Finding a foothold in an unsteady market
A college graduate typically hopes to be hired in a work environment relating to their field of study. These graduates set out into the world’s job market and can end up in jobs unrelated to their chosen profession.
“When I graduated, I had over 600 applications out,” said Andrew Yerka, who majored in public relations and graduated last spring. “I’ve got a great GPA and I had a really great portfolio of all the work that I’ve done. I’d sit down in interviews and they’d tell me straight up, ‘You’re competing against 450 applicants for this entry-level position. Over half of them are unemployed industry professionals that have five to ten years of experience. So what are you bringing to the table guy?’ You’ve got to be packing a power-play.”
According to a Forbes Magazine article citing research done by job placement firm Adecco, 60 percent of college graduates cannot find a full-time job in their chosen profession. The article said this is due to the competitive job market worldwide, and undergraduate studies in a specific area are no longer sufficient to set applicants apart.
Yerka, a native of Minnesota, had goals to work for a large corporation and establish himself as an industry professional upon graduating. He works at The Mattress Firm, a company based out of Houston, Texas. Yerka has several responsibilities within the company, but in large part works as a mattress salesman.
“At the end of the day, it might not be glamorous what I do, but I work for the largest retailer in the United States, and I really do like my job,” he said.
Yerka said if he could go back, he would have studied a field that set him apart and gave him a more marketable skill set, possessed by fewer individuals.
“Employers right now are in the mindset that they have to pay for you,” Yerka said. “You need to be able justify your existence when you walk into an interview. You need to be able to demonstrate and prove to them that the reason they need to hire you is because you have something that they need, that nobody else has.”
Scott Bean, a native of Roy, Utah, graduated from USU in 2008 with a degree in theater stage management and a minor in business. Bean said he had envisioned a career as a professional stage manager and had been involved in stage management since junior high school. He works as a technician in the chemical and fiber preparation area at Proctor and Gamble in Box Elder County. The plant he works at makes Bounty and Charmin paper products, specializing in the production of toilet paper.
“It’s a job for me right now,” Bean said. “It’s even a good job. The schedule is a little rough, but we deal with it. The pay is pretty good, but more than anything, it’s not what I want to do. It’s not everything I want in a career.”
Bean has been working at Proctor and Gamble for the last two and a half years and said he has seen many instances in which he can apply skills learned in his studies.
“I don’t regret doing theater at all, and if I could do it and make a decent living at it I still would do it.” he said. “Had I to do it again, and had I better idea of what the industry was like before I started, I probably would have done something different.”
Not long after graduating, Bean was offered a job in New Jersey as an assistant stage manager but declined due to his upcoming marriage and the low wages of the position.
“It was less than I was making as a delivery driver in a much higher cost-of-living state,” he said.
Bean advised USU students to get a broad range of experience and to not limit themselves.
“Life has a funny way of making you change your plans,” Bean said. “Don’t limit yourself to one thing. Get a broad range of experiences. Train yourself to be marketable. Learn a lot of different skills. Go do a lot of different things.”
Bean said in spite of working in a position he doesn’t necessarily love, there are good reasons for doing so and family is one of them.
“I’m in a job right now that I don’t love and probably don’t even like that much, but it’s still my job and I’m still going to go do it every day because I’ve got a family to support,” Bean said. “There are some good reasons to do jobs you don’t like and there are plenty of people in the world that do that. Do something you can live with.”
Yerka was a first generation college student and said regardless of the job market, he is glad he was able to complete his education. He said completing his education gave him more confidence as well an ability to think more critically of the world.
“It turned out to be positive, and more than anything I have a wife and a child and one on the way,” Yerka said. “I’m just grateful to have a job.”
Jessica Bean, a native of Star Valley, Wyo., graduated from Utah State in the fall of 2009 with a bachelors degree in history. She said she wanted to continue on to graduate school, get a Ph.D. and eventually become a history professor. She works at Olson & Hoggan Law Firm as a legal secretary.
“I got married and had to change my plans,” she said. “It’s not that I’ll never go to grad-school, but I had to kind of put it on the backburner or at least not go as soon as I would have liked to. As far as my schooling goes, I’m a little sorry that I’m not there yet, but I’m not sorry that I did it. I can’t see myself doing anything different.”
Bean said USU students shouldn’t give up on the things they really want in life, and they should looks for things to appreciate regardless of the circumstances of their employment.
“Make sure that whatever you choose to do with your life, it’s what you really want, and then just keep going,” she said. “Don’t give up. I think there a lot of people that are in jobs that have nothing to do with what they really want to do, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t make it. There’s always something you can find that you can learn to love about what you’re currently doing. Don’t ever give up on what what you actually want in life. It’s not worth selling yourself short for money.”
– calewp@gmail.com