Dismal job market awaits Indiana grads

INDIANAPOLIS -- As companies cut back on entry-level hires, this year's crop of more than 56,000 Indiana college graduates will likely have fewer job offers than any class since 1994.\nIndiana campus placement offices report that hiring is down 20 percent to 45 percent at some schools.\n"It's really tough out there," said Tim Harding, director of career services at Butler University in Indianapolis. "This is the toughest year I've seen since I've been here in the last 10 years."\nAlthough the economy is showing signs of recovery, employers in some fields -- such as business consulting, investment banking, manufacturing, computer science and some engineering disciplines -- are not looking for many entry-level college graduates.\n"Generally, the college labor market is very slow and lagging behind the general recovery of the economy," said Philip Gardner, director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University.\nIn April, a survey of 1,515 employers conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found the worst college hiring drop, 63.5 percent, in the technology-heavy West, while the Midwest's 27.1 percent decrease was the smallest.\nAmong Indiana University students earning master's of business administration degrees, only about half have jobs now, compared with 94 percent last spring.\n"We're hit by two job markets that have really disappeared -- consulting and investment banking," Susie Clarke, associate director for graduate career development for the IU Kelley School of Business, told The Indianapolis Star for a story published Sunday.\nThe slump in businesses seeking outside consultants has caused global consulting firms like Gap Gemini Ernst & Young, which has an Indianapolis office, to scale back college recruiting and hiring.\nThe firm made recruiting visits to IU, Purdue and 13 other schools nationwide this spring, compared with 90 colleges two years ago. Entry-level positions were cut in half this year, Gap Gemini Vice President Todd Blake said.\n"I have a surer bet if I go to the more experienced hiree," Blake said. "I can't deploy a 21-year-old out to a client in a matter of weeks."\nHiring in other business areas, such as retailing, sales, accounting and finance, held up reasonably well, said Randy Powell, director of IU's undergraduate business placement office.\nJessica Gettelfinger, 21, of Floyds Knobs, snagged one of those accounting jobs at a small firm in Houston.\n"I felt lucky I got something I wanted, not just any job," she said. "Last year, if you walked in with a tie on and were breathing, you could get a job. But it's not like that now."\nThis year, placement officers said, it's more critical than ever for grads to stand out in the crowd -- with internships or practical experience.\nTimothy Luzader, director of Purdue University's Center for Career Opportunities, is looking at the difficult market as a lesson. He's telling students to consider other options and to network with alumni, former bosses and anyone to find unadvertised jobs.