Real world for collegians: Fewer
jobs
Staten Island Advance
Thursday, April 1, 2004
At a time of weak job growth across the country,
college graduates are taking a uniquely tough hit, reports have
shown.
So it was no surprise that the mood at yesterday's
College of Staten Island "collegiate career expo" was cautious
optimism at best, gloomy at worst.
"It's a longer job search than ever before," said
Caryl Watkins, director of career placement, scholarships and awards
at CSI, adding that even students delivering resumes studded with
internships and awards must lower their expectations.
About 1,000 students from six local colleges
filtered into the gymnasium at CSI's Willowbrook campus in their
professional best, carrying stacks of resumes for the 45 graduate
schools and 85 recruiters who attended.
At one point during the day, recruiter Ron King
looked sadly and squarely into the face of an eager job seeker and
said, "The economy stinks right now, and that's the bottom line."
King should know. His firm, Jolane EDP, places
scores of computer science majors into information technology jobs
around the city. But since the recession, when companies downsized
their IT departments in favor of cheaper labor in countries such as
China and India, the IT industry has sustained perhaps the worst job
losses of any field.
King said that typically his clients, firms
including Morgan Stanley and the New York Stock Exchange, hire his
placements within "six months, a year tops." Nowadays, temps stay
with him for as long as three years, he said.
Still, students lined up at his booth -- one of only
two technology recruiters -- for most of the day for their shot at a
lasting impression and an information packet.
Mike Bogart, a 21-year-old CSI computer science
major dressed in brown tweed, felt the IT downturn acutely
yesterday.
"We're suffering," said Bogart, after he walked away
from yet another recruiter who responded to his computer-job query
with a polite smile and shake of the head. "There's a line to get
internships; there's a line to get part-time jobs."
GLOBAL TREND
The fair was dominated by the financial industry and
various nonprofit groups.
Graduate schools were invited for the first time
this year, because, said Ms. Watkins, "A lot of students are finding
it's a good idea to get an advanced degree while jobs are not
plentiful, so they'll be really ready when the economy turns."
When that will be, however, is tough to say.
A report issued in mid-March by the Washington-based
research group the Economic Policy Institute stated that the number
of unemployed college graduates nationally has surpassed that of
high-school dropouts.
"The recent job market has been particularly tough
for those workers with college degrees," said the report,
attributing the trend to "the lasting impact of the bursting bubble
in the information technology and financial services sectors."
The report cautioned keeping the numbers in context.
Since there are far more college graduates than high-school dropouts
in the labor force, the unemployment rate is still much lower for
college graduates. In addition, unemployment also rose among
high-school dropouts, but by a far smaller percentage.
The damage done by the burst bubble will "ultimately
fade, as demand returns in these industries and absorbs excess
capacity built up over the last boom," according to the report, but
it warned that a new problem has emerged, "the offshoring of
white-collar jobs in services," which helps explain why
"unemployment has crept so far up the education ladder."
College graduates' job prospects are further
dampened by the fact that senior-level people are now filling entry-
and mid-level jobs previously filled by college graduates, said
Joanne Hollan, assistant director of career placement at CSI.
ROOM FOR OPTIMISM
Robust job growth in fields such as health care and
retail has left room for optimism, however.
"Back in the '90s, we couldn't place engineers,"
said Ms. Watkins. "This year, engineering jobs are plentiful."
Within New York City the demand for engineers has skyrocketed
following crises like the blackout, which highlighted the need for
municipal infrastructure upgrades, she added.
Job growth is also being seen in fields serving the
needs of aging baby boomers, such as retirement investment planning
and health care, said Ms. Hollan.
To be sure, many students snaking through the rows
of booths were filled with infectious optimism.
Diana Goodheart of Oakwood is in her first year of
an MBA program at her undergrad alma mater, St. John's University.
She was at the fair to "network," and hopes to land a job in
financial sales that will pay for her business degree.
"I'm much more optimistic than I was last year when
I was searching for a job," said the 22-year-old Oakwood resident,
dressed sharply in a dark gray skirt suit and black pumps. "Now
everyone seems to be looking to train and keep you. They're not
looking to hire you for a couple months."
by Heidi J. Shrager
Reprinted here with permission from the
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