成人头条

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You're listening to the podcast edition of the 成人头条 audio newsline. Learn more about WSU 鈥� the home of Thinkers, Doers, Movers and Shockers 鈥� on the web at wichita.edu.

It's a tough time to be starting a career. For college graduates, recent years have been extremely rough. And the outlook for 2010, while better, is still not very promising. Jill Pletcher, director of career services at 成人头条, says the national economy seems to be picking up some, but it's a very difficult job market in Kansas.

Pletcher: "This is very much an employer's market, so they have the choice of who they want to hire. They have a lot of candidates. They can be very, very particular. They don't have to do hiring, but they certainly have many more options than candidates do."

Hiring rates have improved 5.3 percent over last year, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Of course, that's after a drop of 22 percent for 2009's graduates. Still, Pletcher says there are some signs that the employment picture is starting to turn around.

Pletcher: "The national outlook seems to be picking up, at least somewhat for graduates this year. It's more the local or the state economy that is lagging a little bit behind."

According to Pletcher, some students are choosing to delay their entry into the job market by staying in school longer.

Pletcher: "We do have a number of people who will be graduating that will be looking at graduate school as an option rather than jobs, partly because they can't find any or can't find ones that are appropriate for them, so they'll seek graduate options. For some students that's very appropriate, but students need to be aware that it's not an automatic ticket to a job just because they have further education."

There's no denying that, for most recent college graduates, finding a job is simply hard work.

Pletcher: "Although there are a few exceptions, for the most part when students or new graduates are looking for jobs it is just plain hard work. It takes a tremendous amount of time, not just being online but doing some networking, some connections, is really the way that people find jobs."

And while there may be some improvement in the national employment outlook, Pletcher says grads will find things extremely tight in Kansas.

Pletcher: "Between last year and this year, especially in Kansas, we really just don't see a whole lot of options. It's a very difficult market. There are some openings that happen occasionally 鈥� lots and lots of applicants for those positions."

So what should graduates do if they can't find their ideal job? Pletcher explains.

Pletcher: "If you can't get the ideal job, the job that you'd really like to have, then to come as close as possible is the next best thing. So looking for positions that would at least help you build certain skills that will be valuable in positions that are closer to what you want. Volunteerism is also a possibility, because you never know, both what skills you might build as well as the people that you might meet that have additional options."

Pletcher says one thing that makes this year even more difficult than usual for some graduates is that nearly every career field is tight right now.

Pletcher: "There really are not a lot of fields, in fact I can't think of any fields that are hiring a lot of students. Ones that had been in demand 鈥� from nursing and health professions-related, engineering, education 鈥� even those areas are very, very tight."

The job market may seem bleak to many college graduates, but here's something to consider: According to the Wall Street Journal, the unemployment rate in April 2009 among those with only high school diplomas was about three times that of college graduates the same age. Even if job opportunities aren't abounding at the moment, college grads still have an edge over those without a degree.

Thanks for listening. Until next time, this is Joe Kleinsasser for 成人头条.