Imploring for employment

MSU graduates will face fierce competition in stalling job market

Graduating seniors might be heading into the “perfect storm” this May as they enter the job market. That’s what Philip Gardner, director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at MSU, said he fears for the spring 2009 graduating class.

The economy is hurting everyone, Gardner said, especially seniors who will find that once they graduate this May their expectations might need to change.

“You’re never going to get your perfect job,” Gardner said. “You should realize that the first one out of the gate. Usually it takes a couple of jobs.”

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, or NACE, college graduate hiring has fallen 22 percent since 2008. Employers also are planning on decreasing internship hiring by almost 21 percent this year, according to NACE.

International relations senior Brittany Fox hopes to eventually land her ideal job working for a nongovernmental organization, or NGO. Fox is moving to Thailand in September — with or without a job offer.

“I’m just not so sure about what I’m going to find,” Fox said. “It’s a little discouraging, but I’m hopeful.”

‘A talent war’

Companies still are visiting campus, but they might have different agendas than in past semesters. Kelley Bishop, executive director of Career Services & Placement, said employers are trying to establish relationships with students, even if they are unable to hire.

Some employers are canceling interview sessions on campus now but rescheduling for later, Bishop said.

Although there are fewer opportunities, Bishop said seniors with marketable skills still have a good chance of landing a job offer.

“It’s a talent war,” he said. “No matter how many companies are coming to campus, they all want the one with the most talent.”

Accounting, engineering, computer science and health care are areas that might have more job openings, Gardner said. On the other hand, jobs in retail and sales have “collapsed.”

A recent NACE report found the average salary for 2009 graduates with bachelors’ degrees has fallen 2.2 percent from last year, while some majors such as accounting and engineering are actually experiencing increases in average salary offers.

“It used to be that any college degree was entry to lots of different jobs,” said Janet Chegwidden, a College of Education adviser. “I’m not so certain that’s true anymore.”

Both Bishop and Gardner said some full-time job and internship offers have even been rescinded by employers, leaving seniors empty-handed. Although internship offers have slimmed, an NACE study found that internship pay has gone up 5 percent as employers try to maintain incoming talent.

Stalled from the start

With all the uncertainty surrounding the post-graduate job market, students can feel less motivated to begin their search.

Kristi Coleman, field career consultant for the College of Social Science, teaches classes that focus on job search strategies. She said the poor economy makes students fearful of starting their job search, but “it’s not this gloom-and-doom situation for everyone.”

Communicative sciences and disorders senior Ariel Kowalsky heads to graduate school in the fall to become a speech pathologist. She said it will be easier for her to find a job because of her major’s popularity among employers.

“It’s such a high demand … it’s not something like business (school) where there’s thousands of graduates,” Kowalsky said. “In my major, there’s 100, as opposed to 400 (graduates) in the business school.”

Kowalsky said she plans on finding an internship after graduate school if there are no job opportunities.

While Kowalksy represents a minority that have good post-graduate job prospects, Gardner said the labor market for most graduates is not expected to improve for two years or more. And with that prediction, Bishop is bracing for more visits from uneasy seniors.

“I haven’t seen panic yet from our students,” he said. “But we’re expecting it.”