There are two occasions when a college's career services department is thrust into the spotlight: commencement and an economic downturn. Sometimes the two collide, as they do this year with the class of 2001 entering a workplace where available jobs are declining for the first time in nearly a decade. News of the weakening economy has prompted media inquiries, anxious parents, and an ever so slight palpitation in seniors' confidence.
For the period 1998 to 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there will be a sufficient number of appropriate jobs for all but seven percent of graduates. The number of college graduates in this time is expected to be approximately 1.37 million, while the number of appropriate jobs will be closer to 1.28 million - an average shortage of 90,000 jobs each year. Despite the gap, this is a better ratio than the previous decade, which experienced a shortage of 190,000 jobs per year.
It would be easy now to hold "the economy" responsible for unmet job expectations, for a disappointing return on investment in tuition and time. This is a bittersweet temptation for jobless seniors who have watched older siblings and classmates wooed by salaries, sign-on bonuses, and other perks. However, the difference this commencement season is that the class of 2001 has never known a down economy, nor the frustration of job search during difficult times.
Reframed, the opportunity exists for this year's graduates to master the cardinal rule of today's workplace: you are in charge of your own career. The process of career development is a lifelong, cyclical challenge that should ideally incorporate continual assessment, exploration, and decision-making.
A new employment contract stresses flexible worklife, portfolio skills, and self-marketing, rather than job security and paternalistic employers. This news took baby boomer parents by surprise, but should neither surprise nor alarm their Millennial children. Today, we live and work amid uncertainty. The prosperity of the late 90s followed an era that invented downsizing, outplacement, reengineering, and "golden handshakes."
Unlike their most recent predecessors, who glided into the workplace with the euphoria of entitlement and privilege, the class of 2001 may discover in the economy a reason for introspection. In their final days at Tufts, seniors can comfort themselves with the knowledge that managing your own career puts your future in the most trusted hands. In the meantime, here are some reassurances:
The job outlook is still good for graduates. Despite the forecast of job shortages, the number of graduates is expected to be only seven percent higher than in the prior decade, while between 1988 and 1998, there was a 17 percent increase in bachelor's degrees awarded. The white collar job market is still strong. The Bureau of Labor Statistics adds some additional good news: the number of jobs requiring a degree is also on the rise. By 2008, 23.8 percent of all jobs will require a four-year college degree, compared to 21.3 percent in 1998.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank, lost jobs are being absorbed by other companies, and overall employment is characterized as essentially unchanged. The current unemployment rate for college graduates is around two percent.
Additionally, starting salary offers continue to increase. According to the Winter 2001 Salary Survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), graduates in many fields are getting higher starting salary offers than they did last year. Although modest, according to the NACE survey, the salaries affect nearly all disciplines, including liberal arts, and are moving upward at a steady pace. Larger gains were reported for technical fields such as engineering and computer science.
Finally, employers value a liberal arts education. In survey after survey, employers say they seek the skills and knowledge fostered by liberal arts curricula: cognitive and analytical skills, presentation skills, and social skills. A liberal arts background helps prepare students for the changing workplace by encouraging active learning, independent thinking, openness to new ideas, creativity, risk-taking, and perseverance.
This is a Tufts education. Students who have embraced this learning philosophically and practically will find themselves competitive in any job market.
Jean Papalia is the director of Career Services.
