Graduating in May? You picked a bad year. I suggest hanging around a bit. Take a few extra classes. Hell, hide under a desk if you must. Just don’t go beyond academia’s protective confines, where an uncertain world looms.
As for the youngsters?students that have several or more semesters to go?don’t smile too gleefully as you enjoy your cartoons and cereal. Soon you’ll have to grow up and you’d better pray that the gloomy economic forecast changes. Otherwise, gray skies and frustrating job searches, with a chance of bitter graduate school rejection, appear likely.
Uncertain economic times like these call for a re-evaluation of options. Government service or private non-profit work may open new doors. Such opportunities can arm you with better qualifications for the job market. You may even decide that the almighty dollar doesn’t trump all of life’s other cards. Even as the economy lags, opportunity appears in strange ways, if you can recognize it.
The private sector may rebound and supply graduates with jobs. In fact, some economists believe we have already seen the worst of what could prove a relatively minor economic downturn. Yet businesses looking to employ recent college graduates anticipate no such sunshine on the horizon.
A recent, nationwide study by Michigan State University shows that employers plan to hire between six and 13 percent fewer colleges graduates than last year. The same study estimated that the typical job market for graduates with advanced degrees will shrink by as much as 20 percent.
The current drizzle may become a downpour as advanced degree holders find themselves squeezed into a lower job market. Tougher competition will wash away even more employment hopes for those with undergraduate degrees.
Across the country, diploma recipients face grim prospects, even before they walk. Rutgers University recently held a job fair with only 178 employers. Last year’s fair hosted 247. Meanwhile, the number of job seekers swelled to 4,887, whereas last year witnessed just 2,650 candidates. These numbers continue a pattern at Rutgers, where on-campus recruiting during the fall dropped by 40 percent from a year ago.
For example, prospective journalists find trouble as newspapers across the country institute hiring freezes and slash internship programs.
Some jobs seem to have an umbrella with which to avoid the rain. Demand for teachers, pharmacists, nurses and civil engineers remains relatively high. Yet even these professions can get soaked as U students lament the lay-off of popular biology professor Fred Montague.
Utah receives no special treatment, as nation-wide economic uncertainty reaches all corners of the United States.
Undoubtedly, some U students will attempt to wait out the current economic slump in graduate school. Unfortunately, students at virtually every other school in the country decided to hatch the exact same plan.
Graduate schools have seen applications rise dramatically. At Emory University, for example, the number of business school applicants jumped by 80 percent this year. The University of Chicago’s graduate school witnessed a 100 percent increase. Christopher Hopey, the Dean of Admissions at the University of Pennsylvania school of education, had to order 10,000 additional pieces of letterhead to handle this year’s influx of applications. Nation-wide, law school applications increased by 27 percent, leaving 100,000 students vying for only 43,500 openings.
More applicants mean tougher standards for those hoping to get in. At Emory, officials at the business school expect the GMAT score of the average entrant to jump by 20 points from last year. Students who would receive acceptance letters in virtually any other year check their mail to find one rejection after another.
Unfortunately, no amount of studying or preparation in school can prevent the rain from falling. Yet students can gain valuable experiences and gain additional skills while waiting for the sun to come out.
Although we lack the inspirational words of a leader like John Kennedy, young people can still improve their lot by asking what they can do for their country. Public service presents an array of interesting career-building possibilities. And this doesn’t mean that you have to spend your lifetime eating out of a can.
Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA) allows people to work for one year in a public service setting in any state in the country. You can work with young people, provide service to the sick or elderly, work in a low-income urban neighborhood or a rural setting. VISTA provides a living stipend and offers limitless ways that college graduates can serve their country domestically for 12 months.
You will gain practical skills by working in a real-world setting, far removed from the comfort of the U. The problem solving and team building learned in a public service job will prepare you for a career, perhaps better than classroom lessons ever could.
Teach for America, the Peace Corps and the military offer various ways to serve, either at home or abroad. Any one of these options would prove extremely difficult, yet none mandate a lifetime commitment.
Outside the public sector, many more opportunities exist. The Jesuit Volunteer Corps offers placements similar to VISTA, but without government sponsorship. Graduates can also obtain fellowships to perform public service through various private sources. Interested students should visit the Bennion Center to explore the tip of the service iceberg.
No one can deny that an economic recession alters the immediate forecast for college graduates. But cloudy days don’t mean the sunshine disappears. You just have to stand in the right place to find it.
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