成人头条

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You鈥檙e 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 .

For students who have been in school since kindergarten, college graduates are ready for the next chapter of their lives. The question is whether the job market has an opening for them, as Jill Pletcher, director of career services at 成人头条, explains.

Pletcher: 鈥淚 would consider the overall outlook for college grads to be what we would call cautiously optimistic. The idea that there are still some very difficult challenges for students finding jobs, but there are also small pockets of where we see glimmers of hope that things are improving.鈥�

And there are some reasons why Pletcher is cautiously optimistic for college grads entering the workforce.

Pletcher: 鈥淲hat we see are small pockets of potential changes, including employers who have not ever come to us that now have openings or wanting to find candidates. Or people who have not hired for awhile are beginning to post positions again.鈥�

Graduates are finding though that not all career fields are created equally, at least as far as job opportunities are concerned.

Pletcher: 鈥淭he job opportunities are especially strong for people who are in some particular fields 鈥� engineering kinds of things, some health professions where the jobs really have not changed a tremendous amount. So it depends on what the field of study is and also what the student has done proactively.

Pletcher explains what she means by proactive students.

Pletcher: 鈥淭he proactive students are the ones that not only come in to get their resume reviewed to make sure they鈥檙e doing all along those things 鈥� that they don鈥檛 rely only on online resources in terms of finding jobs. They鈥檙e making connections. They鈥檙e taking the time to talk with people to establish potential contacts that may be helpful in their job search.

Pletcher says graduates need to be aware that they aren鈥檛 alone in using social media for learning information.

Pletcher: 鈥淭here are employers that will take a look at social media kinds of things. Even something like Facebook, where students still have to be very careful about what types of information they post about themselves that will tell, even if it鈥檚 unrelated to work, that doesn鈥檛 mean employers aren鈥檛 looking at that information.鈥�

Of course, the use of social media can and should be used by those looking for work, as Pletcher explains.

Pletcher: 鈥淔or social media for job seekers, we strongly recommend having a profile created on LinkedIn. That is still a networking type of an opportunity, but it鈥檚 something that鈥檚 more related to professional types of positions than Facebook, where it鈥檚 more of a friend鈥檚 kind of a thing. And it鈥檚 very possible to make some great connections by using LinkedIn, not only to post something, but to be able to seek for people who are in your field that might provide information for you.鈥�

Employers say they want to hire 19 percent more new college grads this spring than last year, the strongest improvement since 2007, according to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Pletcher notes that in a tough job market, students must work even harder to start their careers. There are career-starting jobs out there, but competition remains intense.

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