 "Photo: Steven Gold")
Senior Nicole Medina has worked as a marketing events intern for Philadelphia Magazine, spent the summer in Spain researching for a Spanish marketing firm and has worked in the public relations world. This summer, she's taking on a whole new career path and the most important question she'll be asking is, "Would you like that in a cup or on a cone?"
"I want to work in an ice cream place because I think it will have the least amount of responsibilities, the least amount of hours and it will be refreshing," Medina said.
Medina, who has managed to consistently hold a job or internship for the past four years, working anywhere from 15 to 40 hours per week, is graduating with no job offers.
Instead, she is getting a beach house on the New Jersey Shore and working at an ice cream store on the weekends.
"Right now, I'm just letting things happen," Medina said. "Since September, I've been trying to find a job. I've been so focused on it.
"I'm still looking obviously, but I'm taking a more laid back approach," she said. "I'm just going to try and enjoy my summer and let things happen."
Many students are graduating college without jobs. The Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor statistics reports in April the national unemployment rate rose to 8.9 percent with 13.7 million people declaring unemployment. It states that in the past year, the number of unemployed persons has risen by 6 million and the unemployment rate has grown by 3.9 percent. As of March, Delaware's unemployment rate stands at 7.7 percent.
Jack Townsend, director of the university's Bank of America Career Services Center, said students are anxious.
This year in particular, a lot more students are requesting individual career counseling. While business and engineering majors are usually the most visible, many more liberal arts and humanities students are seeking one-on-one attention from the center, he said.
"It's so frustrating," senior Kaitlin Craig said.
Since Thanksgiving she has sent out nearly 100 resumes and while she has gone on a few interviews, she has not received any job offers.
"I'm coming up to the end of my education and I want it to end up right. If I don't get a job, I won't feel like it necessarily ended how I wanted," Craig said.
Some students have a different perspective about the economy.
"Yes, it's tougher, but I still think people graduating have some assets that are worth utilizing," Townsend said. "There are good jobs out there now and students ought to be taking advantage of that."
Townsend is optimistic about the future of prospective hopefuls in the job search.
"When we do follow-up surveys, students are still finding jobs. It may not be their ideal jobs," he said. "Having a college degree puts you in a stronger position."
Rather than stress, Townsend recommends utilizing the campus interviews and jobs fairs offered as practice.
"The same basic skills are used in any job market," he said.
One organization responsible for putting on events such as these is the Career Entrepreneurship Organization. CEO is comprised of approximately 20 students, is affiliated with Career Services and just recently held a networking event that attracted roughly 50 attendees.
Eric Lau, Web master for CEO said, "With the economy right now, you need to build a network."
CEO, which has affiliations with several companies in the Delaware area is geared towards preparing its members for job searches by strengthening basic skills.
However, for many students, hard work pays off.
"You really have to show [companies] that you're interested, otherwise you're just the same as anyone else," senior Cormack Glass said.
Even Glass, who recently accepted a job working for the public relations firm he has been interning at for the past eight months, found the job search to be difficult. He began in October and sent out at least 50 resumes before acquiring his position.
"Looking back on it all, I think one of the greatest quotes I didn't believe for so long is 'You only get out what you put in,' " Glass said. "I really made it a point to get on this and looking back, since it did take so much hard work, it really feels good knowing I got a job."
The best advice he said he has received throughout the job search has been given to him by his mother.
"I think there are tons of jobs to be had," Glass said. "If you use the economy as a scapegoat, you're not going to try as hard, but if you use the economy as a challenge and you rise to it, there are plenty of opportunities."
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