UW-Madison has been feeling the effects of a tough job market as fewer recruiters visit campus, news wire reports said Monday.
However, despite national recession, recent and prospective UW graduates have no reason to fear narrowing job opportunities, according to UW’s career services center.
Although the job market looks slow now, it is expected to pick up in the near future, said Karen Stauffacher, director of the UW Business Career Center.
“We’ve made a turnaround in the past month,” she said. “Things are picking up.”
Miriam Meima is graduating in May with degrees in psychology and business. She attends many of UW’s job fairs and said they are helpful. At the fair, she scheduled an interview with Six Flags but remains unsure about her future.
“I’m a little worried,” she said. “I’m graduating and I don’t have a job. I’ve been pretty passive about it.”
Ann Groves Lloyd, director of career services for liberal arts students, said campus recruiting is down, but she expects a change soon. She said the area hurt the most is computer science, but students in retail and government have been doing well.
Lloyd also stressed the necessity of active student involvement for employment opportunities.
“This isn’t the time to say the economy stinks,” Lloyd said. “It’s time to say, ‘There are jobs out there, and I’m going to find them.'”
Employers who attempted to recruit students at Monday’s job fair in Memorial Union said they are not curbing recruitment efforts.
“We are opening a new store and are in high need of students,” said Christina Holmer, internship coordinator from Walgreen’s. “We haven’t noticed a slowdown, and we weren’t hurt by the recession.”
Target Store Team Leader Rick Walters concurred.
“We’re in a great position right now,” he said. “We’re opening 105 stores this year and are aggressively recruiting students. This is one of our major campuses for recruitment.”
Walters estimated talking to 200 out of the 600 students who attended the fair.
However, students still expressed concern about future employment options.
Stauffacher said students must take an active role in the job search. She said the UW Business Career Center is trying to help graduates find jobs by allowing employers to scan online student resumes for free and by providing videoconference services so recruiters can interview students without traveling. The center is also sending cards to more than 3,000 employers to remind them about recent graduates.
Although Lloyd has no predictions about the longevity of the recession, she remains optimistic.
“Some are saying this could be the shortest recession this country has ever seen,” she said. “If things do turn around, students’ best bets are to be ready to go.”
