CHICAGO, April 24 (UPI) -- An estimated 1.2 million spring college graduates face a daunting task of finding that first job this year in what experts call the tightest job market in a decade.
The latest survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found U.S. businesses plan to hire 36.4 percent fewer new college graduates than a year ago. Corporate layoffs, a slowdown in hiring and other lingering effects of last year's recession have significantly increased the difficulty of finding an entry-level position.
"There is a lot of supply for the demand and this year the students have to compete with the laid-off," said James Scales, director of Career Services at Southern Illinois University. "Yesterday, you may have had a vacancy and received 200 resumes. Today for that same vacancy, you'll get 2,000."
Scales said 25 fewer companies participated in SIU's spring career fair in Carbondale than in February 2001. And since Sept. 11, he said, employers have been cutting costs and delaying expansion plans "even though you hear the recession is over."
His office is counseling 21- or 22-year-old students earning that new diploma to be realistic about immediate job prospects, especially salary expectations.
"Ask a student with a bachelor's (degree) and they think they will start at $60,000. Most students come from a home where someone has been working for 10, 15, 20 years and their salary is advanced. Maybe they make $85,000. But students are very unrealistic."
The average salary for new bachelor's degrees is more like $32,000.
Scales recommends students not put all their eggs in one basket. While demand for civil, mechanical and electronic engineering graduates remains strong, he says older, non-traditional students who have work experience have the edge this year.
"When there is a downsizing in funds, especially funds for training, the employer looks more at the student who already has been in the work world, came back to finish their education and now is ready to go back to work," Scales said.
John Challenger, chief executive officer of the Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, predicts job searches of four to six months for new grads, who also face stiff competition from recent classmates now back in the job market.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates some 2.2 million job seekers -- early retirees, stay-at-home mothers and people who took off time to go back to school -- returned to the job market in February, up 19 percent from a year earlier.
"College graduates will be competing with young people who have already been in the workforce for one or two years but are unemployed due to downsizing. Some of these individuals may be more inclined in this uncertain economy to accept entry-level pay."
With the private sector cutting costs and many states and municipalities facing budget crises, what can parents do to help a recent graduate?
Challenger recommends giving practical gifts like a cell phone, newspaper subscription, shoe polishing kit or a book of funniest jokes to ensure a smile during interviews. Students can make productive contacts by joining a political campaign, working at a special event or festival, caddying on a golf course or volunteering at a local charity.
According to the congressional General Accounting Office, the average student leaving college owes about $19,000 in education loans and $2,700 in credit card debt, adding to the pressure of finding a job.
"Taking all this into consideration, it might be conservative to say that as many as 360,000 college students, 30 percent of the 1.2 million graduates, will still be jobless in October and November, half a year after graduation," Challenger said.
