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Home > Featured Stories > Community of Scholars > December 2007 > Job Outlook Rosy for December GraduatesJob Outlook Rosy for December Grads
It will never, ever be this easy to get a job.
Carol Schroeder, director of the NC State University Career Center
NC State graduates are entering a workplace flush with opportunity.
By Dave Pond, Web Communication
At the conclusion of NC State's Fall 2007 commencement ceremony, held Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007, more than 2,900 new NC State graduates entered a job market filled with hungry employers in search of well-educated, well-rounded new hires.
"I've been here for more than 20 years, and this is as good as I've ever seen it," said Carol Schroeder, director of the University Career Center.
In order to land the best talent, a number of firms have even begun to align their hiring processes to better coincide with the university's commencement schedule. Earlier this fall, more than 200 companies conducted interviews through the University Career Center and packed campus career fairs, hoping to attract soon-to-be grads armed with the power to pick and choose exactly where they'll begin their careers.
"Our students have real opportunities once they graduate and receive their degrees," NC State vice provost of enrollment management and services Louis D. Hunt said. "The demand for our graduates is helping to improve our overall graduation rate as well.
"Our students recognize that if they work hard and graduate as soon as they can, they'll have the opportunity to get a good job making a good salary."
From 1996 to 2003, four-year graduation rates at NC State skyrocketed by more than 50 percent, all while students took on more extracurricular activities than ever - volunteerism, service projects, internships and study-abroad programs flesh out their collective resumes.
"The job market for people with experience is not the same job market as that for new graduates," Schroeder said. "One of the big concerns of employers right now is that they are losing the baby boomer generation to retirement, so they racing to grab the best and the brightest."
And for those students who've yet to land the job of their dreams, the University Career Center can be an invaluable resource in their ongoing job search - even after graduation. From one-on-one meetings with a career counselor to on-campus interviews with potential employers, the Center offers a wealth of opportunities for those students whose time on campus is nearing its end.
"All NC State students have one additional semester after they graduate to tap into some outstanding resources both on our Web site and in our office," Schroeder said. "Very often, we talk with students whose mouths just drop open when we meet with them, because they had no idea that so much was available at the University Career Center."
That guidance - coupled with the increasing demand for skilled NC State graduates in the workplace - leads to a sunny outlook for the students walking across the RBC Center stage Wednesday morning.
"While it's this good, do everything you can to make as many contacts as possible and look at all the options that are available to you," Schroeder said. "If you're not finding them, come and talk to the people at the Career Center, and we'll show them to you.
"It will never, ever be this easy to get a job," she said. "You'll never have this many resources and that many employers opening doors for you and inviting you to interview with them - take advantage of it."
