Seniors Learning It Takes Hard Work to Find a Job

With college graduation in sight, Erica Shinohara is looking for a position with a nonprofit agency that will give her some hands-on experience. But her plans may have to change as she scrambles to find a job in the current weak economy.

College career counselors say that, with the nation’s unemployment rate at 5.8%--near a seven-year high--and California’s jobless rate at 6%, few graduating students are able to write their own ticket.

“It’s a devastating time, looking at remarkable young people and knowing what they will go through. Two years ago, a student sent out three resumes [and landed a job]. Now, they’re sending out 25 to 40 resumes,” said Kathie Kieran-Johnson, director of the Center for Career and Academic Advising at Seaver College, Pepperdine University’s undergraduate school. “Some of our top students have interviewed with 40 companies. Even high-caliber people are having a hard time.”

Although some economists predict the country is beginning to come out of the recession, graduating seniors nationwide are having a tough time landing their first jobs.

“We’re seeing it all over, but the West is having a little tougher time due to high-tech and telecommunications businesses,” said Camille Luckenbaugh, employment information manager for the National Assn. of Colleges and Employers, a nonprofit organization that provides research and publications to college career-planning counselors. “The opportunities are out there, but they are much harder to find.”

An association survey of 439 employers nationwide in July showed they expected to hire about 20% fewer new college graduates this year than they did in 2001. But in the West, employers expected to hire 44.8% fewer graduates.

Defense contractors and government agencies, which seem to have more opportunities now, are getting attention from college grads looking for stability after the dot-com crash, Luckenbaugh said.

New graduates will need to do their homework and may need to be flexible about where they are willing to live and work, said Brian Krueger, president of Collegegrad .com, a Web site that helps students find entry-level jobs.

“It’s not the obvious employers that have openings now. Graduates will have to dig deeper to find companies that are hiring,” he said. “Some students might say, ‘I’m in L.A. I’ve always been in L.A.’ But they might find that the job they really want ... is in the Midwest or on the East Coast.”

To get interviews, many students attend on-campus job fairs where they can meet face-to-face with potential employers. However, employers’ participation in campus job fairs has dropped in the past year throughout Southern California, according to organizers.

Last fall’s job fair at UCLA had 25 fewer employers than the year before, when employers were turned away for lack of space.

In past years, Occidental College in Eagle Rock has had 80 employers attend a single job fair, but this spring organizers are expecting only half that number.

“After Sept. 11, we saw a big dip in recruiting,” said Judy Fisher, director of Occidental’s Career Development Center.

Eileen Kohan, associate dean and executive director of career planning and the placement center at USC, is considering adding a job fair in April to “give employers an opportunity to take one more look at our graduates.”

“People seem to be hiring closer to when they will actually need employees,” said Kohan, adding that about 8,000 students will come out of USC’s undergraduate and graduate school programs this year.

At a job fair last fall at Occidental, Shinohara gave her resume to 10 employers but has yet to get a single call. When she checked around, she was told to call back in May.

“It’s definitely hard to find a job. I’m realizing it’s taking a lot longer than I expected,” said Shinohara, 21, an international relations and economics major. She is now applying for fellowships that pay around $25,000 a year.

She also considered AmeriCorps, the national community service program, but she’s not sure if she could survive on the $600 to $800 monthly stipend.

“If worse comes to worse, I would get an administrative job, which isn’t my first choice after graduating from a four-year college,” she said.

Purvi Tank, one of about 370 expected to graduate in May from Occidental, has been offered a position with Morgan Stanley’s finance department in New York City. She is busy applying to other companies to see if anyone can beat the offer. But when it comes down to it, she said, she probably will accept. After sending out more than 50 resumes, it was Tank’s only job interview.

“It’s been so difficult, so difficult. I can’t tell you how many cover letters I’ve tailored to specific companies. This is close enough to my dream job. It’s more than what I thought I was going to be able to get,” said Tank, an economics major.

She declined to disclose the salary offer, saying only that she will “make enough to be able to work and play in New York City.”

College career counselors advise graduating students--or anyone looking for a job in this tight economic climate--to do their homework, read the corporate profile, know the industry and go to the interview with thoughtful questions.

There are enough entry-level jobs to go around, despite a survey of 50 Cal State Northridge students that revealed 90% of them weren’t sure they could get a job upon graduation, said Adele M. Scheele, director of the university’s career center. More than 6,000 students will graduate this spring.

“The expectation between three years ago and today is quite amazing. This cloud of gloom pervades,” said Scheele, author of five books, including “Jump Start Your Career in College.”

Since graduating in December, Danielle Bacon has been working in USC’s career center, hoping the experience will help her land a public relations job.

She’s been fine-tuning her resume and interview skills in anticipation of sending out 40 to 50 “broadcast letters,” alerting potential employers that she will be returning to her hometown of Fresno once her temporary job runs out in May.

“I feel I have more work to do now than when I was in school,” Bacon said. “The realities of the work force hit you the day you graduate.”