Some graduates may need to be creative to find a job, says Stan Inman, director of career services.
Because of the current job market, some graduates are in much higher demand than others.
Most mining engineers and computer science majors already have jobs lined up.
Others students need to look at a variety of employment settings to find the opportunities they’re looking for, Inman said.
“I don’t know if we’ll have anyone at commencement,” said Frank Brown, dean of the College of Mines and Earth Sciences, of the number of his students with jobs already lined up.
Mining engineers are usually hired by the same companies, and they never have as many as they need, Brown said.
In contrast, most ballet dancers are also hired by the same companies, but have to audition for their jobs.
Many dancers get work without degrees and many with degrees are never hired, according to Carol Iwasaki, chairperson of the ballet department.
But other areas such as marketing or communication have more eclectic job placement, Inman said.
Students who plan ahead have an easier time finding the jobs they want.
“Those who start early doing internships, building up their network and creating a rsum have more opportunities,” Inman said.
But even in fields where graduates are in high demand such as nursing, education and accounting, finding the right job can be tricky.
According to Diana Pounder, associate dean of the College of Education, urban schools are harder to staff than rural schools. Graduates teaching social sciences are in less demand and will have fewer options than those teaching math, science or special education.
Tom Richmond, professor and undergraduate adviser for the department of chemistry, said many of his students don’t want to work right away, but plan to obtain a higher degree first.
The same is true for about 30 percent of economics students, according to Tom Maloney, associate professor of economics.
But many graduates do get good research jobs with only a bachelor’s degree, Richmond said.
And although economics students have a harder time finding a job in the business world, once they get in they do quite well, according to Maloney.
According to surveys on the career services Web site, economics majors often find jobs with salaries averaging $37,000.
That’s quite a bit more than the $27,000 education majors start with.
Most science, humanities and fine arts graduates find work that is too disparate to accurately average salaries.