As the economy slows, business graduate students at the University are quickening their efforts to land secure jobs.
The demise of the dot-com boom and the record plunge of the stock market when it reopened six days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have some graduate students searching for jobs and summer internships with an increased sense of urgency.
“I think there’s more pressure on people to get out there and be more proactive,” said David Rosen, a second-year graduate student in the Master of Business Administration program. “There won’t be companies coming in and scooping up large numbers of people.”
Large companies that have plucked University MBA students in the past have tightened budgets and are slashing many recruiting efforts, meaning several won’t be visiting college campuses.
To compensate, the Career Services Department at the University business school is aiming a marketing blitz at companies its 70 students most want to work for.
“We’re pulling ourselves up by the boot straps,” said Deb Chereck, director for the Career Services Department. “With the first-year students, we’re trying to raise their awareness that these are difficult times.”
Chereck said the top three employers of her graduate students — Hewlett Packard, Wells Fargo and Intel — have either canceled visits to the University or have scaled back the jobs and internships they are offering to students.
One of those students, Rosen, landed an internship last summer as a marketing representative with San Francisco-based video game manufacturer Electronic Arts. EA makes video games such as the popular Madden football series.
Rosen said he graduates this May, but his prospects of making a direct transition into a full-time job are dimmed by the sluggish economy.
“I think people are nervous, but I wouldn’t say they’re panicking,” Rosen said. “We have to wait and see. Beyond economics, things are so crazy right now anyway. I don’t think anybody is taking anything for granted.
“I know already this year from speaking with folks in Career Services that there will be fewer companies coming on campus because their budgets are dwindling.”
However, dwindling company budgets are a boon for business schools because a downturn in the economy often means a spike in enrollment, said Andrew Verner, director for the Oregon MBA program. Enrollment in the MBA program is up 24 students from last year, though Verner says personnel changes, rather than the languid economy last year, are largely responsible.
“When people find it harder to find or keep jobs, they look for ways to improve their marketability or skills in a new job environment,” Verner said. “That’s been going on for years and years.”
And when those students return to the workforce armed with improved skills and a renewed sense of vigor, Verner said it’s important they take whatever job opportunity helps pave their career path.
“My position is, when there’s a job, you apply for it,” he said. “Any experience is good. When you start reading about people being laid off left and right — the airlines alone are laying off thousands of people — that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Someone entering the job market this year or next year needs to intensify their job hunting efforts.”
Eric Martin is a higher education reporter for the Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be reached at [email protected].