Finding a job in a weakening economy
Renee Beaupre-White
BY DUSAN VUKSANOVIC
Green Mountain College student Noah Pappano spent his winter break in Nashville, TN before leaving for South Korea to do his spring semester at Hannam University. Though he spent over two and a half months in Nashville, visited numerous Temp agencies, and talked to different employers, he could not find a job.
On one occasion, as he was riding his bicycle, Pappano saw a man painting a store. Having been an experienced painter himself, Pappano stopped next to the man, and courteously asked him if he could give him a helping hand. The man suddenly stopped and slowly turned around. His eyes were sullen and his face was tired. The man looked absolutely destitute. “Buddy, I’m lucky if I can get 25 hours a week,” he replied.
Unfortunately, these situations have become commonplace ever since the economy started to crumble in October 2008. The irony is that, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nashville, TN is doing well compared to the national average. Namely, Nashville’s unemployment rate in December 2008 was 6.5 percent, while the average for U.S. metropolitan areas was 7.1 percent. Department of Labor estimated that, as of January 2009, the unemployment rate was at 7.6 percent – the highest since 1983.
The market is not looking well for college students either. The number of employers coming to college career fairs has significantly decreased at major universities. For example, the number of firms that applied for a job fair at University of Maryland in 2009 dropped by 15 percent compared to last year. Similarly, only 85 employers attended the annual engineering and information management job fair at University of Delaware in 2009, as opposed to 164 the year before.
Given the current situation, students who will graduate in 2009 will be competing at a scarce job market. Renee Beaupre-White, Director of Career Services at Green Mountain College, encourages students to start searching for their future employers on time. “Whatever you to put into it, you’re going to get out of it. Put it on your calendar [and say], ‘I’m going to develop these days and these times actively in my job search’,” said Beaupre-White.
One of the resources that Beaupre-White urges the students to use is networking. “Networking is now important more than ever,” she said. “For instance, I have this summer a student that’s going to be working [an internship] with one of our alums in New York City for fine arts.” Beaupre-White also noted that over eighty percent of current jobs in the U.S. are found through networking. However, she also advised students to use other means to find a job that fits them, such as the Internet and newspaper ads.
Though all these resources may help you find the job, the most important things to getting it are your résumé and interview performance. “Your résumé should be stellar, and it should talk to each employer,” Beaupre-White said. But, she also noted that “you can be the better applicant and still not get the job because of your interviewing skills.”
Preparing yourself in a timely and well-organized manner will be the key for landing a job in a weakening economy. This is especially crucial for graduating college students, who may not have a lot of experience in fields they want to work. As Beaupre-White likes to emphasize, “Finding a job is a full-time job.”
Short URL: http://www.themountaineer.org/?p=407
Posted by Dusan Vuksanovic
on Mar 3, 2009 Filed under College, Working.
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