FALL GRADUATES FIND JOB HUNT COMPETITIVE

Southeast Missouri State University's graduating students have one thing on their minds these days: Jobs.

Angela Brown graduated last Saturday with a bachelor of science degree in psychology. Brown plans to move to Goldsboro, N.C., where she has family, and look for a counseling job. Ultimately, she wants to get a second degree in speech pathology.

Mary Arnzen just graduated with an associate of arts degree in nursing. A single mother of three, she hopes to find employment at a hospital.

While in school, Arnzen worked as a nurse's assistant at Southeast Missouri Hospital. She had hoped to be hired by the hospital, but that hasn't happened. So, armed with her degree, she's out looking now. On Thursday, she made her first telephone call to inquire about a hospital job in St. Louis.

"I am sure I will find a job," said a confident Arnzen.

Another member of the fall graduating class is Keith Woodfin. With his mass communications degree, the Cape Girardeau resident hopes to land a corporate video job.

But for now, he's working at his father's automobile and tire business and dealing with the demands of being the father of a 5-week-old son. "The jobs are out there, it's just finding them," said Woodfin.

Brown said the job market's competitive. But she remains optimistic of finding a job. Some of that optimism comes from her having worked as a student in the university's Career Planning and Placement office, advising other students about job hunting.

"I think this office has actually helped me prepare myself for the job market," she said.

Too many students don't take advantage of the job-hunting advice and assistance offered by the office, housed in the University Center, she said. "A lot of people have passed this office by."

The office provides career counseling, not only for students but also alumni. It also provides a computer listing in which students and alumni who register with the office are notified of job openings in their fields.

Southeast also offers short courses on job search techniques and career planning. The eight-week courses are voluntary.

The job search course is geared for juniors and seniors, and provides information on everything from interviewing for a job to writing a resume.

The career planning course is designed to assist freshmen and sophomore students who are undecided about a major.

"It is really a tight job market, but we have been working much harder in the past few years encouraging students to get experience," said Loretta Schneider, assistant director of the career planning office.

Internship and co-ops offer a good way for students to get a leg up in getting a job after college, said Schneider.

"Fewer and fewer employers are doing on-campus recruiting," she said. "They are doing their hiring through internships and co-ops."

Internships can be paid or unpaid. Co-ops allow students to alternately work and take classes on a semester-by-semester basis.

"The federal government has really good co-op programs. It's a good way to finance your education," she said.

Experience is the name of the game. Even many entry-level jobs now require a person to have two or three years of experience, said Schneider.

College graduates, she said, shouldn't get discouraged. "In reality, there are tremendous opportunities out there."

Many fields, including those dealing with the environment and communications, are experiencing growth.

But it's important for students to begin job planning early in their college careers, said Schneider. Students should look at obtaining internships when they are sophomores, she advised.

"Education is too expensive to be indecisive and take courses that won't count toward your major."

Said Schneider, "We want them to be the most employable when they graduate and we want to show them the kinds of plans they need to put together to do that."

Some students who visit Schneider's office come in ill prepared; what they are majoring in doesn't match up to their career goal.

"I had one not long ago and she had a degree in psychology and she was about to graduate and wanted to get experience," recalled Schneider. But all she wanted to do was work as a horse groomer.

Some graduates who have been out for a semester still don't have a clue what they want to do for a living, said Schneider.

She said a majority of college students don't have a job lined up when they graduate. Nationwide last spring, less than 20 percent of graduating seniors had landed a job by the time they left school.

Schneider said that in today's world people often change careers. "People change careers six or seven times in their lifetime now," she pointed out.

"That is why the job-search skills are so important," she said. "These are skills they are going to be using the rest of their life."

Schneider recalled the case of a woman who had been a music teacher for 10 to 15 years. The woman stopped by the career planning office to look for information about embarking on a new career. "She was interested in information on being a mortician or travel agent."

It's hard to predict what job opportunities may surface in the future, but one thing is certain: Employers want college graduates who have communications and problem-solving skills, and display leadership and initiative, said Schneider.