Study shows employers plan to hire 13 percent more graduates this year than last year
(Photo courtesy of avon.k12.ma.us)
By Hannah Kintner, Staff Writer kintner13@up.edu
With five short months standing between her and graduation, senior Anya Bury finds herself at a crossroads with no definite way to turn.
"I'm really nervous. I don't really have a plan for after college," Bury said. "I'm trying to figure out what I can do with creative writing and trying to figure out if I can make something happen with my life."
Struggling to find a field with opportunities for her major, Bury is among the many college seniors nervously anticipating graduation.
According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers' (NACE) data collected over the summer shows that employers "plan to hire 13 percent more new college graduates in 2012-13 than they did in 2011-12."
While these results are encouraging, Max Kalchthaler, UP's employer relations and internship coordinator, believes a student's personal vigor to get a job is far more important than any statistics about future employment.
Kalchthaler encourages students to come up with a job search plan, start the search early and learn the importance of networking to improve their likelihood of job security.
The Office of Career Services, located in the lower floor of Orrico Hall, has many services to assist students in finding a career path, including developing a job search strategy.
"In a quick meeting with us, let's say 30, 45 minutes we can lay out and help guide the student through the steps to take over the next months to really secure that job," Kalchthaler said. "I find that once people start that process, it takes away a lot of the power [graduation] has to stress people out."
Taking steps to plan her future has certainly helped senior Charity Taylor.
"I'm excited and I'm hopeful and I feel it's a little overwhelming, but I think it's a good type of overwhelming," Taylor said.
Last month, Taylor began the application process for Teach for America, and hopes to eventually study law in Chicago. While she has high hopes, she realizes she cannot rely completely on one career path, and is finding comfort in trying to find multiple options for post graduate work.
"I kind of feel almost like it's make it or break it, but I also feel like I have a huge community supporting me at the same time. So at first it's a lot, but I know what steps I'm taking to succeed," Taylor said.
While job searching may seem grueling, Kalchthaler likes to remind students that the average job search is six to nine months and that most jobs are not advertised.
These unadvertised jobs are accessible through networking, Kalchthaler said, adding that even after graduating college it can still be good to have help getting an interview.
"It doesn't change just because you get a bachelor's degree, what really changes is the types of folks that you're talking to and what you're talking about," Kalchthaler said.
When Career Services aids students in developing job search strategies, information about learning to network is included. It's assistance is also open to any UP alum at no charge and it's office is open by appointment year round, with the exception of Christmas to New Year's.
Being on top of the job search paid off for 2012 graduate Michael Chhor, who started his search in the fall of his senior year and successfully landed a job working on powering mobile phones at Intel last April.
"Try not to think about graduation because it will stress you out," Chhor said as advice to the Class of 2013. "Focus on doing well in classes and start your job search early. Some of my friends started February and March and they're still looking."
