County’s College Students Discover Job Possibilities Ready and Waiting

Job opportunities for Orange County’s thousands of college-age students are better than they have been in years, labor and education officials say.

“If I were a college graduate this year, I would consider myself graduating in the best of times,” said Lucien Truhill, president of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce. “The national economy is strong, and certainly the Orange County economy is strong.”

Unemployment in Orange County was down to 3.7% early this year, said Jerry Hawbaker of the state Employment Development Department. Three years ago, annual unemployment in the county averaged 6.5%.

The upbeat economic forecast is good news for job-seeking college graduates.

Officials of community colleges and four-year universities said this week that they are seeing a resurgence of campus recruiting, which leveled off somewhat during the early 1980s.

“It’s an employee’s market,” said Patricia Rodgers, job placement coordinator at Chapman College in Orange. “Salaries are up, also.”

Evidence of this was visible Wednesday as scores of students strolled among outdoor booths of companies seeking job applicants during Orange Coast College’s Career Day.

Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, with more than 25,000 students, is the largest community college in California. The school places about 2,000 students a year in jobs, making it one of the most active placement centers in Orange County, according to college officials.

When Orange Coast students Dori Breen and Tiffany Heath stopped at the Disneyland booth, for example, they were greeted by a smiling Richard Ramsey, an employment representative for the park.

“If you work for us, you’ll have a great time,” Ramsey told them. “You’ll work hard, but you’ll be rewarded, too.”

Later, Ramsey said, “There are a lot of jobs out there” for college students. “This is making for competition for us in the labor force, but that’s good for the students.”

Nearby, Steve Polley, 18, of Tustin, said he was majoring in hotel management at Orange Coast, and he liked what he heard at a booth focusing on that field.

“They told me they have opportunities to put you in a hotel and train you in a regular job,” he said. “Chances look pretty good for me.”

‘Looker’s Market’

Mary Martin of Orange Coast College’s Job Placement Center said, “It’s a looker’s market. There are a lot of choices and a lot of opportunities for students. We had about 45 employers represented here today.

“The low unemployment rate this year is showing up,” she added. “There are many, many jobs out there for students.”

Employers seeking students at Orange Coast’s Career Day ranged from the U. S. Marines to Susie’s Casuals, a women’s wear retail firm.

“There are a lot of jobs this year, especially in retailing,” said Lisa Pollish, district manager of Susie’s Casuals, whose corporate officers are based in New York City.

More Demand Cited

Other fields are also experiencing a demand for job applicants.

Community college graduates usually have two-year degrees or certificates in their vocational fields. And Golden West College in Huntington Beach trains and graduates nurses.

Carolyn Gabrielson, associate director of health sciences at Golden West College, said the nursing department experienced a shrinking demand for nurse graduates a few years ago. However, the picture is much improved this year, she said.

“We’re getting a lot of letters from employers saying they’re hiring this year and asking our students to please contact them. There seem to be a lot more openings this year.”

Colleges Targeted

Meanwhile, four-year colleges and universities have been targeted by large companies seeking graduates with bachelor’s or master’s degrees.

Lenore Willoughby, manager of employment at McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co. in Huntington Beach, said her company recruits almost exclusively at the four-year universities like Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine.

“We recruit across the nation, mainly for engineers,” Willoughby said. “It’s a good year. We’re looking for a couple of hundred (college graduates to hire).”

According to Gretchen Scoles, campus recruitment coordinator for Cal State Fullerton, students there are finding jobs more quickly than in previous years. “It’s only April, and a lot of students are already hired,” she said.

2% Hike in Jobs Forecast

The National College Placement Council forecasts an overall 2% increase in jobs for college students this spring, Scoles added.

“The news is best for business graduates. The council predicts a 7% increase in hiring of business graduates with a bachelor’s degree and a 4% increase in hiring at the master’s level,” she said.

Scoles noted that job prospects also are looking up for Cal State Fullerton students training to be teachers. The state is anticipating a rapidly worsening teacher shortage, and school districts are trying to recruit applicants on California State University campuses--which train the bulk of the state’s teacher force--long before students graduate.

At UC Irvine, Randy Williams, a career counselor, said interest in student hiring was reflected at the campus’s recent Job Fair.

“We had a 20% increase in companies who wanted to take part, “ he said.

“This year is going to be a good year for student employment,” Williams added. “I don’t hear students coming in saying, ‘Oh, I can’t find anything.’ Now they’re saying, ‘I’ve just got to decide what I want to do.”’