Posted: Friday, December 4, 2015 at 3:00 p.m.

Author: Brittany Nicole Waddell

 

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – As graduation season approaches, students are preparing to enter the workforce. Companies are coming to Universities to recruit students, making the job search much easier, but some millennials are still having a difficult time securing their place in the workforce.

Leslie Poynter, Career Consultant at UT’S Center for Career Development, says “If you’re not prepared for the job search, you have come into a rude awakening when you graduate thinking that a college degree will get you a job, you have to be very competitive in the job market, students don’t realize that and they don’t prepare. It takes on average 4-6 months to secure a job, if students aren’t preparing for that their junior year of college; by doing mock interviews, attending job fairs, learning how to network, those basic strategies, if they aren’t preparing for that it will definitely be a lot harder for them. Looking for a job is a full time job in itself.”

Students have to be a lot more competitive depending on their field. In fields such as engineering and accounting students have very little issues finding employment. But students who are in the colleges of arts and sciences are still having a difficult time securing a job after graduation. According to the Career Services Annual Report from 2013-2014, only 17% of Journalism and Electronic media majors found full-time jobs after graduation.

Elyse Cheatham, a graduating senior, voices her thoughts on life after college. “I have taken advantage of the job fairs that the College of Communications have had, but it never resulted in a job. If anything it was a great networking experience. Most of the information I receive about potential employers is through my adviser and from my own research. I graduate in a week with a communications degree, it has been a really frustrating but I haven’t given up and I do feel a bit overwhelmed, but I think that’s what comes with it. I started my search in August, and even in my last week of undergrad I’m still hopeful that I will find the job that’s right for me.”