Campus, News

Students unsure about job prospects despite reassurance

Although the Associated Press reported Monday that only one in two recent college graduates are finding jobs, Boston University officials and graduates said they are not concerned and think the market is slowly recovering.

“We at the CCD, as well as our career colleagues across campus, have seen this [recovering job market] in the numbers of employers coming to campus and posting opportunities for BU students,” said Eleanor Cartelli, associate director for marketing and communications at the Center for Career Development.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers reported job prospects are up 10.2 percent from last year for those graduating in 2012, she said.

Half of recent graduates are jobless or underemployed, according to the AP. There are uneven job opportunities depending on the type of bachelor’s degree.

The job market demands those specializing in science, education and health, but those who studied the arts or humanities in school are having difficulty, according to the report.

Nevertheless, across all fields, median wages for those holding a bachelor’s degree are down since 2000 as mid-level jobs are eliminated, the study said.

This may not be the case with College of Communication graduates, especially those with in career-specific majors such as advertising or public relations, said Joyce Rogers, the Director of COM Recruitment Office.

“It’s not so much that there are less jobs today as there are different jobs,” she said. “Where you’re going to work may be different. Journalists may work online instead of at a newspaper office.”

A number of recent BU graduates said recent graduates can still find jobs, though many find the need to gain additional education after graduation.

Nikhil Shah, a University of Massachusetts medical student and a 2011 BU alumnus, said, “A bunch [of his peers] went to graduate school and the rest found work within three months of graduation.”

Ray Curran said the job market was in a pretty good place when he was looking for a job in healthcare information technology after graduating from BU in 2011. He applied for his job in early May, interviewed on-site two days after graduation and started working 10 days later.

“Overall, it was a pretty surreal process that didn’t involve too much effort on my part,” he said.

Curran said many of his friends had trouble finding jobs in the arts, but that might be because they were not willing to settle for “a job they know won’t make them happy.”

Miriam Levine, who graduated from BU with a sociology degree in 2011 and now works for AmeriCorps at the Blind Children’s Learning Center, said she was looking for a specific job in the nonprofit sector, which was hit particularly hard by budget cuts.

“I think science degrees tend to be more specific and therefore graduating with one makes you more qualified for the types of jobs you’re looking for,” Levine said. “While my degree is great, sociology itself is pretty broad and may not be as applicable or make me as qualified for a position based on the degree alone.”

Nevertheless, current BU students are a little weary about how much money they could make and the possibilities of getting a job out of college.

College of Communication sophomore Allison Kenney, who studies film and television, said she does not expect to be paid much after graduation.

“I’m not going to go to Hollywood as soon as I get out of college,” Kenney said. “There are a lot of stepping stones and lower paying internships I will probably have to go through first.”

Many students do not look for a job right after graduation, said Meghan West, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, who plans to go to graduate school.

“With so many people going to college now,” she said, “you need more than just an undergraduate degree.”

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