"Faced with harsh job outlook, Dallas-area college graduates seek alternative paths", Article Features Jeff Kaye, Co-CEO of Kaye/Bassman International

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"Faced with harsh job outlook, Dallas-area college graduates seek alternative paths", Article Features Jeff Kaye, Co-CEO of Kaye/Bassman International

By Christina Rosales
Staff Writer at Dallasnews.com

Dallas, Texas - 9/2/2011:

For many 20-somethings, being unemployed means delaying growing up — or in the case of Brittany Vigil, changing career goals. While Vigil was studying psychology and anthropology at SMU, her goal was to find a job that allowed her to help people through a nonprofit. “I find myself wondering if I need to change my plans,” said Vigil, 21. “I don’t know if I can find a job where I can work with and help people. I just find myself in an endless battle to find a way to work.” The job outlook for recent college graduates such as Vigil isn’t rosy, but it’s the best the country has seen in four years.

Employers are planning to hire about 19 percent more college graduates than they did last year, the highest increase since the recession began, according to a study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Still, that isn’t much comfort for Vigil, who has applied for more than 50 jobs since she graduated in May. She has had only four interviews. She has found openings for clerical jobs and legal assistant positions, but nothing related to her degree. She had planned to get a master’s degree in social work. That’s on hold until she can save enough money to move out of her parents’ house in Garland. But she has to find a job first. On this Labor Day weekend, it’s difficult to ignore the bleak outlook.

The unemployment rate for people ages 16 to 24 was about 18 percent in July, compared to an overall unemployment rate of 9.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Seventy-seven percent of adults ages 18 to 29 are delaying a major life decision because of economic restraints, according to Generation Opportunity, a nonprofit educational organization. Those delays have a major impact on the country’s economy, said Paul Conway, the nonprofit’s president and a former staff member at the U.S. Department of Labor. Delaying further training means that the future labor force will not be competitive in the global economy, he said. And that affects the optimism that young people, such as Katy Bedford, might have for what they hope to accomplish in the world. “I was optimistic,” said Bedford, 22, a friend of Vigil’s who also graduated in the spring. “I thought I could get out of school and start working. But now, I don’t feel optimistic at all. It’s going to be awhile before this economy becomes better, especially for people my age.” Bedford, who expected to find a job in Dallas, moved back to her parents’ home in Georgetown in Central Texas to continue her job search.

After studying political science, she expected to work for the State Department or a nonprofit for women in prison. The faith she put in her college degree has dwindled as college loans totaling $45,000 await her first payment in a few months. Re-evaluating college The conditions college grads face force them to re-evaluate the importance of their college degree, said Barbara Ray, a Chicago author with experience in public policy research. She is co-author of Not Quite Adults, a book about 20-somethings’ slower path to adulthood. Ray and other researchers asked graduates of 2010 what they believed the purpose of college was. In overwhelming numbers, the new grads hoped college would make it easier for them to find a job.

The second answer was that college was a time to become an adult. Very few, Ray said, believed college was a time to get “knowledge for the sake of knowledge.” It’s no wonder that one of the services offered to students at most universities is career coaching — including advice on writing a résumé and networking. Michael Doty, career center director at the University of Texas at Dallas, said UTD graduates have had an easier time finding jobs this year than they have in the past few years. Engineering and accounting jobs are on the upswing, he said. The National Association of Colleges and Employers study also reported that the number of government jobs has decreased. Dan Naegeli, director of the career center at the University of North Texas, said there was a slight decrease in recruiting for government jobs at UNT. But overall, the number of recruiters on campus increased about 13 percent. Karl Enriquez, 25, graduated from UNT this summer with a degree in business. Last week, his internship with PepsiCo turned into a full-time job in business information solutions. He says his internship provided him with enough training to launch his career. “For now, this is my ideal job,” he said. “I feel valued here.”

That career development is the new promise that employers can make to young graduates, said Jeff Kaye, president and CEO of a Dallas-based recruiting company. Many employers are not sure of their company’s stability but can give interns much-needed experience. “It’s [the company’s] job to provide employability, not employment,” Kaye said. “It’s training, so that they [the graduates] can be employable.” Alternatives When full-time jobs are scarce, students either find alternatives — such as graduate school — or they try to improve their communities through service. 


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About Kaye/Bassman
Founded in 1981, Kaye/Bassman has grown to become the largest single-site executive search and recruitment firm in the United States with the simple mission of impacting companies and enhancing careers by providing the finest in professional, executive, technical and scientific search. Kaye/Bassman provides strategic recruiting and executive search solutions in over 20 industry practice areas including construction recruiting, healthcare recruiting, banking executive search, energy recruitment and many more.  Next Level Recruiting Training, a recruiting training organization, Next Level Exchange, a recruiting training best practices information exchange, and Next Level Marketing Communications are also Kaye/Bassman companies.

For additional information or a sample copy, contact:
Darren McDougal
Kaye/Bassman International
(972) 931-5242
(972) 931.9683
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http://www.kbic.com

Source: http://www.dallasnews.com/business/headlines/20110903-faced-with-a-harsh-job-outlook-new-college-graduates-seek-alternative-paths.ece