Deanna Fuller graduated from IU in December with a degree in arts management, yet so far, she can’t find employment beyond the daycare center she works at in Bloomington.
Fuller is part of the 44 percent of college grads in their 20s who are working dead-end, low-wage jobs, also known as underemployment, according to a study released this month by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Additionally, about 20 percent of millennials are earning less than $25,000 a year, which is the highest percentage since the 1990s, according to the same study.
Fuller, originally from Avon, Indiana, said her plan was to find a job in Chicago by May, but nothing has worked out because she is picky.
However, now that Fuller has been looking for jobs for six months, she said her standards have dropped.
“At this point I’m looking for any job I might have experience for,” Fuller said.
Fuller said her dream is to work at the Art Institute of Chicago, but she has only had one internship during her college career in customer service at a call center, so she is not qualified yet.
Most arts administration jobs require a master’s degree, Fuller said.
However, she is already $25,000 in debt from her undergraduate studies and said she does not want to take on another student loan.
Fuller has an upcoming interview for an administrative assistant position at a company in Chicago, which she said is the closest she has come to finding a job.
Andrew Rodela, a senior studying accounting and finance at IU, said he will work as a finance management trainee at Nestlé in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after graduating from IU.
The Kelley School of Business helped him connect with different companies and prepare for a career after graduation, he said.
Kelley encourages students to apply to any job or internship that interests them, Rodela said. The companies all come to Kelley for the career fairs, so access to opportunities is at a student’s fingertips through the Undergraduate Career Service Office, he said.
“On Kelley’s website they have all the listings of different jobs,” Rodela said. “You just click one button to apply, usually. If you get an interview, it’s in Kelley, so you don’t have to go out of your way.”
Rodela said getting the internship with Nestle was the hard part, but once he had it, he was not worried because in the business school, most people expect internships to turn into full-time job offers.
Fuller said her main problem is lack of connections, which is what she said she believes leads to a job. Being in Bloomington is preventing her from networking, Fuller said.
“I’m sending in my resume and no one’s looking at it, or I don’t know anyone in the company,” Fuller said. “It’s been difficult.”
Fuller said she thinks companies expect too much from millennials today.
“They think we’re lazy and unreliable, so they want to hire someone older,” Fuller said.
Rodela said he thinks people are going into fields they find interesting, like English, art or history. However, the supply is lower than the demand for jobs in these fields.
Fuller said her lease in Bloomington ends in July and, if she has not found a job by then in Chicago, she plans to start applying for jobs in Indianapolis. However, living in Indiana is not ideal, she said.
“I wasn’t born here, but I’ve lived here since I was a baby,” Fuller said. “I’d really like to live somewhere else, but I don’t have a lot of options.”
Fuller said at this point in her job search, it is hard to stay optimistic, but she will keep trying.
“I think it has to get better,” Fuller said. “I’ve just been looking for so long.”
