After three years of economic hardship in California, prospects for employment for students receiving Master of Business Administration degrees will improve slightly this summer, according to Don Blodger, career services director at the Graduate School of Management at UC Davis. With the economy revved-up as it enters the first quarter, Blodger thinks M.B.A. graduates will find business a bit friendlier than it was a year ago. "Health care, high-tech industries, information systems and some manufacturing/ production fields will be hiring in California," says Blodger. "Since most of our graduates prefer to remain in the state, computer and high-tech fields will be the most promising, and the outlook is decidedly mixed in the banking and finance sectors." UC Davis students have already planned strategies for their job searches by doing a number of informational interviews with prospective corporations. For the first time in several years, the public sector has approached the management school searching for M.B.A. grads interested in finance or employment development at both the federal and state levels, notes Blodger. "Our students can expect to receive starting annual salaries in the $45,000 range," says Blodger.