As graduating seniors prepare for life after college, financial indicators suggest that they will be entering an economy that has improved over the past three years.
“We are seeing an improvement in the job market,” said Andy Ceperley, director of the Career Services Center. “Looking at the job postings [on Port Triton], we are starting to see month-to-month increases.”
Craig Schmidt, assistant director of the Career Services Center, added that there are more internships, part-time and especially full-time listings on Port Triton now than there were one year ago.
“This is a good sign that the economy is picking up,” Schmidt said. “There is also an increase in companies participating in the job fairs. It is not a dramatic increase, but after the past three years, this is good.”
Last year, with a rough economy, fewer employers came to the job fairs hosted by the center to recruit students, according to Ceperley. The recent Spring Job Fair showed a slight increase in the number of employers who participated, a sign that is indicative of an improving job market, he said.
Some seniors are beginning to feel the benefits of the good economy in terms of finding jobs.
“I’m going to be working [after graduation],” John Muir College senior Jeffrey Fechner said. “I didn’t really look for a job — I just got one. I got lucky.”
With the improving job market, Schmidt believes that more students will enter the workforce directly, rather than going on to graduate school. Students often attend graduate school “to avoid facing a tough job market,” he said.
Last year, 40 percent of the graduating seniors continued on with graduate school, while 60 percent went straight into the workforce, according to Schmidt.
“We saw a higher percentage that went directly to grad school than directly to the job market,” Schmidt said. “In previous years, there was a higher percentage that went directly into the workforce. On average, two-thirds [of the graduating class] went into the workforce and one-third went into grad school. My guess is that, with the improving job market, we’ll be more likely to see the one-third, two-thirds ratio, but it is too early to tell.”
Avoiding the job market is not the only reason students attend grad school, he said. Many go to obtain a degree for their specified profession.
“[I] will be attending graduate school here at UCSD to get my teaching credentials and master’s degree through the Teacher Education Program because I would like to be a teacher, and you have to get your credentials in order to do that,” John Muir senior Jenn Bader said.
However, complete results from the senior alumni survey — including figures on graduate school enrollment and average job salaries — will not be available until the beginning of 2005, as the survey will continue through the month of December.
From the responses so far, Schmidt said that he is “seeing some positive results.”
These preliminary results include higher overall salaries. The average salary from the students who graduated in June 2002 and went directly into the workforce was $37,200, while the average salary for 2004 graduates is $39,300, according to Schmidt.
In previous years, the Career Services Center has held job search programs for graduated seniors. Due to financial and staffing problems, there will be no such program this year, though the center will still “be available for individual advising and counseling and will plan other [similar] programs,” according to Ceperley.
“The successful ingredients of the program are still available,” he said.
Still, some seniors say they are concerned about the job market.
“I think [that my biggest concern] is finding a job,” Earl Warren College senior Annie Kim said. “I am going to miss being in school. Everyone has this hope to be stable after graduation and a fear — ‘Will I be OK?’”
