For the past four years, senior Katherine Barnet has been told that, with a nursing degree, she would be able to write her own ticket into the field of her choice.
As it turns out, that ticket may lead to a position she doesn't necessarily want to be in. She said she's been searching every other day or so for job openings and putting in applications, but has not had any interviews.
"It's been a lot more difficult than I thought it would be to find a job," Barnet said. "I want to work in pediatrics, but I might have to start in a lower position and work my way up."
Hundreds of seniors graduating from Ball State this spring, including Barnet, are searching for a job in the bleakest economy in decades. With the economic recession making the job market dismal, students will need to be persistent and stay upbeat, Joe Goodwin, Career Center assistant director, said.
"Employers are hiring, they're just not hiring as many people as they did a year ago," Goodwin said. "People are going to have to be really diligent."
He said students can make themselves stand out from the crowd of applicants in numerous ways, including using professional associations and networking. He said students should utilize their contacts to find out about jobs that are not being advertised.
"Networking is the way most people find their jobs," Goodwin said. "It's been that way for years and years, and it's still that way."
He also said students need to give specific examples of how they have used their skills or what they have done to solve problems in the past. PAR - problem, action, result - is the acronym he said students should remember when faced with giving explicit answers to an interview question.
Brie Grogan is another senior who will soon be joining the lines of job hunters. With her situation, she won't know whether she will have a job until the school year ends and schools begin hiring teachers for the next year.
"I have applied for a handful of teaching jobs in Cincinnati, but most teaching jobs will not open up until later in April or May," Grogan said. "Unfortunately, I have not had any interviews with schools."
To make herself stand out, Grogan said she has been using an "unconventional" type of cover letter, which includes quotations from her letters of reference.
For now, Barnet and Grogan - like many of their peers - will follow Goodwin's advice and remain determined while on the hunt for that first post-collegiate job.
"I plan on moving to Indianapolis," Barnet said. "It seems like there are more job opportunities and positions available there than here. I'm just going to keep looking."
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