Three years ago, college graduates received their diplomas only to find few jobs available once they walked off the commencement stage. And for every job available, they had to get behind graduates from the previous year – who had suffered through a similarly rough career market – still waiting in line to interview for it.

Fortunately for the Class of 2006, things have changed for the better. According to experts at the Career Center at DePaul University, this is the best job market for new college graduates in the last five years.

While cautioning that it’s not quite the job seeker’s paradise of the late 90s, Gillian Steele, director of DePaul’s Career Center, notes that this year’s job market for new grads is an about-face from just a few years ago.

"More and more employers are hiring this year," she said. "We’ve had a huge spike in companies wanting to take part in our job and internship fairs, so much so that we had to create a waiting list this year because we didn’t have room for all of them."

And unlike recent years when some employers would only show up to interview candidates for future reference, this year’s events are resulting in tangible job offers for graduating seniors.

"Some students are even leveraging multiple offers against one another, and that’s something we haven’t seen in a while," Steele said. "And in a few select fields, we’ve even seen the return of the signing bonus."

Additionally, for the first time in recent years, starting salaries have started nudging back upwards, according to Steele.

Several fields are hottest in terms of hiring, Steele noted, including accounting, finance, computer science, and business, while sales has taken the crown as the field with the most jobs available this spring.

Tempering the good news somewhat are fewer opportunities for new grads in communications, where companies are looking to hire more experienced workers this year, as well as more applicants with graduate degrees. In addition, while job opportunities remain steady in the non-profit, government and education sectors, salaries in those fields are stagnant.

One point of emphasis for employers this year is the completion of one or more internships by a graduate.

"Companies are increasingly looking for candidates with work experience, even at the entry level," Steele said. "DePaul’s experiential learning requirement really gives our graduates a leg up in that regard."

Other key characteristics that employers tell Steele they seek in their new hires this year are strong communication and problem-solving skills, teamwork ability, flexibility and adaptability, with the latter two helping to add value and heft to the applicant’s resume.

"A company’s needs can change overnight in this current environment, and having both the willingness and skills to take on different roles across the organization will make a candidate that much more valuable to the employer,” Steele said.