Features
Tight job market predicted
for C.C. grads
By James Kushlan
Capitol Campus students can
expect to have a hard time find
ing job§ after graduation, ac
corning to Peg O'Hara, Coor
dinator, Career Planning and
Placement.
The current economy coupled
with government spending cuts
are to blame for this decrease
in hiring, says O'Hara, who
foresees no increase in the job
market until the economy im
proves.
A Capitol Campus reflection
of this nationwide problem can
be seen in the Hot File at the
Placement Office. The Hot File
contains resumes from
graduates who are still seeking
employment. They get first con
sideration for any job in their
general fields.
"That Hot File has more
resumes in it than it's had in
the last seven years," O'Hara
says.
Of the 142 resumes in the Hot
File, 108 are from C.C.
graduates with bachelor's
degrees. O'Hara says the vast
majority of these graduates are
from the classes of 1982, only
seven from the class of 1981.
The.remainder are from
graduate students and graduate
degree holders (total 13
resumes) from 21 college
graduates not from Capitol
Campus.
Business majors account for
the bulk of the file's resumes,
numbering 52. The next largest
"Your major is not the all
pervading thing you think it is,
once you get into the
workplace. Somehow, once you
start working you go in dif
ferent directions.
Peg O'Hara
Coordinator, Career
Planning and Placement
groups are mechanical
engineering with 14, electrical
engineering with 12, and Social
Sciences with H. The rest of the
resumes are from building con
struction technology (7),
humanities (3) 3 mathematical
sciences (3), transportation
technology (3), and water
resources engineering
technology (3).
The large percentage of
business majors in the file
reflects the economy and the
fact that business majors are
numerous, causing a high com
petition for available jobs,
O'Hara says.
The situation is unusually
bad. "At this time of year we
generally don't have more than
one or two mechanical elec-
trical engineers in the Hot
File." She was unsure why
there weren't more humanities
resumes in the file.
The problem of finding jobs
seems to fall mostly to the
undergraduate students at
Capitol, because the graduate
students are 93 percent
employed.
The problem is not confined
to Capitol Campus graduates.
According to the College Place
ment Council's CPC Salary
Survey, the nationwide decline
in job offers has been
noticeable since their July 1982
statistics. The survey contains
totals of reported job offers to
bachelor's degree candidates
from all types of employers.
The survey is conducted all
over the U.S. The statistics for
July 1982 show a drop of 11,545
from the July 1981 total of
reported job offers.
According to the survey this
drop may be "cause for con-
cern or just a signal of a return
to more moderate levels of
recruiting."
Some fields seemed to attract
more job offers than others, the
survey shows. Of the 51,290 of
fers to bachelor's degree can
didates reported, 57 percent
went to engineering majors, 28
percent to business majors, 11
percent to majors in sciences,
and 4 percent to humanities and
social sciences majors.
"You should remember,"
O'Hara says, "that the survey
doesn't show the number of
graduates in each of these
fields. It is possible that
engineers, receiving a high
percentage of the reported of
fers, might still have difficulty
finding a job if the number of
engineering graduates is high."
The problem of fewer jobs is
compounded at Capitol Cam
pus, according to O'Hara,
because "people here tend to
wait until it's too late."
"You almost have to have a
planned attack," she says.
Engineering majors seem to
be the students most prepared
to find jobs, while statistics
show that liberal arts majors
nationwide take six months to a
year longer than other majors
to decide what they want to do.
O'Hara says you should start
job hunting within a year of
Crisis In Lebanon
Lieutenant Colonel Alfred W. Baker spoke on the "Crisis in
Lebanon" at Capitol Campus October 19. Baker was brought to cam
pus by the International Affairs Association.
graduation. She suggests
students decide early what they
want to do, but should remain
flexible.
"Your major is not the all
pervading thing you think it is,
once you get into the
workplace. Somehow, once you
start working you go in dif
ferent directions."
"We all have to take a job we
don't really plan on, but the ex
perience is transferable," she
says, adding:
"It may not be that you find
the right spot until the second
or third job. You may have to
take something you never
thought you would."
In general, the present col
lege generation, she says, is
"not willing to accept that.
Many young people just don't
want to do what you have to do
to get a job."
O'Hara stresses the impor
tance of getting experience in
your field, to make a good
resume. "The more you can ac
cumulate related to your major,
the better-off you are," she
says, adding that even
volunteer work in your field is
useful later in finding a job.
Page 17
Photography by Joe Hart
PREPARE FOR
MCAT•LSAT•GMAT
SAi•OAT•6RECPA
•FREE Introductory lesson at your
convenience.
• Permanent Centers open days, evenings and
weekends.
• Low hourly cost. Dedicated full-time staff.
• Complete TEST-N-TAPE^ facilities for
review of class lessons and supplementary
materials.
• Small classes taught by skilled instructors.
• Opportunity to make up missed lessons.
• Voluminous home-study materials constantly
updated by researchers expert in their field.
• Opportunity to transfer to and continue
study at any of our over 105 centers.
OTHER COURSES AVAILABLE
SSAT• PSAT • SAT ACHIEVEMENTS • ACT
GRE PSYCH • GRE 810 • MAT • PCAT
VQE • ECFMG • FLEX • NDB • RN BDS
SPEED READING
Call Dees Teemnigs a Weekends
= , ... 110 A N 41 . (717) 236-8117
Masonic Temple Bldg
Educational Center
TEST PE 1010 1521 Linden Street
SPECIALISTS SINCE sin Allentown. Pa. 18102
ear Intorrnehon About Other Centers In More Titan lOb Maw US Cities Abroad
OVISIDE N T STATE CUT Toll FOR 1111223 1712