Wednesday, April 22, 2009
A smile crossed the face of Baylor University student Jessie DePaolo, 22, as she discussed her job prospects.
“I’m majoring in management and international business, and it’s been interesting searching for a job right now,” DePaolo said, adding that a lot of her interviews end with the employer saying, “We’re not really looking to hire right now, but we’ll keep you in our portfolio.”
She’s heard that so much that she’s decided to attend culinary school, either in New York or her hometown of Scottsdale, Ariz.
In today’s challenging economy, some college graduates say they are scrambling to find work, experience or both.
To help in that search, about 40 companies with headquarters or locations in Waco set up booths in the Waco Convention Center on Tuesday. All had positions to fill, and some needed college graduates.
Enterprise, the rent-a-car company, needs a management trainee for Central Texas, “and they must have an associate’s or bachelor’s degree,” recruiting supervisor Ryanne Janca said.
“We’re looking for an escrow administrator and people to work in IRA client services. We’d like for them to have degrees, but we also look at experience,” said Sharon Hrabal at Waco-based Sterling Trust.
Baylor, McLennan Community College and Texas State Technical College-Waco helped sponsor Tuesday’s event.
MCC counselor Paula Barfield Unger said that despite the shaky economy, demand remains great for health science graduates.
“Physical therapy assistants, for example, do not have a lot of tension about not getting a job,” Unger said, adding that graduates can expect to start at $42,000 “and will find work in a short period of time.”
Unger added that “nursing students always do well,” as do respiratory therapists and radiological technologists.
She knows people in Waco are looking for jobs, she said, “because I’ve personally talked to students who have been laid off and are coming back to school to train. We’re an affordable alternative to Baylor.”
At TSTC-Waco, president Elton Stuckly Jr. said “nothing has changed” about his graduates’ job prospects. They remain great.
“As God as my witness, I hear the same thing: We’re not putting out enough graduates,” Stuckly said. “We may worry about other issues, like where our funding is coming from, but job prospects for my graduates are not even on my radar screen.”
Companies tell him they need welders, machinists and industrial maintenance mechanics, Stuckly said.
“Any field in the electronics area is hot — instrumentation, biomedical equipment and robotics are all popular,” he said. “Diesel mechanics also are in demand.”
Terry Maness, dean of the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor, has a slightly different story to tell.
“It really is a soft market for students coming out now. There are job opportunities, but employers are being very selective,” Maness said. “You better have a sparkling résumé and internships.”
Indeed, Christopher Franks, a sales manager for the Bankers insurance company, said most of the students inquiring about his sales positions were more interested in internships than full-time employment.
Maness said students are antsy, and rightfully so.
He knows of one who was promised a job this summer, “but he basically got furloughed because the company later said it would have to wait until summer of 2010 to hire him.”
Internship hunting
Taylor Gift, 21, is majoring in child and family studies at Baylor. She wants to help patients with the “psychological and emotional” aspects of health care with a goal of minimizing their stress.
“I hope to get an internship first, so I’m not quite at the job-search level,” Gift said. “But I do know my field is competitive, and I also know that some hospitals have implemented a hiring freeze.”
Baylor senior David Cook, 22, an information systems major from San Antonio, said, he already has a job, courtesy of Hewlett-Packard in Austin. He said Baylor has a stellar reputation for turning out good graduates in the information systems field and that served him well.
Chase McVicker, 21, from Brush Prairie, Wash., who is majoring in information systems and economics at Baylor, said Conoco/Phillips in Bartlesville, Okla., scooped him up before he graduated.
Chatting with other students, he said, it seems that those majoring in information systems, finance and accounting are having less trouble finding jobs than those studying marketing and management.
Dressed in suit and tie, Bradley Norcross, 22, a Baylor senior from Arlington, attended Tuesday’s job expo. He’s a senior majoring in Film & Digital Media and would like to work in Waco.
“I’ve talked with the local news stations, and there is not huge availability,” Norcross said. “I’ve had one good conversation so far.”
Clara Reed, 21, a Baylor senior from Bossier City, La., said she’s hearing what graduates have been hearing from would-be employers for years: We want someone with experience.
“So I’m here trying to find someone to give me that,” she said of her trip to the job expo. “I’d love to find a job by this summer, and I’d love to work in Waco.
“Please hire me.”
mcopeland@wacotrib.com
757-5736
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