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Graduates at a loss for jobs
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It’s that time of year again when graduating students are being thrust out into the real world and forced to face reality. Many students are excited and eager to move on and find an established life in the workforce. A problem many graduates may face is a lack of jobs, however. Mark Jenkins, a senior graduating this month with a business degree, is doubtful of his career. “I don’t know honestly what I’m going to do after I graduate. Our economy is so bad right now and I know for a fact that there are not enough jobs available to the mass of people needing to work. I really don’t want to graduate with this type of situation facing me, but I have no alternative.” Jenkins isn’t the only graduating student with terrified thoughts of being jobless and broke after graduation.
Michele Alter is graduating this month with a nursing degree. Alter said she knows her outlook is not as bad as others because there is always a need for health care. “I’m still scared that I won’t be able to work as soon as I wanted to because the nursing field is packed with tons of competition and there are few jobs available at the moment. It frustrates me that I’ve spent six years of my life dedicated to achieving my dream of being a nurse and now I may not be able to do what I’ve worked so diligently on because it’s not available.” The overall feeling of many graduating students is one of doubt and fear as the state and national economy worsens.
During the month of November, the state’s tax collections were over $9 million short, meaning the state has scaled back revenue projections by nearly $90 million over the past year, according to the Division of Financial Management. John Flakel graduated this past August with an engineering degree. He’s working – but the job is not even close to what he wants. Flakel said he is now a supervising manager at a local shopping store. “I’m embarrassed to tell people where I work and what I do to get by each day with the money I make. I graduated close to the top of my class with an engineering degree and I have nothing to show for it. The kicker about the entire situation is that I have over $14,000 in student loans and I can barely make it by week-to-week with the wage I earn.” Flakel said he’s looked and applied to countless jobs but companies aren’t even considering hiring now because of the poor economic situation. “I still have hope that I’ll find a job I’m capable of performing in and being happy at. I just don’t know when the dream job will come for me, but I’ll be looking for it each day.”
Brandy Hammem is graduating this month with an emphasis in technical writing. Hammem said she is worried about her future in the workforce because of what she has seen happen to her family and friends in the past months. “I’ve seen five people lose their jobs and many others receive massive pay-cuts because their employers’ could not afford them anymore. I’m afraid that when I step out into the workforce, people will ignore my skills and the few that do recognize my talent won’t be able to help me.” Hammem also said, “It’s ironic that I’ve poured my heart out, and my pocket, to receive an education that was supposed to help me achieve a stable job and give me the freedom I want to express. But now, it looks like I’ll be lucky to even get a job in my field and even luckier to make money from it.”
Luke Spencer, graduating this month with a degree in business management, had an optimistic outlook despite suffering the same fears and doubts as many graduates. “I know how people feel right now about the economy and the future in jobs, but this all has happened before. We are experiencing the ultimate bottom right now in our state of work, so the only place we can go is up. “I know that the workforce will recover and jobs will boom once again. So I’m not going to worry all that much because time will prove to be good to everyone.” Spencer also pointed out that the slow economy offers people an opportunity to set their priorities in order. “We need to focus more on our families, friends and health before the material matters like money, work and bonuses. If anything, the economy should prove to all of us that it will survive no matter what, and so will we. So just hold your head up high and be thankful for what you have now in this moment.”
Miranda Wilde, Special to the Arbiter