Tuesday, May 5, 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
3
'09 faces tough job market
Graduates must be
patient while
career hunting
By ANNIE THOMAS
Daily Staff Reporter
For the class of 2009, graduat-
ing from the University and leav-
ing Ann Arbor is a venture into
uncharted territory.
After entering the Big House as
students and living as graduates,
the recent graduates have headed
off to take jobs and start new proj-
ects all over the world. Regardless
of choice of major, the economy
and turbulent job markets have
affected graduates' decisions and
caused some students to rethink
their career paths.
Recent LSA graduate Tara
Boinpally will be attending medi-
cal school in Cleveland, Ohio but
said that some of her fellow grad-
uates are still unsure about their
future plans.
"I think that some of (my
friends) are changing what they
originally intended to do and are
going to graduate programs," she
said. "Some of them are setting off
on their own and seeing whathap-
pens."
Recent Ross School of Busi-
ness graduate Jeffrey Fishman,
who has secured a job in the fall,
plans to take it easy in the summer
months leading up to the start of
his career.
"For the next three months I
don't have any plans," he said.
"Travel the country, take some
road trips, visit some people. After
that, I'm working for a bank in
New York."
Allan Cotrone, the director of
Career Development and Student
Affairs at the Ross School of Busi-
ness, said that over the past couple
years the trend has been for many
students to take more "socially
responsible careers" like Teach
for America. He said students are
beginning to think about seeking
these types of jobs rather than
more traditional jobs in banking
or consulting.
Cotrone said that this year, 75
percent of graduating Business
School students who responded to
a Business School survey reported
they had secured a job offer by
graduation, which is a 10-percent
decrease from last year's results.
Cotrone attributed the decline
in graduateslanding job offers to
the lagging economy.
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Graduates face their futures with eager minds as they celebrate their achievements at Saturday's graduation ceremony.
"I've never seen it as bad as this
for students looking for jobs," he
added.
According to Lynne Sebille-
White, senior assistant director of
employer relations at the Career
Center, the job search for gradu-
ates of the College of Literature,
Science and the Arts isn't much
easier.
She also blamed the economy
for the lack of hiring opportuni-
ties, but said that graduates can
still find jobs if they put in some
extra work.
"The economy has impacted
hiring in many different indus-
tries and geographic locations,"
she wrote in an e-mail interview.
"However, this does not mean no
one is hiring. Job searching is tak-
ing more time and requires flex-
ibility and networking."
Sebille-White said that job
search resources like the Career
Center can be very helpful because
they offer their services to students
up to one year after graduation.
"Tapping alumni networks
via the UM Alumni Association's
inCircle and other networking
tools can be very valuable," she
wrote. "There are also profes-
sional associations in every field
imaginable."
Sebille-White wrote that while
LSA conducts a "destination sur-
vey" for each graduating class,
these surveys are not necessar-
ily predictive and aren't published
until about nine months after
graduation.
She added that the - statistics
for the class of 2008 can't be com-
pared to those of the class of 2009
because the current generation of
graduating students is experienc-
ing a much different economy and
job search.
Sebille-White also wrote that
LSA students are interested in tak-
ing a year or two off after gradua-
tion and working in their desired
field as they were in years with
stable economies.
Students in the College of Engi-
neering are also finding that the
job search is taking longer than
expected.
Cynthia Redwine, director of
the Engineering Career Resource
Center, said students still looking
for jobs should continue to search
and take advantage of networks
and opportunities.
"We encourage students to
maintain a positive attitude, net-
work, expect the search to take a
bit longer (6-9 months) and to not
overlook small and medium size
companies," Redwine wrote in an
e-mail interview.
She also wrote that while there
may not be many jobs out there,
internships are harder to come by
as well.
William Rich, who gradu-
ated with a master's degree from
the Ford School of Public Policy,
offered an optimistic take on the
situation.
"Yeah, everyone is (worried
about jobs)," he said. "A lot of my
classmates are going to a public
sector, and even then it's hard. No
one's really worried about getting
a job in an absolute sense - it's
just taking more time than is con-
venient."
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