Instead of spending hours finishing projects and studying for final exams during Dead Week, Bryan Muilenburg, senior in marketing and transportation logistics, was traveling across the Midwest, doing interviews in a last effort to secure a full-time job before he graduates on Saturday.

Muilenburg began his job search in August when he returned to campus after completing a summer internship — the third internship he’s had during his three-and-a-half-year college career.

“I’ve applied to 15 jobs and had second interviews on three of them,” Muilenburg said.

He said it’s difficult to know what employers are expecting to hear during interviews. Muilenburg’s interviewing success is just beginning to translate into job offers, and it couldn’t come at a better time.

“Generally speaking, the job market is better than it’s been in four years,” said Steven Kravinsky, director of career placement for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Employers expect to hire 13.1 percent more new college graduates in 2004-05 than they hired in 2003-04, according to a survey released in September by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Additionally, employers in the Midwest anticipate increasing their college hiring 26.4 percent, according to the association.

“It’s not a bad time to be getting out,” said Mike Gaul, director of career placement for the Agriculture Career Services. “Fall is a prime-time recruitment season. Seventy-five percent of the interviews are conducted in the fall, plus your competition is less.”

Iowa State has already begun to see the impact of rising college-hiring expectations because of the increase in the number of companies coming to campus to recruit.

“There have been more multiple hires and more people at the career fair, on campus and job postings,” said Kathy Wieland, program coordinator of the Business Career Services.

Students graduating Saturday should not be surprised nor discouraged when employers are slow to respond.

“The downside of graduating in the fall is that with fall comes Thanksgiving and Christmas. Not all people will be in their offices, so there will be slower responses from companies,” Gaul said.

Choosing to graduate in the fall rather than in the spring typically does not make much difference when students look for employment, Wieland said.

“Competition is lower in December, but job placement numbers aren’t that much different for December and May graduates,” she said.

Wieland said a student’s odds of hearing back from online job postings are not as good as when he or she uses more traditional methods of searching for a job. She said major online job boards have only a 1 to 2 percent return, whereas students normally can expect a 10 percent return rate when using other methods.

She suggests students use personal networking — contacts through professional associations, career service offices and career fairs — as well as online job resources when searching for a job.

Kravinsky said students should not get discouraged when they’re going through the job searching process.

“If you’re going to Iowa State … take your studies seriously and have given some thought to why you’re here and what you want to do, there’s no reason why you can’t find professional employment when you graduate,” Kravinsky said.