Alumni Turn to Colleges for Help Finding a Job

College seniors are finding some unexpected company this semester as they visit their schools’ career services offices — alumni who also want help landing a job in a slow economy.

BY STEVE GIEGERICH
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Salt Lake Tribune

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(http://www.Montana-Jobs.net is a vital link for alumni and expats looking for senior management and high tech jobs in Montana-Spread the word- Russ)

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"Not a day goes by that I don’t have an alum on my calendar," said Patricia Deloy, the director of career services at Central Connecticut State University. She’s not alone.

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, responded to the influx of alumni by establishing an online career networking program especially for the school’s graduates.

At the University of Pennsylvania, alumni account for 15 percent of the clients seeking career counseling, up from the 10 percent who used the service when the economy was strong.

Penn’s career service director, Patricia Rose, said most of the alumni she sees have graduated within the past five years.
While Deloy said some of the alumni coming to her office left Central Connecticut as long as 25 years ago, the majority — such as Keryn Walczewski — attended more recently.
Walczewski graduated in May and went to work as an intern for Connecticut’s education department.

After her position as a computer specialist turned into a full-time job, Walczewski in quick order bought a new car, got engaged and started making plans to set aside money to buy a house.
Then, on the same December day she received her first paycheck as a full-time employee, Walczewski learned she had been laid off.

"I didn’t think I’d be back here so fast," she said, sitting in Deloy’s office.

With the National Association of Colleges and Employers forecasting a 3.6 percent decline in hiring out of colleges this spring, Deloy fears many in the class of 2003 will share Walczewski’s dilemma.

The Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University projects that students entering the fields of construction, retail, transportation (excluding airlines) and food and lodging will fare the best. Jobs in the financial service, wholesaling, finance and government sectors are expected to decline this year, the institute said. Camille Luckenbaugh, a spokeswoman for the colleges and employers association, sympathizes with the plight of today’s graduates.

"It may be way harder for these kids because they have seen the tremendous market that was out there," Luckenbaugh said.

"These are kids who know kids who went out and may have made millions in the dot-coms. And now they can’t get a job.

It’s definitely a harsh reality that a lot of them are facing."

http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jan/01292003/business/24257.asp