College graduates have not had it easy in the last couple of years. With the fluctuating economy, jobs have been scarce and many college graduates have had a difficult time finding employment. This year and last year, however, mark a distinct change in the job market.
With the economy steadily rising, 2005 is predicted to be a good year for college seniors seeking post-graduation employment. This is good news for Hillsdale College students, though the college already boasts of a high post-graduate job placement rate. For example, 99.5 percent of the 2004 graduating class has found a job.
“Of that 99.5 percent, 24 are in graduate school,” Joanna Wiseley, director of career planning, said. “I think that's the highest ever.”
According to the The Associated Press , college hiring is expected to increase 13 percent, which means the job prospects for this year's graduating class should be much better than the past few years.
Senior Michael Cantrell, who has begun the process of finding a job and who has visited the career planning office frequently, said the state of the economy is not as much of a factor in his job search.
“As someone not a business major and not closely tied to large corporations, the state of the economy is not as important to me as it is to them,” Cantrell said. “I'm not as worried as I would be if I were a business major.”
Tom Burke, who graduated last year and currently works for the Department of Homeland Security, said he had no trouble finding a job after graduation and that he owes a lot of his success to the support of the career planning office.
“Through the interviews and job fairs facilitated, I had numerous possibilities presented,” Burke said. “Hillsdale College has a good reputation for well-educated students and that helped out tremendously. The biggest obstacle is knowing what opportunities are out there.”
Recent graduate Sara Kosik also praised the work of the career planning office, though she didn't utilize their services as much as she would have liked.
“In some respects, I regret not going to them, but I love my job and my boss, and I couldn't have asked for a better first job,” said Kosik, who also graduated last year and is now an admissions counselor for the college.
“[Joanna] Wiseley is more than willing to help anyone who goes in there, and they give terrific leads.”
Vicky L. Arno, administrative assistant of career planning, said the office does everything possible to find employment for graduating college seniors.
“We try to provide the tools necessary to launch an effective job search. We help put together a resume; we help with their interviewing skills, where we often have mock interviews. We also participate in several job fairs and on-campus recruiting,” Arno said.
For future graduating classes, both Arno and Wiseley suggest that underclassmen start thinking seriously about employment and that sophomores come in for sophomore career checkup, which will be held later this semester.