Many students are beginning their careers as they graduate college this Spring. Recent graduates represent 2.9% of the total US workforce.

In 2013, about 4,361,380 graduates joined the labor market and a similar number will graduate this year. In what fields do these graduating candidates possess degrees?

Although the largest percentage of graduates earned a Liberal Arts and Sciences degree, this program only accounts for 6.3% of the total degrees earned, according to data from WANTED Analytics.

Students also graduated with Business Administration and Management degrees, representing 6% of degrees. Registered Nursing, Medical Assistance, and Psychology were also among the programs with the most graduating students. 

Source: WANTED Analytics

Most students completed the coursework required to earn an Associate's degree, 42%. This number may be impacted by the amount of students enrolled in nursing or healthcare programs. Associate's is the educational requirement for many of these jobs. 39% of students graduated with Bachelor's degrees. 

Source: WANTED Analytics

How do these degrees match up to demand? Over the past 120 days, sales and related jobs were most in-demand, followed by Office and Administrative Support positions. IT jobs rank 4th on the list below and healthcare positions appeared in the 5th spot. 

Most Commonly Advertised Occupational Categories 

Source: WANTED Analytics

Not all students may take positions related to their degree. A certain educational level is often required rather than specific degree types. Students with Liberal Arts and Business Administration degrees may be able to fill some of the entry level sales and related or office and administration jobs in addition to management and business and financial operations. Computer Science related degrees were not among the top education programs completed by graduates. To keep up with demand, more students will need to enroll in these programs. While the chart above shows the fields with the most demand, it doesn't signal the demand pressure in the market - what the current candidate supply is in relation to demand. Our Demand Pressure chart reveals that there is a small candidate supply for IT jobs on average throughout the nation. The current talent pool calculates to about 12 candidates per each unique job ad. 

Demand Pressure for IT Jobs

Source: WANTED Analytics

Is your company actively involved in encouraging that nation's youth to participate in specific educational programs? How are you working with them to build a candidate pipeline?