Albright College Deals with Bleak Unemployment Rate

With the unemployment rate at 9.7 percent worldwide and 9.0 percent in Pennsylvania (according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics since March 2010), the Albright College Career Development Center offers Albright seniors different strategies in order to obtain jobs during this jobless time.

Unemployment is one of the biggest concerns in the United States, today. Unemployment is the state in which a person is without work, available to work and is currently seeking work.

According to Economics Professor Suzanne Palmer, "This is a challenging job market for seniors. It's going to take them longer to find jobs. Employers aren't hiring as quickly and jobs are available at a slower rate."

Palmer got her information from a recent Reading Eagle article. http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=215688

This outlook can be very intimidating to graduating seniors.

Senior Jackie Twyford says, "I have no hope for job searching but I've been going to the Career Development Center and have been working with Laura Kline and finally I'm finding ways to look for jobs."

The Career Development Center works to help students find jobs during these difficult times. This is done by: strengthening students' résumés, showing students where to look for jobs and helping students get ready for that intimidating first interview.

Palmer says the reason that the unemployment rate isn't decreasing is because, since all the job cuts, it takes less employees to do more. "Seniors will definitely have an easier time than seniors from last year."

But she predicts that, "Well into the summer and into the fall, finding a job will be difficult." She advises students, "It's important to take your time and find a correct fit. Jobs take their time hiring to find the most efficient allocation level of production."

In this video, Senior Meghan Jeffrey expresses in this interview her fears of the job market after graduation. Laura Kline, Albright Career Development Center employee, gives advice to the senior.




Kline explains, "According to the National Association of College Employers, employment rate this year for our graduates versus last year at this time is up 5.7 percent. It’s good that it’s slowly returning." Although the unemployment numbers may seem bleak, Kline repeats throughout the interview that seniors need not be hopeless.


She explains that it's the strategies that are used that will get grab the job. She suggests students not rely on the internet so much and go out there and network. "The internet is being used far more than usual but it shouldn't be the end all be all. It's a lot more networking ... it's not a dirty word."

Another fact that may not be known to many students is that it's not necessary to have a lot of work experience. "Experiences on campus can be beneficial too if you have less work experience. Using your coursework, group projects and senior seminar can be helpful as well," explains Kline. "It doesn't have to be paid experience it could happen in the classroom or outside of the classroom."

Although it may be tempting to settle for any job that you can get after college or to not take a job because you have romantic notions and believe your first job should be your dream job, Kline advises, "I don't think you should settle if it's not a position that interest you but your first job will probably no be your dream job so be open-minded when deciding whether or not to take that job."

So to sum it all up: use the internet but don't solely rely on its resource, network, network, and I repeat network and go to the Career Development and utilize their services!