The economy has faced graduates with bleak employment opportunities recently, and, facing that reality, many students have turned to Career Services for help.

In fact, there has been a larger number than ever before.

“It’s the largest it’s ever been,” said Linda Moore, Director of Career Services. “We had over 6,000 students this year.”

There has been more anxiety and higher levels of it from both students and parents, according to Moore.

“It’s about as high anxiety as I’ve seen since the December 2001 graduates,” Moore said.

Some students have lowered their job expectations, becoming more willing to settle for less than what they had originally hoped for. They have also become more concerned about getting a job in their field of study.

Even though employment opportunities have decreased, there are still several important things students must do to increase their chances of being employed upon graduation.

According to career advisor Bobbi Kingery, students must realize that grades are still important.

They must also have the ability to apply skills that have been learned in their classrooms, and they should acquire at least one internship before they have graduated.

Networking will also increase a student’s employment opportunities, which makes having an internship very important.

“When the job market is tough, many job openings are not posted externally,” said Kingery. “Internships are great opportunities for networking.”

According to results from the National Association of Colleges and Employers Student Survey, which was conducted from February 19, 2009 through April 30, 2009, less than 20 percent of 2009 graduates who had applied for jobs actually had a job in hand by the time of graduation.

Of the students who attained jobs, 73 percent of them had completed an internship at some point in their collegiate careers.

“Internships have always been really important,” Moore said.

According to Moore, there are some misconceptions about Career Services.

Some students believe that Career Services will land jobs for students.

“We would rather teach people how to get a job,” Moore said. “We do not get people jobs. We help to enable people to have the right skills, the right planning so that they, in fact, get the job themselves.”

The number of students involved with Career Services has increased in the last couple of years.

Moore and the other faculty members help to prepare these students, developing and honing skills that are important to the student’s employment aspirations.

According to Moore, it is very important for students to take steps to ready themselves for what they will face when trying to attain a job.

“Be prepared,” said Moore. “Every year there is something that you can do to increase your chances.”

Spenser Nobles can be reached at 581-7942 or at [email protected].