College grads need creativity to nab jobs

In just a few months, thousands of U.S. college graduates will enter a job market where competition is fierce due to the economic recession.

The job market doesn't show signs of improving. On March 17, the Missouri Department of Economic Development released its February jobs report, showing that the state's unemployment rate increased two-tenths of a point to 8.3 percent, compared to a national rate of 8.1 percent, and the 8 percent range is as high as Missouri's unemployment rate has been in a quarter-century.

Still, career-planning experts at local higher-learning institutions say there are jobs to be had - although graduates might have to think outside the box to get them.

Searching for opportunities

Both where and how applicants look for opportunities are important, according to Margie Stewart, employer relations manager and career counselor with Missouri State University's career center. Stewart said the school has seen a drop in companies visiting the campus throughout the semester to recruit employees, and a decline in job fair participants. A February career fair at MSU for example, drew 106 companies, instead of the usual 130, and an upcoming April job fair for education majors has about half of the usual 100-plus employers.

"Looking at job boards, or Monster.com or CareerBuilder is not giving (job seekers) exciting prospects (this year)," Stewart said. "I've noticed if you go to company Web sites, there are jobs posted, but the companies aren't spending a lot of time advertising them, probably because they're ... getting several applicants applying directly to them."While using online resources to identify opportunities is fine, Stewart said she's encouraging students to take an outgoing role in the hunt.

"They need to talk to people and not hide behind the computer," she said. "I think it's a little bit daunting to them, and not as high-tech, and some of them might not have learned (interpersonal) skills (used more heavily) in the past."

Jill Wiggins, director of Drury University's career center, agrees with Stewart, advocating that job seekers shouldn't rely too heavily on online searches, which might be the preferred method for Web-savvy students.

"When I'll ask (students) to tell me about their job search ... they say, 'Well, I have my resume posted on 10 different sites,'" Wiggins said. "That's a place to start ... but you have to be doing something else besides just sitting there and expecting the employers to come find you."

Job fairs, including a communitywide edition that will be held at Ozarks Technical Community College on April 7, are good opportunities for networking, but as was the case at MSU, attendees might notice fewer companies on hand. Kathy Christy, director of career employment services at OTC, said the school's job fair typically draws about 80 employers, and this year, she's expecting about half that.

Christy said job listings are down about 60 percent in the school's database, but the job market isn't as dreary as seekers might think.

"I think things are picking up a little bit. I don't feel doom and gloom, because ... we've got some really good jobs that have just come through," she said, citing health care and AutoCAD technician work.

More soon-to-be graduates at Evangel University have started searches earlier, recognizing that finding a job might take longer than expected, said Sheri Phillips, director of career development at Evangel.

Open to possibilities

Also important for job seekers is focusing their searches - with the caveat that they need to have a broad sense of how their skills can be used professionally.

Phillips said Evangel - which will host a job fair April 2 - has had more than 1,500 job postings for the 2007-08 and the 2008-09 school years, though this year, she estimates about 50 fewer listings.

"What we're telling students is that they need to be much more focused and intentional about what they're looking for. Gone are they days where they can just say, 'I want to work with people,'" Phillips said.

Consultant Mark Holmes said it's important, thought, that job seekers not pigeonhole themselves into looking for jobs with specific types of companies.

Holmes, an author and founder of Springfield-based Consultant Board Inc., is in the midst of the "The National Gen Y Workplace Survey" of the Millennial generation, which he defines as under the age of 30.

"Rather than having a mindset that 'I'm going to go into business accounting because I have an accounting degree, or ... go to a bank because I have a finance degree or economics degree,' look at how some of those degrees position you within organizations that need those same kinds of skill sets and knowledge (and) a company's willingness to spend some dollars on educating you," he said.

Holmes said graduates also need to be realistic about what they can expect to be paid - and although his survey doesn't specifically ask about wage expectations, empirical evidence points to a disconnect.

"I cannot think of a single case that I heard of where they got the job that they wanted at the level they wanted at the pay they wanted," Holmes said. "It was considerably less - we're talking 20 (percent) to 30 percent below what they were led to believe they would qualify for ... around here. Whether that varies beyond this area, I don't know."

The National Association of Colleges and Employers' 2009 Job Outlook Report shows that the natural and physical sciences offer the highest starting salaries for new graduates, with an average salary offer of $65,466. Salaries in mechanical engineering and computer science are in the mid-$58,000 range, and salary averages in finance, logistics, materials management and accounting are more than $48,000.

Regardless of which jobs graduates pursue, though, Drury's Wiggins said their approach must be as polished as possible.

"There's really no room for error now," she said.[[In-content Ad]]