ANDERSON — There have been better times to look for a job, but that doesn’t have spring graduates abandoning their career ambitions.
They’re just learning to adapt.
Kelly Kaiser and other seniors planning to graduate in May with business degrees from Anderson University said the ongoing financial meltdown, the one that’s sunk blue chip stocks and shuttered major banks, means they have to be smart and a bit more open-minded about their job search.
While Kaiser hopes to parlay her concentration in nonprofit management into work with a Chicago museum, she said she understands that the current job market means considering other options and being patient.
“You have to be optimistic, and you have to be willing to work for it,” the Anderson native said. “And if you don’t have a job in May, it’s not the end of the world.”
Students said their classes, even those outside the business school, have turned the financial crisis into an economic case study.
“It’s been a great learning experience,” said Ben Hayhurst, who will graduate in May with a finance degree. “Rather than go back and look at some random historical data, what we’re in right now will be in textbooks 10, 15 years from now. And I don’t want to say that’s exciting, but it’s interesting to be living through it and watching it.”
Like Kaiser, Hayhurst is just beginning to send out job applications. Both said they planned to ramp up their efforts beginning in January.
Hayhurst is focusing on a career centered around investments, something his internship with an Indianapolis brokerage firm could help with. The field is broad enough, he said, that he’s continuously learning of new opportunities or hearing about companies with ties to the university that could lead to an entry-level job.
Considering all available options is a top strategy Maryann Coty recommends to students.
As director of AU’s career development center, Coty prepares pending graduates across all disciplines to transition into the work force, a task that has brought increased challenges for students.
“It’s just a lot more competitive,” she said.
Compared to six percent of surveyed companies saying they were hiring new graduates in the spring, Coty said, only one percent report such hiring efforts now.
Along with going after fewer jobs, new graduates must compete against more experienced professionals who have recently been laid off, she said.
Younger job seekers “have to look at what they can offer, and the things that they can bring as a new graduate is youth and enthusiasm and new skill sets that maybe they’ve learned in the classroom,” Coty said.
She has advised students to look for jobs in expanding industries, fields like health care, technology or alternative energy. And Coty said a tough job market means students have to be experts at selling themselves to employers.
“They really have to make sure that their resumes and their interviewing skills are really sharp, and that they can really bring out their strengths,” she said.
Part of that confidence, students said, has come from preparation offered by the university.
Kaiser noted that the anticipation of leaving school and entering the working world is less nerve racking that the feelings she had four years ago as an inexperienced college freshman.
And if an ideal museum gig in Chicago doesn’t come her way, Kaiser said she’s prepared to take other avenues.
“Apply as many places you can and hope something opens up,” she said of her job-search approach.
“Apply, apply, apply. Don’t just bank on one company.”
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John P. Cleary
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John P. Cleary
Discussion
Business students adapt to harsher job market
Economy creates challenges, learning opportunity
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Academic Accolades: May 27
A compilation of academic news as published in the Sunday edition of The Herald Bulletin.
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Well-behaved students rewarded with carnival
A “Can you survive the yuck?” game was one of many offered at the Student Appreciation Program held inside and on the outdoor grounds of AHS on Friday.
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Indiana Christian Academy students look ahead to summer
Tantalizing Florida vacations filled with sun, sand, sea and Disney shimmered like diamonds strewn across a distant shore for several kids awaiting pickup on the last day of classes at Indiana Christian Academy Thursday.
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AHS rewarding well-behaved students
Anderson High School is holding its Student Appreciation Program (SAP) Friday for students who meet or surpass several requirements.
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AHS will hold student appreciation day
Anderson High School is holding its Student Appreciation Program Friday for students who meet or surpass several requirements.
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Anderson High School choir to sing with Foreigner
When Julie Wood received an email from Hoosier Park Racing & Casino about an “exciting opportunity,” the Anderson High School director of choral activities thought it was a joke.
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Haffner becomes 44th winner of Red Haven Award
Pendleton Heights now has both the old and the new Red Haven Award trophy for its case at school.
When PH’s Ellie McCardwell won the award in 2010, the long-standing trophy was retired, and because the Arabians had the last winner, the school was able to permanently house that hardware.
On Tuesday, when the Anderson Noon Exchange Club presented the 2012 winner, it went to Pendleton Heights’ Abbie Haffner. So for the next 12 months, PH will be home to both the new traveling trophy, first presented a year ago to Lapel’s Leigh Steele, and the old one. -
Anderson Learning Academy withdraws charter application
When Anderson Learning Academy’s board first started seeking charter status, it was to help make changes in education as graduation rates and ISTEP scores were low in the public school system.
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Haffner, McFerran get Dickmann Awards
Alexandria-Monroe High School senior Michael McFerran and Pendleton Heights senior Abbie Haffner received the annual Dickmann Youth Community Service Awards on Tuesday during the Anderson Rotary Club’s weekly luncheon at Anderson Country Club.
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Historic Preservation Commission turns down school board
Arguments were made over historical significance, sentimental value, structural stability, safety and finances during a Historic Preservation Commission meeting Monday evening discussing whether to grant South Madison Community Schools board’s proposal to demolish the former middle school at 301 S. East St.
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Academic Accolades: May 27
