As the sub-prime crisis spiralled out of control last year, Mr Andrew Niple, 22, was working towards his bachelor's degree in business administration and worrying about his prospects.

However, he found an opening in a Wall Street investment bank where he had worked as an intern. He expects to make an impressive US$130,000 (S$176,000) in his first year, with a pay package of US$60,000, signing bonus of US$12,500 and performance bonus of US$70,000.

Companies say they expect to hire more new graduates than they did last year, the slowdown notwithstanding. They are prepared to offer more money too.

'Outside of finance, we haven't really seen a slowness in job offers for our graduates,' said Mr Mark Presnell, the director of the career centre serving Johns Hopkins University's undergraduate schools.

Mr Niple, who studied finance and international business, feels quite lucky. He told The Straits Times that some of his coursemates, who had offers from Bear Stearns, which is in a credit crunch, had those offers rescinded by March.

A year ago, employers had forecast a 16 per cent increase in recruits from the class of 2008 - in which about 1.55 million graduated - compared with their predecessors.

By March, they had lowered expectations but still said they would hire 8 per cent more than last year, when some 1.5 million graduated, said Mr Ed Koc of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (Nace). Nace has been surveying the graduates and employment scene since 1956.

The bigger surprise was that starting salaries showed a 7 per cent increase, defying flat forecasts.

Mr Koc traced it to competition among employers for graduates in certain areas.

'Although the economy has slowed down, the projections for, say, the IT industry for the next decade remain high, forcing companies to turn to new graduates,' he said.

The hunt is on at Enterprise Rent-a-Car, the US car rental company which is the largest employer of graduates.

Said its spokesman Lisa Martini: 'Even with the economic downturn, we continue to see a competitive hiring market. We have not let up on our recruitment efforts and find that this economy is making students more aware of the opportunities out there.'

Given the turmoil in the markets, jobs in finance shrank and an accounting graduate's average offer was US$48,085, only up 2.8 per cent from last year.

The case is reversed in Singapore where finance jobs are increasing and salaries are tending higher. Some finance graduates last year were offered between $8,000 and $10,000 a month.

US surveys showed that interns and those who applied early for jobs had the best picks, but not always.

For media and communications graduate Emily Sydnor, 22, who joined a Washington think-tank, it was smooth sailing.

'In a way I was immune from the slowdown as I had already found what I wanted to do while I interned,' she said.

On the other hand, there is Ms Jessica Brown, 22, who was seeking a career in advertising and began applying a year before she graduated. She sent out 80 to 90 resumes and was called for 10 interviews. But the offers were not 'good enough'.

A day after graduation, she moved back in with her family in Southport, North Carolina and joined a real estate firm, working at an hourly rate to help agents clinch deals.

'The market being what it is, I decided to go with a temporary job. I am content for now but my dream job is in advertising and I'm still looking,' she said.

bhagya@sph.com.sg