In light of economic recession, students wary of job market
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May 1, 2009
Students looking for summer employment may have more trouble this year due to the recession that has plagued the economy since September.
According to the Mark Presnell, director of the Career Center, many students who typically delved into a vast reservoir of paid and unpaid internships discovered this year that they had fewer opportunities for summer employment.
Sophomore Andrew Lelin, an anthropology major, hoped to find a paid or unpaid internship this summer. He embarked upon the usual process of internship-surfing, meeting with advisors at the career center and checking various websites for available jobs.
"I went to an internship fair held here and got a lot of information," Lelin said. "I kept looking at different companies' websites and checked Craig's List for jobs."
However, Lelin was very disappointed by the limited postings that he found.
"Nothing was really appropriate for a summer job," Lelin said.
"Last year I went through the same process and I noticed that compared to last year there was a lot less available."
Dr. Mark J. Presnell, the director of Hopkins's Career Center, says that there may be a valid reason for the limited internship opportunities this summer.
"Companies and firms are posting internships later this year," Presnell said. "We've had conversations with companies setting May 15 as the deadline for internship applications, which is considerably later than usual."
Presnell agreed that the current economic situation may be making things more difficult for students searching for summer employment.
"Companies may be hiring less interns overall," Presnell said. "They are certainly wondering if they should offer paying internships, since funding for internships is much more difficult to obtain now."
However, not all Hopkins students have had serious difficulty obtaining paying or non-paying jobs for the summer.
In fact, students seeking research positions with professors at Hopkins have generally been successful in doing so.
"My advisor told me I should try doing research with professors in the Materials Science department this summer," sophomore Seann Convey said.
"I applied for a research grant and got approved, so I'm guaranteed a spot over the summer."
According to Presnell, the effects of the recession have been mitigated at universities like Hopkins in terms of research opportunities.
"[President Obama's] stimulus package benefited research universities," Presnell said. "There are a lot of opportunities for summer and semester-long research projects."
Additionally, Presnell found many students turning towards volunteer opportunities over the summer.
"Without a doubt, people are taking a serious look at what they want to do over the summer that may benefit their future careers," Presnell said.
"An unpaid internship is really a more serious volunteer job, and in light of the current economic situation, students are being much more flexible about their careers and are definitely looking at volunteering."
After Lelin's failed summer job search, he began to scout out volunteer opportunities in his town.
"Since I didn't see anything I could do [through online searches], I am starting to think about volunteering somewhere, like at a museum or through some sort of healthcare related field," Lelin said.
Some students were able to go back to jobs they had worked at during previous summers. For example, Sean Murphy, an environmental engineering major, said that he will be returning to the same job he had last summer.
But trends are showing that today's internships, both paid and unpaid, are becoming more competitive and scarce in light of falling economy.
"It has been much more difficult for companies to fund programs this year," Presnell said. "Students at Hopkins tend to work for competitive internships and jobs, but it may be harder to do so this year."
Even students employed during the school semester have experienced problems with the job market. Sophomore Cristina Millett, who worked as an office assistant in human resources at Wyman Park, lost her job in November.
"My boss said they were cutting student jobs, obviously because of the state of the economy," Millett said.
"They said they just couldn't afford to pay me anymore. I lost mine right after [former President Brody] sent an e-mail out about the decreasing endowment and financial aid difficulties."
The University encouraged students not to be discouraged, despite the state of the economy.
According to Paula Burger, dean of undergraduate education, while the job search may be slower, it can still prove productive.
"The gist of the situation is that, overall, students are finding jobs, just somewhat more slowly than in previous summers since many employers seem to have waited to post positions," she wrote in an e-mail to the News-Letter.
Presnell agreed, saying that students may hear back from internships later than usual this summer.
"Usually, students panic when they haven't secured an internship by May 1st," Presnell said. "This year, that shouldn't be the case."
Presnell also noted that employment opportunities offered through Hopkins were still in abundance this year, despite the current economic struggles.
"The number of Hopkins internships posted were greater this year than they were last year," Presnell said.
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