Richard Scheck of Royal Oak and Melissa Boensch of Saginaw, are among the first beneficiaries of a booming job market, based on recent employment and economic trends - and on the number of job offers they've received.

Scheck, a civil engineering major at Wayne State University, will receive his degree in winter ceremonies beginning at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 18, at Cobo Arena. He will be joined by Boensch and nearly 3,450 other students getting degrees, including nearly 390 students from the College of Science.

The College of Engineering will graduate 127 seniors Thursday, out of a total enrollment of 1,405 undergrads.

Scheck is set to start his new job Jan. 2 as a project manager with the Dailey Co., a construction management company in Troy. But to get to that point, he left a good-paying job to pursue his degree. The gamble paid off when he received six job offers after sending out his resume in October.

Boensch, meanwhile, received three offers, including the one with her new employer, BASF Corp. in Wyandotte, which came more than six months before she graduated last July in chemical engineering.

In addition to providing an opportunity to talk to recent graduates about their recently increased chances at good jobs, Thursday's commencement also will be a chance to catch new WSU President Irvin Reid as he greets faculty and students in the robing area downstairs at Cobo, and as he makes his first address to a university graduating class.

For help in arranging interviews or photos with new graduates or with Reid, call Tom Tigani in WSU Media Relations at (313) 577-2150.