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Job prospects are slimmest in years

College grads are having a tough time finding jobs this year

Date published: 5/24/2009

BY CATHY JETT

Gary Johnson said the job market for newly minted college grads is leaner than he's ever seen it in his 20 years as a career counselor.

The University of Mary Washington's director of career services said that it appears few employers are filling full-time positions this year, and even fewer have summer or part-time positions available.

"Also, some locations that normally take interns are not advertising [for them] because they don't have the work," he said.

UMW won't survey this year's crop of graduates about their employment for six months, but what Johnson has been seeing mirrors the latest report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

It discovered that just 19.7 percent of 2009 graduates who applied for a job actually have one, compared to 51 percent of those graduating in 2007 and 26 percent in 2008.

The NACE study also found that the number of 2009 graduates who have sought out jobs has declined compared to their predecessors. It attributes this in part to the increase in unemployment nationwide, the global financial crisis and the impact of these developments on recruitment and hiring by some industries.

However, Johnson said that he's noticed that more students than usual came by the university's career counseling office to look for jobs this school year.

"I don't know if, in the fall, students sensed that the market was going to be as bad as it is," he said.

Attendance at UMW's fall and spring job fairs was "very, very good" by both employers and students, Johnson said. But employers were letting them know that they had multiple candidates from which to choose and would be selective.

That doesn't mean that there aren't any bright spots for graduates, he said. Some UMW students have managed to snag jobs at places where they interned, and those with technical majors have tended to be more successful at finding employment than those with more general degrees.

"Certainly, though the education market isn't as strong as it was, students with backgrounds in math and science are going to be in demand," he said.

Pursue a career that you like, despite earning potential. That's the most popular bit of advice former American college graduates gave the Class of 2009 in an annual workplace insights survey conducted by Adecco Group North America, the world's leading work-force solutions provider. Others are: Get to work now, and don't let the economy delay your career. Be flexible about relocating for job opportunities, and consider taking unpaid internships. Graduate degrees aren't an immediate priority, and to some they don't matter as much as a solid resume. Today's students do have more stress, but don't let that turn into panic.

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Date published: 5/24/2009