With hiring at a record low, the odds of finding a steady job straight out of college seem increasingly slim. More and more college students are seeking different ways to pass the time between walking at graduation and finding that dream job with a steady salary.
“The job market is definitely going to impact students,” said Carole Moore, program coordinator and career counselor at Cal Poly Career Services.
According to Moore, Cal Poly students are handling the poor situation well and taking advantage of the options available to them.
“Students are actually not panicking,” she said. “They’re coming and using their resources. They are talking to counselors more than ever, coming to our events, coming to job fairs and just trying to figure out what their strategies are.”
One of the strategies Moore offered was for students to accept that they may have to pursue different job options as a precursor to starting their career. She mentioned jobs in nonprofit groups, government and education, among other options.
“We are trying to get students to cast a wider net,” she explained. “Getting that good opportunity, whatever it might be, might take a little longer, but you don’t have to have the dream job straight out of school.”
If students desire to find an alternative career path in a structured environment, a federal program might be a perfect fit. And luckily for Cal Poly students, the Central Coast and the Cal Poly campus have numerous resources for students to find a program right for them.
Americorps
Located in the University Union’s Student Life and Leadership Office is an opportunity to work for various nonprofit companies in San Luis Obispo County through Americorps, the federal service program started by the Clinton Administration in 1993.
Americorps participants dedicate one year of service in exchange for a living allowance and eligibility for an education award to be paid at the end of their term.
“It’s a great opportunity to do something, get really good marketable skills, be in the work force and do good work, then to have a chunk of money waiting for you at the end to pay for continued schooling or repay student loans,” Americorps Program Coordinator Jesse Torrey said.
The program that Cal Poly students and graduates participate in is the Central Coast Volunteer Corps, in which participants work in a variety of fields within the nonprofit sector. There are opportunities to work in the arts, education, environment or with children, seniors and the homeless, among others.
Torrey has noticed an increase in interest from Cal Poly students in the past few months since the economy has slowed down.
“I just finished up recruitment and I interviewed a lot of wonderful candidates, but we didn’t have room for all of them,” Torrey explained. “We’ve had a lot of recent graduates that are having trouble finding jobs who want to stay in this area or who are from this area and want to come back to live here. We have people from all ages in here and I’ve definitely heard from quite a lot of people that they have been constantly looking for work.”
Peace Corps
Another, more international opportunity students have taken advantage of for years is the Peace Corps. The on-campus information office, located on the first floor of Kennedy Library, is the place to go for information on how to become a service volunteer overseas. This federal agency sends volunteers abroad for 27-month periods to help native communities with specific issues.
According to Kate Kuykendall, public affairs specialist of the Los Angeles branch of the U.S. Peace Corps, the skills that volunteers gain from experience with the organization are valuable to future prospective employers.
“I think that employers are looking for leadership and they’re looking for people that can problem solve, especially in unstructured situations,” she said. “(Volunteers) go into a community and, along with the local people, evaluate the needs of that community. Then they have to put a plan of strategy together to try to problem solve in order to address those needs. I think that’s a very transferable skill that they will have upon coming back to the U.S.”
Kuykendall said that overall there has been a 16 percent increase in applications from the 2007 to the 2008 fiscal year. Along with the slow economy, she attributed the increase to two other factors: Obama’s mentioning of the organization in speeches leading up to his inauguration and the global-mindedness of the current generation of college students has both prompted greater Peace Corps interest.
The Armed Forces
Joining the Armed Forces is yet another option students can look intoy. Although there has not been a significant increase in R.O.T.C. participation since the economic downturn, this does not mean that there is a lack of interest overall.
“We have seen an increase nationally in recruitment across the board for all branches of the military,” military science Department Chair Lieutenant Colonel Gary Sargent said.
Military experience on a résumé is helpful because of the many leadership and management skills that it provides, Second Lieutenant Dustin Duncan said.
“For a lot of companies, (the Armed Forces) it will actually help you get a job,” he said. “We produce officers here and officers in the military are like the management in charge of a lot of troops in a leadership role. So in any job you’re applying for as far as a management position, you will have experience.”
Duncan explained that almost any civilian job could be done in the military. There are jobs for people from engineers to medical professionals.
The military science department on campus trains cadets to become either active in the Army, National Guard or Army Reserve. An individual’s choice on the direction they take after graduation will determine the level of commitment they make to the Army.
Choosing to become an active soldier without any scholarship requires three years of active service and five years of inactive service. The National Guard and the Army Reserve both require eight years of active service that involves one weekend each month of training.