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A study conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers this month reveals some promising news for thousands of soon-to-be college graduates.

The report shows that when applying for jobs, the Class of 2007 has experienced massive success. In particular, 51.2 percent of graduates this year who applied for jobs have already accepted full-time positions. The hot job market even allows for these students to be picky, with the average applicant receiving 2.25 job offers.

Confused about where to begin your job search? An article posted by Joyce Lain Kennedy on telegram.com offers those entering the figurative purgatory located between graduation and accepting that first job offer an obvious starting place: the internet.

While big names like Monster.com immediately surface at the thought of a web-based job search, experts say that many recent college graduates overlook the sites specifically geared towards them (i.e. CollegeRecruiter.com, CollegeGrad.com and QuintCareers.com).

Other suggestions include setting up a professional email account, researching the industries you’re interested in on sites like Beyond.com, and sending your resume as an MS Word or Adobe PDF file whenever possible in your online job search.

The internet can also help you to bulk up your resume, with the online college business creating more and more options for people looking to earn degrees. The average American changes jobs every 3 years, and career coach Maureen Moriarty writes that, “A critical element for success in today’s job market is the ability (and willingness) to continue to expand our skills, knowledge and capabilities. The days of going to college and earning a four-year degree that will carry you through a professional lifetime are most likely over.”

If you are interested in enrolling in courses on the web, browse our online colleges and universities and start requesting information.

Place your fears about offshoring and foreign immigration aside. New studies suggest that there are enough technology-based jobs to satisfy the needs of both domestic and international workers, especially in California.

To start off, take a look at Barrie McKenna’s article “Offshoring May Not Be the Real Job Killer.” In the piece, McKenna cites theorist Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, whose study paints a more optimistic picture for the future of American workers. Kirkegaard claims that the revolution of technology may be responsible for the transfer of American jobs into foreign hands, and that the impact of offshoring on the nation’s job pool has been exaggerated.

The article also quotes some data from government agencies that Kirkegaard uses to reinforce his theory, such as the following: In 2004 and 2005, slightly less than one million Americans were victims of mass layoffs in a labor force of roughly 150 million. Offshoring accounted for just 4 percent of those lost jobs, or 1/25 of all laid-off workers.

McKenna maintains, with the aid of Kirkegaard’s study, that America is “still a magnet for higher-end work,” and uses the example of computer engineering jobs appearing in place of diminishing computer programming and call center positions (which have traditionally been outsourced to places like China and India).

For those still weary of the threat that the foreign workforce poses on job opportunities in the U.S., a report issued by the Public Policy Institute of California on May 23rd may help to assuage those fears. The report concludes that importing employees from other areas in the country and abroad still may not solve the state’s growing shortage of educated workers.

With California’s economy projected to grow in the upcoming decades, and the number of skilled jobs with substantial salaries on the rise, the report suggests that neither domestic nor international migration (CA’s college grads are increasingly likely to come from India) will be able to fill the void. Specifically, the technology, biosciences, and health services sectors of California’s economy will suffer the most if more college-educated workers fail to journey into the state.

Furthermore, two out of every five jobs (41%) in California will soon require a degree. And with only 32 percent of the state’s “working-age” adults projected to have a college education by 2025, California must begin searching now for qualified workers to help propel their economy forward.

In closing, if you are interested in any of the technology fields, offshoring may actually increase the quality of your job pool in the future, and California may be a good place to start searching for educational opportunities.

Despite the years that have passed since the financial scandals with Enron and Adelphia Communications, accounting firms still aim to hire big numbers to avoid any fudged paperwork and unwanted legal issues. In an article entitled “Where Hiring is the Hottest,” Alex Kingsbury writes that: “the practical upshot is that companies now need more eyes watching the books.” On the statistical side, the U.S. government estimates an 18 to 26 percent increase in jobs for accountants over the next few years that won’t reach its peak until 2014.

Many companies are looking towards students to satisfy this need. Schools in Texas report that the presence of professional recruiters visiting their campuses has doubled from previous years, with 95 percent of accounting majors at the University of Texas securing jobs before graduation. With UT providing a perfect example of the benefits of studying numbers while in school, experts vehemently insist that students are the future of accounting in Texas and throughout the rest of the country.

Because of this need for accountants, most corporations offer an attractive entry-level salary for college graduates. The U.S. Department of Labor cites the median salary for accountants and auditors as $50,770. And that was in 2004!

If the fact that accountants make a very comfortable living and have a plethora of job opportunities to choose from doesn’t sound like news to you, take a look at Robert Elsenpeter’s article “This Year’s Best Accounting Jobs,” which details the five “hot” jobs in accounting this year. Not content with the current income level for accountants nationwide? The salaries for these positions are expected to grow even higher in the months to come.

As Elsenpeter writes in his article, “It is no secret that accountants love numbers.” If you’re interested in accounting, you’ll love the number of offers coming your way after you earn your degree. (This is just a guess, but the number of zeros at the end of your paycheck will probably put a smile on your face too.)

Searching for opportunities in health care? Well look no further than the state of Connecticut. With vacancy rates for critical health care professionals reaching 6 to 11 percent in most of the hospitals there, a report released by the Connecticut Hospital Association estimates that the situation will only worsen in the next decade, placing the state in contention for the worst nursing shortage in the country. (Alaska currently holds the undesirable title.)

This shortage also extends to many of the allied health care fields, such as pharmacists, respiratory therapists, and physical therapists. The U.S. Department of Labor reports that these specialized professions (which also extend to radiological technology, speech-language pathology, and clinical laboratory sciences) represent approximately 60 percent of the nation’s health care workforce. In addition, the shortage for these types of workers could reach 2.5 million by the year 2020.

With the first round of baby boomers having just reached retirement age, the need for health care workers continues to grow as the current pool of professionals ages. Although this trend poses a threat to the quality of health care that many Americans will receive in the upcoming years, it also signifies far-reaching opportunities for employment. Connecticut is simply one of the first areas (and surely won’t be the last) to feel the effects of the overwhelming need for health care looming just around the corner.

So how can you assist in alleviating this nationwide issue? Earn your degree in a health care field, and achieve job security by helping others.