Recent Graduates Job Hunting Woes

According to a recent Washington Post article, Graduates' Job Hunts: Majorly Frustrating, the soft job market is making job hunting difficult for recent college/grad school graduates :

"As the economy teeters on the edge of recession, college graduates this year face a tough job market, leaving many without work in their fields or doing jobs that people without college degrees can do, career center officials said. Most affected, the officials said, are those looking to break into the financial services industry, hard hit by the subprime mortgage crisis.

The numbers aren't pretty. Unemployment among 20- to 24-year-olds, the typical post-undergraduate age group, is sharply higher than the overall population. In the second quarter of this year, joblessness among this group reached 9.8 percent, according to the Labor Department. That is up from 7.7 percent last year at this time and 8.1 percent in the second quarter of 2001, about the time
the last recession hit. Overall, unemployment rose to 5.7 percent in July from 5.5 percent the previous month, and the economy lost 51,000 payroll jobs. "

I'm not phased by the fact that many of my contemporaries are struggling to find jobs are are forced to work outside of their field. Sometimes, when jobs just simply don't exist, you have to create work experience for yourself that makes you more attractive though volunteering, obtaining mentors, blogging...young professionals have to be more creative or they won't obtain the jobs in this shrinking market. The young man pictured above that was interviewed in the article started a web site becuase of the lack of jobs available in his field, writing. The weak job market is the major reason why I plan to work while attending graduate school so I can continue to gain experience (work, volunteering, blogging?) to make myself more marketable.

Image: Washington Post - Mark Gail (online)