GREAT TIME TO BE A GRAD
Lest you doubt just how strong the 2007 job market is for new college graduates, consider Tahmineh Pennington.
Before she graduated in May, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumna and civil engineering major fielded multiple offers.
From across the Southwest United States.
Starting in her sophomore year.
That’s how hungry employers are for newly minted college graduates.
And though grads with degrees in professional fields are especially popular this spring, experts say companies are even chasing majors with more general skills as the college set experiences its best job market in more than half a decade.
"College graduates are in some of the peak (hiring) years," said John Challenger, chief executive officer of the Chicago outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "It’s not just the A students and the engineering or technology grads who are doing well. The benefits of the strong market are reaching out into the B and C students and liberal arts grads. It’s a job-seekers’ market."
The number of businesses attending job fairs at local colleges has surged, with both UNLV and the College of Southern Nevada reporting capacity crowds.
At CSN, job fairs with up to 75 company slots have filled up in the past two years. And waiting lists are par for the course at UNLV, which sold out a 200-company job fair at the Thomas & Mack and had waiting lists for a 75-business career fair at Beam Hall. On-campus recruiting visits in the 2006-2007 academic year were up 27 percent from 2005-2006.
Eileen McGarry, executive director of career services at UNLV, said development in the hotel sector is boosting the local job market. Under-construction projects such as MGM Mirage’s CityCenter, the Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s Palazzo, Encore at Wynn Las Vegas and Boyd Gaming Corp.’s Echelon are generating positions in areas including finance, engineering, construction management and food-and-beverage operations.
"The needs of employers in Las Vegas are phenomenal and cutting across all areas," McGarry said.
Pennington said she "didn’t even bother searching" for work as her graduation neared.
Her resume went out a couple of years ago on a CD-ROM that UNLV’s career center produces and distributes to companies regionally. That little bit of exposure got Pennington queries during her sophomore year from engineering companies as far away as Phoenix.
"They wanted me right away, but I had no engineering experience," she said. "I told them I needed to finish school."
Fresh opportunities came knocking a year ago, when one of Pennington’s professors told her of a job opening at Wright Engineers, a regional structural and civil engineering company with a Las Vegas office. Pennington had scarcely filled out her application and submitted her resume before the company hired her.
She had to finish her senior year, but the company assured Pennington they’d wait for her. And they did. Pennington has already performed drainage studies for the firm, and now she’s designing retaining walls.
"All I wanted was to make sure I got in with a company that met my needs, which were a family-oriented environment with a lot of company-sponsored activities, a growing business and integrity," Pennington said.
New graduates nationwide are, like Pennington, having little trouble finding work.
A Monster.com survey found that 76 percent of businesses plan to hire members of the newest class, up from 72 percent a year ago.
Employers expect to bring on 38 percent more entry-level workers in 2007 than they hired in 2006. And college kids know they have it good: Eighty-nine percent of students responding to Monster.com’s questionnaire said they expected at least one job offer by graduation, up from 82 percent a year ago.
"This is a great year out there," said Julie Goldthwait, vice president and general manager of MonsterTRAK, the division of Monster.com that helps new graduates land work.
"Students are getting multiple job offers. They have many more options today."
It’s a far cry from the college job market in 2001 and 2002, when the lingering effects of a national recession and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, soured companies on hiring.
About 20,000 local workers lost their jobs following 9/11, thanks to a dramatic decline in visitor volume into the city.
The number of tourists coming to Las Vegas dropped by about 700,000 people from August 2001 to September 2001.
Recovery took months, and restoring confidence among employers nationwide took several years. Monster.com’s research found that only one-third of employers planned to hire new graduates in 2003.
The recruiting picture began to improve in 2004, as unemployment shrank and companies weighed the pending wave of retirement among the first baby boomers to reach 60, Challenger said. Now, with nationwide joblessness at 4.5 percent and statewide unemployment at 4.6 percent, job-hunting is more fruitful for college graduates.
But the positive job outlook isn’t merely a marker of high employment. Surging hiring also suggests businesses are optimistic about their long-term prospects, Challenger said.
"When hiring is strong for college grads, it means companies are willing to invest in the future," Challenger said. "They’re not circling the wagons around and holding costs down on every side. They’re growing, and they think they’re going to grow going forward. That is a sign the economy is in good shape."
Resorts in Las Vegas have stiff competition for educated job-seekers.
Software-development businesses, retail companies and utilities are all snapping up trained graduates. So are accounting firms and civil, mechanical and environmental engineering companies. And no local university can churn out enough nurses and teachers to meet the demands of the city’s growing population.
"We very definitely have a strong economy," said Kelly Wuest, director of career services and re-entry at CSN. "Graduates have had an easier time this year finding work than they’ve had in many other years."
JOB HUNTING? DON’T DELAY Situation wanted? If you’re a recent college grad with nary a job prospect in sight, don’t even think about taking a summer vacation, advised placement expert John Challenger. Start searching now, while the market is at it strongest. Beyond updating and proofing your resume and cover letter, follow these tips to bolster your chances for success: Limit online job-hunting to the evenings. Challenger recommends sending out your resume only after dinner. Save daytime for networking, interviews and special events in the industry you’re targeting. "You’re not going to find a job sitting at home all day and e-mailing from your computer," Challenger said. Focus on face-to-face interaction. Businesses field a nonstop stream of online resumes and applications from all over the country. Locals have an advantage over job seekers outside Nevada: They can pay a visit in person to area hiring executives and decision-makers. That contact will help any prospective worker stand out among a "sea of online applicants," said Eileen McGarry, executive director of the career services department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "Employers really value candidates who come in and present themselves professionally," McGarry said. Enlist the aid of your parents. Get over your reluctance to tap into your parents’ web of friends and professional contacts. "Asking your parents for help shouldn’t cause you to question your autonomy and your adulthood," Challenger said. "Parents are a resource you have. They and their friends are people you know who are bridges into companies." Cast your network wide. Don’t wait until after you have a position to join trade groups; sign up now and meet professionals in your field of interest. Get involved in a charity or a political campaign, where you can mingle with high achievers and community-oriented businesspeople. Attend alumni events at your college, and ask your classmates where they’ll be working. Visit your college’s career center. University career centers have lists of employers who are looking specifically for new graduates, McGarry said. College job centers also offer high-tech frills: UNLV has an online database of resumes for employers to search, while the College of Southern Nevada videotapes mock interviews for job-hunting grads and provides follow-up tips on how to improve performance. Make a short-term commitment. If you’re still unsure about the kind of job you’d like or the sector you’re most interested in, try a summer or fall internship, suggested Julie Goldthwait, vice president and general manager of MonsterTRAK, Monster.com’s new-graduate division. If you enjoy the work, it should be fairly easy to leverage your temporary assignment into a full-time job. REVIEW-JOURNAL
