Meredith Faggart
Concern of a current U.S. economic recession has yet to create a downturn in the college job market, according to Carol Schroeder, University Career Center director.
Schroeder said according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, overall hiring expectations are still positive for the class of 2008. The Job Outlook 2008 Spring Update also conducted a survey that showed employers expect to hire eight percent more graduates from this year’s class compared to the number of hires from the class of 2007.
“This is the end of the recruiting cycle and employers are still coming here [to recruit],” Schroeder said. “In fact, we have employers coming in April, which is quite unusual.”
According to the Career Center Web site, representatives from 365 companies came to interview potential employees on campus from 2006 to 2007, and Schroeder said those numbers have not changed for this year.
“They do about 4,000 interviews every year here through the career center,” Schroeder said.
She also said that while the Career Center has not seen the results of recruitment activity yet, a possible change in the college job market will be the number of people that firms hire.
Hugh Polk, senior in mechanical engineering, said he has already seen a change in the number of positions filled at companies when applying for positions.
“I interviewed with one company who said they were only taking 15, even though said they had well over 15 positions available,” Polk said.
Although Polk said companies were being more thorough in their selection of employees, he is not worried about finding a job.
“Being an engineer, there are so many broad opportunities… it’s actually made me more selective [of my future job],” Polk said.
According to Schroeder, fields such as engineering are currently easier to find jobs in because employers hire in greater numbers.
“If you’re in a non-technical field, it can be more difficult if you don’t have the relevant experience,” Schroeder said. “It could also take you longer [to find a job] because there aren’t going to be employers who are coming to hire 20 students with a non-technical degree.”
Despite the differences in numbers of positions hired for various fields, Schroeder said she has not yet seen a direct effect on any fields by the recession.
“Except for construction and all of the attendant businesses it’s more of a ripple effect, so we’re just going to have to wait and see,” Schroeder said.
Schroeder also mentioned a recent article in the News and Observer she had read referring to people beginning to spend less on some goods in order to pay for another such as gas.
“You don’t have to be an economic genius to figure out that eventually, it’s going to impact retail stores, higher end grocery stores and restaurants,” Schroeder said.
Ryan Thompson, junior in engineering, said he isn’t worried about the recession alarms because he doesn’t plan to work in anything like “retail.”
On the other hand, Ed Mason, a freshman in biology, said he felt finding his summer job was “pure luck.”
“The city of Raleigh is in demand for lifeguards,” Mason said. “So, it was really easy to find a position within a week of searching.”
Schroeder said she recommends that students begin searching for internships if they have delayed it, reading news to connect current events to their economic futures and start using ePack if they will graduate soon because she predicts future changes in the job market.
“I don’t think it’s begun to hit the college job market yet, but I think it’s inevitable that there will be some effects,” Schroeder said. “How strong [the effects] will be? I don’t think we can say at this point.”