With words like “crisis” and “crunch” used to describe current global financial markets, it can sometimes sound as if the economic sky were falling. And for U finance majors, a dwindling job market and shaky economy has some students rethinking their postgraduate plans.
“Competition is going to be a lot harder,” said U finance senior Suneeti Agrawal. “It can be a little scary at times, but you have to understand that markets are cyclical. When one door closes, another opens with new opportunities…you have to remain optimistic.”
In a month that has seen major banks and lending institutions teeter on the edge of collapse, fewer finance jobs are available for students worldwide.
Just one year ago, finance and business graduates entering the workforce received job offers from the five major U.S. financial firms, but with Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers all collapsing under years of shoddy lending practices, only two firms8212;Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs8212;remain.
U finance professor Elizabeth Tashjian said some students might be forced to take less attractive jobs or stay in school an additional year to wait out the shrinking job market.
“It’s a scary time to be looking for a job,” Tashjian said. “Two of my students last year had offers from Bear Stearns, which was the first company to go under, and both of those offers were withdrawn…some of those jobs are gone forever. If you’re a senior now, there’s not really anything you can do but be the best you can be.”
With a local economy that is stronger than the national economy and Goldman Sachs and Fidelity Investments increasing their Utah operations, Tashjian said students looking for work in the Utah area should have an easier time than their peers on the East Coast.
The David Eccles School of Business grants around 200 undergraduate degrees in finance each year, but those numbers may begin to drop if the financial sector continues its year-long slide, according to business school career counselor Bryan Eldredge.
“If you’re thinking about going into investment banking, you might want to think again,” Eldredge said. “It’s going to be a very big challenge in the years to come, no matter where you go to school.”
Ryan Jensen, a senior finance student interviewing for positions at several firms in New York City, said the increased risk of companies collapsing has made finding a job even harder.
“Even people who have jobs already don’t know how secure their positions are,” Jensen said. “It’s hard because a lot of people are going to have to take different career paths. It’s a tough market and a lot of people don’t know where the bottom is.”