Meenal Vamburkar
The failing economy may seem discouraging to graduating college students as May creeps closer, but despite an unstable job market and increasing corporate layoffs, graduating students should be persistent in their job searches, Boston University professors and advisors said.
In other economically trying times, BU Office of Career Services Assistant Director Deborah Halliday said she noticed that students stopped applying for jobs all together, something she said students should not do.
“The first and foremost thing they should do is not give up,” Halliday said.
Students should proceed as if the economy is stable, Halliday said.
Though the job hunt may not be impossible, BU economics department Chairman Kevin Lang said students might have to lower their expectations.
“By and large, college graduates from good institutions . . . are able to get jobs,” he said. “However, they are not always able to get jobs that are as good as the ones that people who were comparable to them two years earlier were able to get.”
Graduates might not be able to get jobs that are “as well paid or as exciting . . . as they could in an expansion,” Lang said.
Lang said the unstable job market should not discourage students, but warned the recession is not likely to be short-lived.
“The most important role in any job search, even in a good economy, is to remember that you only need one job and the next place you apply may be that job,” he said.
“Clearly, this year’s graduates are going to face a more difficult market, and I think most people think that next year’s graduates will also,” Lang said.
Some areas in the job market have been hit harder others, while areas like economic consulting are still doing well, Lang said.
“Jobs in finance have really dried up,” Lang said. “So, a lot of people in SMG [the School of Management] coming out with degrees in finance will have more difficulty finding those jobs.”
SMG sophomore Kelly Wei said she knows several people who have failed to land jobs despite their good resumes.
“I have friends who have done really well in school and graduated from places like Northwestern University or MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology], and they still haven’t been able to get jobs,” Wei said.
College of Engineering Career Development Office Director Debbie Dunklee said some areas of the market are still strong. The job market for engineering is not as dire as other sectors, such as finance, she said.
“What seems strong right now are software and IT [Information Technology] positions,” Dunklee said. “Electrical computer engineering or computer science seem to be most in demand, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t positions for others.”
Both Dunklee and Halliday said it is important for students to take advantage of the resources available from BU career services.
“They should come in to Career Services and have someone take a look at their resumes and go to career fairs,” Halliday said. “The one thing you don’t want to do is nothing.”
