Marilyn Odendahl

modendahl@etruth.com

GOSHEN — With a brand new degree from Goshen College, Ted Maust has started his education in the post-recession job market. He is learning that landing gainful employment remains difficult to do.

While the college graduates in the Class of 2012 are finding more jobs available than their counterparts in the classes of 2009, 2010 and 2011, hiring is nowhere near pre-recession levels and getting a full-time position takes a great deal of hard work.

Maust, who majored in history and English, is surprised at how hard it has been to secure a job that will last until he enters the Mennonite Voluntary Service in the fall. He has a couple of small jobs, writing a little for the Mennonite History Bulletin and helping a Goshen College professor do research, but he wants to supplement those with more steady employment.

After not getting selected for a summer job at the Syracuse Public Library, he turned on his computer and, “in a flurry of fear and disappointment,” he said, filed an application to be a clerk at a local big box retailer.

“I don’t think I could do it much longer than a summer but if I needed to I probably could,” Maust said of working in retail. “It’s a way to earn some money.”

Although slow, the continuing recovery has increased the number of entry-level jobs, according to a report by the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Companies are rebuilding their workforces after cutting millions of employees during the economic downturn which means this year’s 1.7 million college graduates has slightly better prospects than recession-era graduates.

The annual survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that businesses planned to hire 10 percent more spring graduates in 2012 than they did in 2011. Likewise, companies responding to the recent survey by the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University stated they expected to increase their hiring of 2011-2012 college graduates by 7 percent.

However, this year’s hiring levels are not keeping pace with the 2011 increases. Last year’s surveys by NACE and CEI found employers were anticipated to bump up hiring by 21 percent and 10 percent, respectively, over 2010.

MORE JOBS, MORE COMPETITION

The local office of the accounting firm of McGladrey LLP is an example of that employment trend. This year, the South Bend and Elkhart locations are hiring eight newly-minted graduates, up from the three 2009 graduates brought onboard during the recession.

Karen Wagner, human resources manager for McGladrey’s offices in Elkhart, South Bend and Indianapolis, pointed out that even though job opportunities are increasing, the recession-induced shift in the job market remains.

Prior to 2008, accounting majors typically walked out of college with two or three job offers. Since then, accounting firms have the advantage and can be more selective in whom they hire.

Not surprisingly, students’ attitudes have changed as well. Wagner remembers interviewing accounting students who said they just wanted to work in Chicago. Now, candidates are much more willing to take a job anywhere to get their careers started.

As Challenger, Gray & Christmas noted, members of the class of 2012 are not only facing competition from their peers but also from many graduates in the classes of 2010 and 2011 who are still seeking jobs in their fields of their choice after settling for less desirable positions.

Suzanne Miller is among those previous graduates looking for a secure, full-time position.

Miller graduated from Goshen College in 2011 with an impressive resume. After working as a nanny in Germany for a year, she enrolled in the school and completed a dual major in elementary education and special education as well as a certification in English as a New Language.

She was aware that the recession was forcing school systems to make drastic cuts but she thought with her experience and level of education, she would get a job as a full-time teacher. Her first choice was Parkside Elementary School and, to be safe, she filed applications with Concord Schools and Elkhart Community Schools as well. In the end, when the 2011-12 school year started, she had a job at Parkside but as a paraprofessional, working 29.5 hours a week.

“I was definitely disappointed,” Miller said. “I thought I have all the saleable assets. Why can’t I get a job?”

HARD WORK FINDING WORK

Miller’s confusion may explain why the Goshen College Career Services Office is recording an increase in the number of students and even alumni wanting help with their resumes and interviewing techniques.

“It is a lot of work and I think that takes a lot of students by surprise,” Anita Yoder, director of Goshen career center, said of finding a job.

First, Yoder gets the job seekers to develop a profile on the professional website, LinkedIn. There they can connect with people and learn about the demands of any career as well as job openings and internships.

Next, she helps the students translate their liberal arts degree into the language that businesses can understand. For example, English majors can tout their ability to write, analyze and think critically.

Miller used the year since graduation to improve her classroom skills by working as a paraprofessional as well as serving a couple of months on a reading intervention team and regularly babysitting for a local family. Now she is renewing her job search, looking for teaching positions in both the Goshen and Fairfield schools.

She is optimistic but realistic that she may have to adjust her dream.

“It’s still really early for jobs to be posted so I really hope I get a teaching job,” she said. “If I don’t, I’ll probably leave the area, depending on if I get a job somewhere else.”