How will the recession affect job prospects for new college graduates?

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recession
Áine asked:


I will be graduating cum laude from my University in June 2008, and this is when economists have declared the recession to begin. How will this affect my (and other new graduates) perspectives for employment?

Rosa
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    • This entry was posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 3:32 pm and is filed under Finance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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    No Responses to “How will the recession affect job prospects for new college graduates?”

    1. fcas80 Says:
      April 21st, 2009 at 11:17 am

      With people buying less things, and companies making fewer sales and becoming less profitable, there will be fewer job openings.

      Sorry - not the best time to be job searching.

    2. RoaringMice Says:
      April 22nd, 2009 at 11:03 pm

      I graduated during a recession, and because I’d had good work experiences during my undergraduate years and, like you, good grades, I found a job within 2 months of starting to look for one.

      Graduating during a recession will make your job search more competitive, but certainly not impossible. There will still be jobs for entry-level college grads out there. There will simply be slightly fewer of them, and there will be more applicants. Find ways to make yourself stand out from the crowd, and you will get hired.

      The work experiences are what I know made the difference between me and other students with good grades. If you haven’t done so, do some things, right now, to get some real world work experience in your field onto your resume. You could do an internship with a local employer during some of your free periods, or do related work with clubs at your school, or for a professor. You could volunteer to do related work with a local non-profit. Lots of options to beef up your resume, and that’s one of the more impactful things you can do right now. So go speak to someone in your school’s internship/careers office, for starters, to see what’s available, and/or volunteer to do specific, job-related tasks for the clubs you’re in, etc.

      Also, take advantage of all the resources available at your career center. Do their practice interviews, have them review your resume and cover letter, use their job listings and so on. Go there *all the time*, at least weekly, to see what new jobs have come in. If you have other schools nearby, try to walk into their career centers, too. Sometimes, they don’t ask for ID. I used to do this at Smith, and I actually went to UMass… :winks:

      Network. If you did an internship already, contact that employer directly. Tell everyone you’re looking for a job - back at home at your church, for example. Ask your parents to tell their friends, and have them let you know of open positions with their companies. Don’t be shy.

      Now’s a good time to start this process, for a June graduate. So don’t wait. Start at your career center, and go from there.

      And if all else fails… BUNAC. Work overseas via BUNAC after you graduate, gain some interesting international expereince for your resume, and do your job search when you get home.