Spring breakers see bright futures

Along with MTV camera crews and beach-volleyball buffs, corporate recruiters looking for fresh grads have been flocking to spring-break hot spots.

A recent survey of recruiters working the Florida coast found most expected to hire at least as many entry-level workers this year as they did last year.

Most of the starting salaries averaged around $30,000, but many companies (predominantly in the high-technology sector) reported starting salaries from $45,000 to $65,000, according to the New York-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

More than half the companies said they were considering offering signing bonuses.

But bonuses or not, two-thirds of the students surveyed anticipated staying with their first employer for less than two years.

They don't plan to sacrifice pay for this lack of loyalty. In a Jobtrack.com poll of more than 2,000 college students and recent grads, more than 50 percent said they expected to be millionaires by age 40.

These soon-to-be grads have reason for high hopes. Some 596,000 US households have a net worth of $5 million or more - a jump of 46 percent in the past five years, according to the consulting firm Spectrem Group.

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society