Fresh off her freshman year at Georgia Tech, Tonya Dugger eagerly accepted a commissions-only sales job in the summer of 2009. It wasn’t her dream job, but with the recession deepening she knew she couldn’t be choosy.
“I knew jobs were scarce and I was willing to do anything,” said Dugger, who set up a LinkedIn account during her sophomore year and completed back-to-back internships in college. “My goal — from the moment I started college — was to not be part of that statistic of not having a job after college.”
That steely resolve seems to define much of the class of 2012, career guidance counselors say. Hardened by the recession that struck when they entered college, these students will graduate next month and enter a job market that is better than when they went in, but still fiercely competitive.
For the past four years, they’ve read the headlines, seen friends flounder, watched others move back in with Mom and Dad. Many got an early start on career counseling, turning out in big numbers for everything from mock interview workshops to dress for success programs to networking events. They’ve prepared for their worst — and may be in for a pleasant surprise.
“The students who started school during a good job market expected the good job market to continue,” said Ralph Mobley, director of career services at Georgia Tech. “They almost went into denial and don’t do the things they need to. They just think the jobs are going to be there. ... The students behind them see them struggle and they think, ‘I am going to be more proactive.’”
Some students used the recession as an opportunity to add more skills and degrees to their résumé. Paul Tillery decided to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in animation at the Savannah College of Art and Design in hopes of riding out the bad economy.
“I wasn’t having any luck finding steady employment,” he said. “And going back to school felt like a way to develop my skills further while the job market improved.”
While in school, he has worked on several freelance animation projects. He has worked on getting exposure for his 2008 student film, “Window Pains.” His work is expected to be featured in a film project for NBC.
“Some people say it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. But I think what really matters for networking is who knows what you can do,” said Tillery, who is in discussions with a local, high-tech company for a designer job.
Outlook improves
After years of a dismal job market, economic forecasts suggest this year’s college seniors will have a better shot at employment.
Employers said they expect to hire 10 percent more new college graduates from the 2012 class than they did from the class of 2011, according to a 2012 Job Outlook Spring Update by the National Association of Colleges.
At Georgia Tech, the career fair last fall was at full capacity. The number of on-campus interviews jumped 20 percent this academic year, compared to the previous year.
About 65 percent of Georgia Tech seniors planning to enter the workforce after graduation will have jobs at the time of commencement this year, up from around 55 percent during recent years.
At SCAD’s Atlanta campus, a career fair called “Out to Launch” expects to draw more than 200 employers. In 2008, only 11 employers showed up for the event.
At Georgia State University, a recent job fair drew 118 employers, up from 96 in 2011 and about 70 in 2010.
“I am optimistic,” said Kevin Gaw, director of career services at GSU. “Actually, I am rather excited.”
Scott Williams, head of the career center at the University of Georgia, believes jobs are available, but securing one requires flexibility.
“The question is,” Williams said, “is the job in the industry or the area I would like to pursue and, if so, is it in the geographic area I am willing to relocate to?”
Williams also thinks more seniors are willing to accept a Plan B job, such as a marketing student who takes a sales position in hopes of becoming a brand manager.
Although the unemployment rate nationally and in Georgia has been trending down, it remains high for young adults. In Georgia, the 2011 annual average unemployment rate was 15.2 percent for people between 20 and 24, compared to 10.1 percent for the average for all age groups, according to survey data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
During the past three years, the gap in the unemployment rate between 18- to 24-year-olds and all working-age adults is the widest in recorded history.
Long-term plans change
The tough economy has forced young people to change long-term plans, according to the Pew Research Center. Nearly half of those recently surveyed by Pew said they have taken a job they didn’t really want to pay their bills. About one in four said they have accepted an unpaid job to gain work experience, according to the report, which was based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the results of a telephone survey in December 2011.
About a third have either postponed getting married or having a baby because of the negative job market. One in four said they have moved back in with their parents.
“It’s still very tough,” said Paul Conway, president of Generation Opportunity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization focused on the challenges of young people. “Young people can do everything right and still not land the job they want.”
Conway, a former chief of staff of the U.S. Labor Department, said young people must try to demonstrate they’ve amassed critical, transferable skills during their college years. If you’ve interned at a congressional office, you need to be specific about your accomplishments.
It can boost the odds of landing a job, but can’t eliminate the possibility of having to string together part-time jobs or get by as a barista in a coffee shop.
“Millennials get a bad rap for being self-absorbed and being too focused on PDAs and unattached to the world around them,” said Conway. “We see the opposite. They are consumers of information and they have suffered the most of any age group, and at the end of the day, this is through no fault of their own.”
Thaddeus Morgan, graduating from GSU this year with a journalism degree, is still searching for work. Morgan, who interned at CNN and is the associate living editor of the college newspaper, hopes to find a writing job.
But with journalism jobs in short supply, he’s resigned to settle for a back-up plan of part-time work “doing anything” (administrative assistant jobs or waiting tables) while completing an unpaid internship in his field.
He wants to take his chances in New York this fall.
“When I tell people I am going to New York, they are scared for me,” he said. “They want me to have a detailed plan. And I am planning to play it by ear, hope for the best and use whatever connections I have. The worst thing that can happen is I fail and come back.”
Student loan debt climbs
To make matters worse, the average student loan debt recently topped $25,000, up 25 percent in 10 years. And in a shaky job market, these loans are increasingly difficult to pay off.
Ashley Murphy saw the crisis coming and took action early in her college career to avoid being saddled with debt after graduation.
Murphy started out at Clemson University because she wanted to go out of state.
When the economy took a turn for the worse, she decided it made financial sense to study closer to home. She transferred during her sophomore year to UGA.
“I had my family supporting me, but I thought I might end up having to take out a loan for my senior year of Clemson,” said Murphy, who grew up in Suwanee. “And I thought if I don’t even have a job, having that much debt would be difficult to handle.”
While at UGA, Murphy interned at the career center and took advantage of the resources. She not only participated in mock interview workshops, but she was eventually trained to lead them with her peers.
“I had to think of it like in high school. I had to do a lot to get into college,” said Murphy, who just accepted a human resources position in Boston. “It was the same process. You have to start over and build your résumé and try to be well rounded in the hopes of finding a job.”
Tonya Dugger’s hard work while at Georgia Tech — the networking, internships and jobs, including one to collect signatures aimed at getting Showtime added to the cable package on campus — paid off.
She has a marketing specialist job waiting for her in Atlanta when she graduates next month. The timing, she said, is perfect: She starts her new job in early June, after graduating from college and getting married.
“I feel very relieved,” said Dugger. “I am very eager to start the next chapter in my life.”
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