2/3 College Students Confident About Career Prospects
Recessions have a lot of similarities to coal mines. How? Well, think of college recruiting like the canaries that miners used to bring down into the mines with them. When there was trouble, the canaries were the first to know it. And when there's trouble in the labor market, those of us in college recruiting know it first as the trend that has emerged over the years has been that the last hired is typically the first fired but entry-level candidates are also the first hired back because they tend to be cheaper than those with years of experience.
I just read an interesting study from SurveyU and youth marketing agency Campus Media Group. According to their study, "college students remain optimistic about their career prospects. In fact, nearly two out of three (64%) are confident that they will be able to start their careers in whatever area they choose. In contrast, only one in four (25%) believe that the economy is in such bad shape that it doesn't make sense to start their careers now." The data was collected in February 2008 by from 1,000 college students ages 17-26.
Which majors are faring the best? Business. Although 57 percent of the college students reported that they started looking for their summer internships and jobs by March, 44 percent of business majors had already secured their summer jobs and internships by March but only 29 percent of non-business majors had similar success. "With the inherent competitiveness of finding jobs in their chosen field, business majors seem to be more focused on their job outlook than other majors," says Jason Bakker, Director of Marketing for Campus Media Group.
The two most effective ways for students to find internships and entry-level jobs were direct communications such as targeted emails from employers and career fairs. "In fact, students were three times more likely to indicate career fair exhibits and direct opt-in e-mails from the company rather than advertising, websites and campus poster campaigns as the best way to reach them," according to the survey.
"This generation is relatively numb to most forms of advertising," says Bakker. "Though general branding of your company is very important in staying top-of-mind among students, one-to-one interactions are really what students are hungry for in today's economic climate."
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