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Job Market Tight for Grads
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When Seneca McRae graduates from college this spring, she
worries she’ll have to accept a job as a low-paying payroll
clerk.
Even with a business degree from Fort Valley State University in
Georgia, a competitive job market means that students like McRae
may have to lower their expectations.
Some of her friends haven’t been able to find jobs in their field
at all, she said.
“I have one friend who graduated as a computer and information
systems major, and she’s working as a flight attendant,” McRae
said.
Unless they’re in a growing sector such as health care or
education, this year’s college graduates may have a hard time
finding a job in their field, experts said.
Though some say the nation’s economy has rebounded, that hasn’t
necessarily translated to more jobs for newly minted graduates.
This year’s graduates may also be competing with past graduates who
still haven’t been able to find jobs in their fields, said Charlie
Schroder, legislative liaison for the Georgia Department of
Labor.
“You’ve got a pool of grads from the last few years that are
looking for their first jobs. These are lean times,” Schroder
said.
Applications to law schools, one of the traditional bellwethers to
gauge how the employment market looks, shows that many graduates
are choosing to ride out the “jobless recovery” in graduate school.
Giles Kennedy, director of law admissions for the University of
Georgia School of Law in Athens, said applications for the fall
class of 2004 are at a five-year high.
“It’s a fairly established fact that applications to law school
increase when the economy sours,” Kennedy said.
This year, 2,870 applications came in for an estimated class size
of 210. Compared to the fall 1999 class, when only 1,680
applications came in, that’s a 70-percent increase.
Despite the mixed news about the economy, companies are continuing
to recruit on college campuses. Mercer University’s career fair had
73 employers participate, up from 55 last year.
Geico, which has 3,900 employees at its Macon site, sends
representatives to colleges across the Southeast to recruit
graduates for the company’s professional development program, said
recruiter Madie Queen. The company expects to add at least 485
employees in Macon this year across the different departments.
“Typically, we meet with college career services departments, set
up information tables on campus and schedule on-campus interviews.
We also sponsor events, like a graduation breakfast at (Georgia
College & State University) and an ‘intern for a day’ program
at UGA,” Queen said.
For students set to graduate this spring, whether or not they have
a job offer in hand seems to depend on two things: their field and
their contacts.
Ann Loyd, director of counseling and the career center at Macon
State, said accounting students also have been successful in
finding jobs.
“We have a co-op program with Robins Air Force Base, and there are
lots of requests for accounting majors,” Loyd said.
For students who are having a more difficult time in the job
market, Loyd recommends lowering expectations a tad.
“Take a job, even an entry-level job, that’s similar to your field.
To expect a six-figure job right out of school is pretty
unrealistic. I’m still waiting for that,” Loyd said.
Mercer student April Thompson, an electrical engineering major,
chose to attend graduate school at Michigan State University to
learn more about the field of biomedical imaging.
“Some of my classmates are still having a problem finding a job.
But a lot of them are tired of school and just ready to get into
the work force,” Thompson said.
Mercer Career Services assistant director Mary Roberts said some
students are having a hard time gaining acceptance to competitive
graduate programs. Others are finding it difficult to get a job in
their fields, she said.
“We don’t have as many consulting firms recruiting on campus as we
used to,” Roberts said.
Roberts said she counsels students to tap into the “hidden job
market” by networking and completing internships.
“I think it’s important that students make themselves as
competitive as possible,” Roberts said. “Do internships in your
field. A high GPA is required. Get involved in campus
activities.”
aggie Large
Knight Ridder Newspapers
