Some good news for this year's college seniors: Experts say the job market for college graduates is looking better after several lean years.
But finding a job will still be a job in itself. Students and universities will have to work hard to get noticed by employers, economists and career counselors say.
To give their graduates an edge, Michigan colleges and universities are employing new tactics to take them directly from the dorms to the work force. These new efforts include Internet-based systems to easily schedule job interviews, more networking opportunities and new career placement offices that bring students and employers face to face.
"Making a connection is vital to a student's success," said Brenda Paine, director of the new career planning and placement office at the Wayne State School of Business Administration. "It gives students a name, a face and someone who can interview them."
But it doesn't eliminate the anxiety that accompanies any student's job hunt.
"My friends and I are having panic attacks," said 22-year-old Detroit native Samona Combs, who is wrapping up her final year as a journalism student at Michigan State University. Chaotic world events such as the conflict in the Middle East, rising energy prices and the continuing erosion of the auto industry only add to the already difficult work of looking for work.
"It's been very stressful," Combs added.
Michigan's unemployment rate of 7 percent remains far higher than the national average. But the job market will be better next year, according to experts such as Bruce Weaver, an economic analyst for the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth. They contend the retirement of many baby boomers and the growth in several industries, including professional and service jobs, leisure and hospitality and education and health services are providing some new opportunity.
"The trend is tipping towards more demand and less supply," said Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future Inc., a think tank that works with the University of Michigan.
Networking Opportunities
Schools are stepping up their efforts to help graduating students find an employer who'll whisper the magic words, "You're hired!"
At MSU in East Lansing, career counselors are offering more networking opportunities for job-hunting students. Another move is to encourage students to focus on smaller companies that they wouldn't have considered in the past, said Phil Gardner, director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at MSU.
In addition to the traditional job fairs, on-campus recruiting events and career counselors, Michigan State has a new career placement office for engineering and technology students. The university also is hosting more networking events so that students can talk to a panel of recruiters. And the school operates a mentoring program where students use the Web to find career mentors.
"We're doing things a little bit different," said Phil Gardner, director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at MSU.
WSU placement Office
In Detroit, Wayne State University's School of Business has created a career planning and placement office to expose business students and employers to each other.
Since the office put up its job networking Web site last year, 260 employers have posted 460 job openings, Paine said. Before last year, finding a job and making contacts was much more labor intensive for business students, he added.
The new career planning office also offers programs and seminars, such as the business etiquette program that teaches students the proper way to behave in a business setting. Wayne State also offers resume writing workshops, a career day and mock interviews.
"We not only help them get a job, we help them prepare for it," Paine said.
Internet Aids Job Hunt
At the University of Michigan, graduate students and undergrads can arrange meetings and interviews with employers via a new Internet-based system.
Recruiters indicate the times they are available and if students express interest in meeting the recruiter, the computer assigns a time slot.
Before the new system was in place, students had to set up interviews on their own.
By going online, "they are able to schedule their conversations with recruiters, as opposed to standing in line or reaching out on their own," explained Al Cotrone, director of the career development and student affairs at U-M's Stephen M. Ross School of Business.
Work Experience Helps
While many college students worry about getting employed after graduation, others are confident there's a job out there with their name on it. But that's only if they push themselves to the front of the hiring line by networking, volunteering and doing whatever it takes to get noticed, some future graduates said.
Anne Crain, 32, is finishing her master's degree in social work at MSU. She's landed a full-time job as an MSU academic adviser after working two years as a graduate assistant.
Crain said she feels her work with the university helped her get the job.
"It's not just what you do in the classroom," she stressed.
When it comes down to finding a job, Crain said, meeting employers and showing them what you can do is most important. She encourages other students to get their name out and introduce themselves to recruiters.
"Networking is the key," Crain advised.
Another tactic is volunteering to work at a potential employer, suggested 25-year-old Andrea Hart, an MSU graduate student. Hart will receive a master's degree in student affairs administration in May.
The Lansing-area native already has volunteered for several years to get ready for the job hunt she plans to start in January.
"Having a strong academic background is important," Hart said, but what employers really want to see is some work history. "Get some experience, even if your program doesn't require it."
Internships Bolster Resume
Combs, the MSU journalism student, said she knew early on in her education that she better have some experience in the field if she wanted to get a job after graduation. She's already completed internships at newspapers and television stations during each of her four years in college.
Now she has a hefty collection of articles to prove that she can do the work.
"Some of those internships were unpaid, but they were necessary," Combs said. "It's all about the proof."
Combs hopes the economists' predictions are right and there will be jobs available when she gets her degree in the spring. Until then, she'll keep sending out her resume -- along with a few prayers. "I'm a religious person," Combs said. "And I believe God knows I need a job."
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