Cruzvergara, Handshake’s chief education officer: The circumstances push graduates to be adaptive, flexible and innovative in the ways they think about their careers.
“Every so often we have cycles like this where unfortunately some of the graduating class experiences this downturn and they have to figure out, ‘How am I going to get creative?’ And I think this class in particular is doing just that,” Cruzvergara said.
In the face of greater competition, graduating seniors have increased the number of jobs they apply to, averaging around 16.5 applications to date—21 percent more than their peers in the Class of 2024.
Student priorities: When selecting which jobs to apply for, graduates rank desired location as a top priority (73 percent). The second most important factor is job stability, cited by 70 percent of students. A high starting salary was important to 63 percent of job applicants and competitive benefits to 48 percent.
A significant share of students say they’re looking for a job near their family (69 percent ranked this as a moderate or high priority) or their hometown (58 percent).
While college students say that hybrid and online learning is important to them, most Handshake survey respondents said they want an in-person job for their first role postgrad. Only 12 percent said they want to work remotely for most of their career.
Since 2022, employers have posted fewer full-time remote jobs on Handshake; in January 2025, only about 3.5 percent of all jobs posted on the platform advertised fully remote work.
Well over half (63 percent) of graduating seniors hope to secure a “dream job” after leaving college, while 13 percent of respondents said they entered college with a dream job but don’t have one now.
A spring 2025 ZipRecruiter survey of graduating seniors and recent alums found that 82 percent of soon-to-be graduates plan to start work within three months of graduating, while only 77 percent of alumni who graduated within the past year got a job in that time frame—and 5 percent are still looking for their first job out of college.
Over two-thirds of survey respondents indicated they had completed at least one job interview, with 18 percent conducting between four and six interviews as of March.
Inflation is also weighing on students’ salary considerations; nearly half of current students said they plan to negotiate for a higher salary. Among recent graduates, the average starting pre-tax income was $68,400 and the highest paid grads belonged to agriculture, environmental sciences and natural resources majors.
Hiring predictions: Despite students’ pessimism, some companies still say they’re looking for young talent.
A recent survey of employers conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that despite stronger headwinds in the hiring market at large, most (65 percent) plan to hire similar numbers of college graduates this year as last year. One-quarter of respondents said they actually plan to increase their total hires for the 2024–25 recruiting year.
More than one-third of employers in support services, engineering services, social services, food and beverage manufacturing, and wholesale trade all plan to hire more employees this year. At the same time, one-third or more motor vehicle manufacturers, accounting services and computer and electronics manufacturers plan to decrease their hiring.
In line with Handshake’s findings, the NACE survey respondents indicated that the greatest share of entry-level job postings they’ll create will be hybrid (49 percent), with around 45 percent fully in person.
Academic major remains an important screening metric for employers, along with related internship experience, industry experience and demonstrated proficiency in career competencies, according to NACE’s data.
Skills-based hiring continues to be a priority for employers, with 64 percent of respondents indicating they use such hiring practices, primarily in the interview process (89 percent).
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