CCO: Recession makes job search harder, not impossible
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 02/19/2009
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According to the director of the Center for Career Opportunities, the job market is not as disheartening as recent news suggests; however, the news coming from Wall Street is dire after Caterpillar Inc. cut 20,000 jobs and Alcoa cut 15,000. These job cuts are the result of the economic recession and may result in a harder time finding jobs after graduation.
Purdue’s reputation as an engineering school and the career opportunities available to it, such as the Industrial Roundtable, are not enough for some engineers.
“Right now, it’s much more nerve-racking and stressful to find a job right out of college,” said Andrew Truesdell, a senior in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “One thing I’m worried about is that all these layoffs are flooding the market with engineers with more skill and more experience. Searching for jobs is definitely a lot different than it was a year ago.”
While the search is different, the outlook is still positive, especially for Purdue graduates.
“Purdue is better off than other schools because Purdue is highly regarded,” said Timothy Luzader, the director of the Center for Career Opportunities. “While we have seen a slight decrease in the number of companies coming to Purdue, it does not mean that students will not be able to find jobs.
“Many companies have a real strong commitment to Purdue and usually in tough times they may cut back on the number of schools they visit, but Purdue usually stays on their list.”
Luzader emphasized that while this is a tough economy, students should not assume that there aren’t jobs. There are still many companies recruiting. The center had more than 750 companies visit Purdue last year, and those were only the companies that conducted interviews on campus. There are plenty of other opportunities available to students. Instead of relying on the center, students can explore beyond the companies that come to campus, such as government agencies or smaller companies that may not be household names.
“Before, the job market was in their favor,” said Luzader. “Now students have to cast a wider net, they have to consider other opportunities, do more research, and be more flexible.”