2015 employment market for recent grads and students

This webinar, 2015 employment market for recent grads and students, addresses the various job markets which impact today’s college and university students and recent graduates, how students and grads find employment, their frustrations, and some ideas for how employers, career services, and other stakeholders can improve the current system.

Today’s webinar features College Recruiter’s President and Founder, Steven Rothberg. The webinar is moderated by former National Account Manager for College Recruiter, Andrea McEwen-Henderson.

Key takeaways:

There is no such thing as the job market for students and recent graduates. There are as many different markets as there are majors, schools, geographic areas, diversity characteristics, and other factors.

The job markets have improved dramatically since the Great Recession, but only a small percentage of recent graduates are employed within their chosen fields within six months of graduation.

The perception amongst many is that almost all graduates find their jobs through their career services offices, but the data shows quite the opposite.

Basic needs such as compensation and job security rank at the top of factors considered by students and recent graduates when evaluating job opportunities, yet few employers disclose compensation, and even fewer provide job security.

There are many ways employers, career services, and other stakeholders can improve the current system.

If the video is not playing or displaying properly click here.

Questions:

1. I recently read that Ernst & Young is no longer recruiting at college campuses and now doesn’t care about the majors and GPA’s of the students it is interviewing. Is that true?

Ernst & Young is still interviewing on college campuses, but based on research done in the United Kingdom, the company has followed the data and is not going to limit interviews to students from certain majors and with certain GPA’s. This is great news for liberal arts majors and for students whose GPA’s fall just below the old GPA cut-off.

2. Most employers do not have the resources to wine­-and­-dine career services, professors, and college administrators and to spend days on-campus interviewing potential interns. What are some options available to them?

If it’s June or July, set up an appointment with the career services director and diligently follow her directions. Employers often look for shortcuts in college recruiting, but there are none. It is a strategic process. You have to invest properly. If you’re running behind, use a niche job board like College Recruiter, or host an unconventional recruiting event and invite candidates via social media.

3. There’s a debate within our company about whether we should ramp up our efforts to hire military veterans or continue to focus on hiring students and recent graduates. Which do you think is a better way to recruit future leaders?

Military and college recruiting efforts are not mutually exclusive, but there are some aspects that do not overlap. For example, many military servicemen and women have gone on to earn college degrees. This is a sweet spot for recruiters, and corporate recruiting efforts can often find candidates who meet both criteria.

4. My campus used to have 5,000 students, but we’ve grown to 15,000 over the past 10 years. I’m still the only paid staff person in the career service office, although I do have a few students who work part-time. How do I get the budget to hire people so we can actually have time to provide career counseling services to the students?

Growth is wonderful, but lack of budget is a huge challenge to overcome. Make the business case for an increase in budget by looking at the impact you have on alumni giving. If you provide employment opportunities, and your alumni prosper, you should request more funds. Career services should align themselves closely with alumni and development offices.

5. I keep hearing from politicians that a college education is a waste of money. Is it?

Absolutely not. The unemployment rate for college graduates is two to three times below average. The same politicians who claim that college is unnecessary are relying on their own college degrees to argue these points. We’re in the information age, and if we can’t properly educate our youth, we will be left behind.

 

Steven Rothberg is the president and founder of College Recruiter, the leading niche job board used by recent graduates searching for entry-level jobs and students hunting for internships. Steven founded the company in 1991 as a publisher of campus maps and employment magazines. Steven grew up in Winnipeg, Canada, moved south to Minneapolis for the weather, is married to the CEO of College Recruiter, and has three young kids and the world’s most mellow dog.