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Job prospects are slimmest in years

May 24, 2009 12:36 am

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.

Marie Hawley, career coun-selor at Germanna Community College's Fredericksburg campus, said that the college's nursing students have "excellent prospects right now." Also popular with employers are students certified in phlebotomy, which is now offered as a non-college-credit course through Germanna's Workforce Center.

Johnson said that employers like candidates whose applications show previous experience either through internships or part-time or volunteer work in their chosen field. Students also stand a better chance of success if they can communicate effectively why they're the best person for a position.

Hawley said she's noticed that many Germanna students have started applying for the numerous federal jobs in the Fredericksburg area because the process can take six months or more.

She also said a number of older students who have lost their jobs or want to hang onto them are taking courses at Germanna to enhance their skills--and resumes--in such things as computerized accounting.

"These are people who have four-year university degrees who are saying, 'I need something new and fresh to make myself attractive in the job market right now,'" Hawley said.

It also helps if they have references that speak in some way to the field they're interested in, she said. These have a bigger impact than they did in the past.

As bad as the market seems now, there is a glimmer of hope.

"I certainly think that there's a very good chance that most employers are running very lean," said Johnson. "When things start to pick up, there's going to be a good demand."

Cathy Jett: 540/374-5407
Email: cjett@freelancestar.com