Best job market in years, but are grads getting
jobs?
There's still pavement
pounding for some, especially those with degrees in humanities
Staten Island Advance - Sunday, June 25, 2006
Career center administrators at Staten Island
colleges confirm that this year's graduates are stepping out into
the world of work at a time when the economy is robust and employers
are hiring.
But despite the reported strength of the job market, an informal
Advance survey of 30 of the Island's graduates found that half of
the students who earned diplomas this year from Staten Island
colleges were still looking for jobs on the day of commencement.
Students in the humanities, in particular, may have a harder time
going gainful, while those with degrees in accounting, education and
nursing are sitting pretty.
But nationwide, trends also show that students who lined up for
their caps and gowns this May and June may not be pounding the
pavement in search of an entry-level position; increasingly, they
are lining up for internships and graduate degrees.
Ben Proce, an accounting graduate who turned his tassel on Grymes
Hill a few weeks ago, will cap his bachelor's degree with a
typically high-powered internship and an added year at St. John's
University to earn his MBA.
If accounting remains as hot a field as it is today, Proce will
likely have his pick of employers, from mid- to large-sized firms
that began recruiting efforts to draw him and his cohorts to draw
him and his cohort in their sophomore year.
"The dynamic [for accounting students] is different," said Proce.
"It seems like other majors are looking in the paper, going on
monster.com and doing a regular job search."
But while the "other majors" may have to send out resumes, they are
still likely to receive a higher rate of return than did previous
years' graduates on Staten Island and nationwide.
The generation now entering the work force, benefactors of Baby
Boomers' retirements and an improved economy, are facing what could
be the best job market in years, according to the National
Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
According to NACE's annual survey, employers expect to hire 14.5
percent more college grads than they hired last year. A survey of
6,000 students and 600 employers conducted by Monstertrak, an online
career service geared to recent graduates, found that businesses
planned to recruit more entry-level candidates - especially in New
York City - and would pay higher wages than last year.
Government organizations were a major presence at the Collegiate Job
Fair, attended by all Island colleges and held at the College of
Staten Island's Willowbrook campus in April, according to Roseann
Sorensen, associate director of the Career Center at St. John's
University.
And clearly, some professions are actively recruiting.
Accounting, education and nursing were the most in-demand fields
listed by Stephanie McGlinchey, director of Career Development at
Wagner College.
To these, Caryl Watkins, director of the Career and Scholarship
Center at CSI, added finance, insurance, public utilities, real
estate, manufacturing, computer programming and marketing. The field
of social work, she added, has been consistently strong in recent
years, while offering comparatively low salaries.
Students in the Humanities may have a harder time, which might
explain why a large number of liberal arts students go on to pursue
graduate degrees, Ms. Sorensen said.
On the day of Wagner's commencement, for instance, international
affairs graduate Sean Gagnon said that he and most of his colleagues
had secured full-time jobs, while history major Dave DeMarzio was
not so lucky.
"Trust me - I have plenty of resumes out there," he said.
Paid and unpaid internships have become increasingly prevalent in
recent years because they boost the chances of 20-somethings in
today's job market. Ms. Watkins estimated that 40 percent of CSI
students complete internships to supplement their classroom
education. Internships are encouraged at St. John's and are built
into the curriculum at Wagner College.
"It's the path of choice for students," said Proce, who began an
internship in January with Pricewaterhouse-Coopers LLC, a Big Four
firm with an internship program comprising 2,500 people, according
to Monstertrak. "It makes the step of finding full time employment
easier."
"Students who have interned tend to have great connections ... [and
fewer gaps] on their resumes," said Ms. Watkins. "The more-prepared
students get jobs sooner and are scooped up a lot faster."
There is another reason for students graduating without a paid
position: Many who live elsewhere but attended college on Staten
Island wait to return to their hometown before starting their job
searches, said Ms. McGlinchey.
According to Monstertrak, about half of graduating seniors are
returning to live in their parents' homes - which could afford some
students leeway time as they wait to hear from prospective employers
or even to apply for jobs.
For many, there's no rush. They know this could be
the last in a lifetime of summers off.
By Tevah Platt
Reprinted here with permission
from the
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