Hundreds of new college graduates in Central Texas are looking for work in an economy many claim to be on the greased brink of a recession. Local employers and college administrators say the class of 2008 may not be in as bad a shape as first believed - at least if they have the right major.

Don Owens, director of career services at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, said spring graduates can expect a healthy local job market for now.

“We have seen a slight impact compared to this time last year, but in a lot of specialties we’re seeing as much or more (interest by employers),” Owens said. “I think we have been fortunate enough to be diversified and we don’t have some of the issues the northern and East Coast regions have. Certainly for a college graduate who has the right skills, I think it is very promising.”

Robert Crawley, labor market analyst for the Texas Workforce Commission, said since last year Central Texas has added 3,300 new jobs. Local growth is about 2.8 percent, compared to 2.3 percent in Texas and 0.6 percent nationwide. Crawley said the main growth has been in education and health services, leisure and hospitality and the government sector.

“Health care has always been strong and is as strong as ever,” Owens said. “Education, business - we’re probably seeing just as many requests for accountants and computer science majors. There are some areas that are soft, but overall I think the outlook is still good right now. It could pull up and change by May, but I think it will be late summer before we see an effect.”

Looking nationally, an annual survey by Collegegrad.com found that 60 percent of companies plan to recruit more new grads this year than last year, 21 percent will hire the same number, and 19 percent will bring fewer on board. The survey also said the nation’s top employers who hire people with master’s degrees hope to increase hiring by 22 percent in 2008.

Recent graduates are a boon to employers because they are cheap and the number of retiring baby boomers could keep the job market healthy for entry level employees.

The Killeen school district has already started recruiting at local colleges to get enough teachers to meet demand.

“We have on average hired 350 teachers every summer,” said Bob Massey, spokesman for the Killeen school district. “That’s been the story for many, many years. We hire 500 a year total throughout the year as positions become available.”

He said with Killeen’s size they can afford to pay new graduates very well and at least 50 percent of its new teachers are working right out of college.

“We meet the $40,000 a year mark for a teacher right out of college and offer a $1,500 signing bonus.” Massey said. “That’s pretty good for somebody right out of college. We can continue to hire people because our district continues to grow.”

Killeen is in the process of building two new schools and the demand for teachers will increase even more.

Owens said that, as always, networking is the key to survival if the job market is harsh for new grads.

“On job search Web sites like Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com there are a lot of job postings out there. Some are very live and viable, but a lot of great jobs are never posted, so a lot of times it gets down to networking. Don’t be too prideful and embarrassed to share with classmates, friends and relatives that you are looking for a job.”

Those looking to network locally may wish to visit a job fair.

Temple College has two job fairs a year in the fall and the spring. Last fall about 300 job seekers and more than 30 employers attended.

The spring job fair is scheduled for April 30 and is geared toward spring graduates.