It’s no walk in the park to get a job these days. With 2.2
million jobs lost since 2001 and the Michigan unemployment rate at
more than 7 percent, many seniors searching for jobs are still
ogling the employment pages of newspapers, hoping one of the ads
will lead them to the ultimate payoff of college education: their
first full-time professional job.

But many also realize they might not have a job in their
preferred career by graduation. LSA senior Genevieve Marino
reluctantly accepted this possibility after sending out more than
500 resumes, only to get back dozens of rejection letters in return
and a few “B-rate” job offers.

“It’s the most frustrating thing ever. There are no
other words to describe it except frustration,” Marino
said.

Unfortunately, students’ frustrations probably won’t
be relieved anytime soon. According to recent studies, this
year’s graduating seniors can expect slightly better job
prospects than last year since companies are slowly hiring more
college graduates. Yet despite these increases in hiring, the
reports and experts also warn graduating seniors they will still
struggle to find jobs as they see no easy ways to get ahead in
today’s tough job market.

Two studies focused on college hiring in 2003 and 2004 predicted
increases in hiring of college graduates. One study, by National
Association of Colleges and Employers study foresees a 12.7 percent
rise in college graduate hiring from last year, while another study
by Michigan State University study showed a less optimistic
forecast in hiring for this year, predicting an increase from 3 to
8 percent for graduates with bachelor’s degrees. But both
reports also stress that the number of jobs available still cannot
accommodate the higher number of job searchers holding college
degrees.

Economics Prof. Matthew Shapiro said while the economy has
gained ground, job growth is still too sluggish to warrant any
significant change in the job market.

“Most forecasts have shown that this year’s
prospects are better, but it will still take some time for people
to be absorbed into the job market,” he said.

Shapiro said the job market will still be challenging for
seniors not only because the increase in hiring still isn’t
great enough, but also because of strong competition. “In
addition to competing with other new college graduates, they will
have to compete with the clog of workers who have been trying to
find work since the recession,” he added.

But competition is only one of the major factors contributing to
the tight job market. Michigan State researcher and college hiring
recruitment trends expert Phil Gardner said current job creation
has been geared more toward providing jobs for low-income workers,
rather than for college degree holders.

Gardner who also conducted Michigan State’s job market
study, added, “Most of the job increase we see right now, is
in positions that really would be professions college graduates
would not want to see. They are in retail and sale and
construction.”

Certain industries within the job market are also still seeing a
much slower improvement in employment than other sectors, such as
manufacturing and computer-related professions, he added. Gardner
said because they arre moving production out of the country, some
industries need fewer workers and Americans are going to have to
face that cost in jobs.

“The global-ness of it now, production can be moved almost
anywhere. If we like what Wal-Mart does, then we have to pay the
consequences of it. To get cheaper labor is to get prices down, but
it’s also to lose jobs here at home,” he said.

Gardner added that because of the global pressures on the job
market, his study predicts only bachelor’s degree graduates
with majors in business and physical or biological sciences will be
in demand seeing as those are the only industries that have
experienced substantial economic growth. All bachelor’s
graduates in other majors will suffer from a slight decrease in
employment openings, he said.

NACE’s study had somewhat similar conclusions and found
that the service industry — which includes business,
accounting and computer science majors — should experience a
22 percent growth in hiring from last year. The manufacturing
industry will increase hiring by 3 percent, while government and
non-profit jobs will decrease by 10 percent, it predicts.

The good news is in the long-run the job market will get better,
but it will take time, Gardner said.