As the unemployment rate in the Tampa Bay area tops 13% for the first time in 30 years, college seniors, like everyone else, are having a harder and harder time finding jobs straight out of college. Add the pressure from the burden of student loans, and many are stuck having to settle into jobs for which they are way overqualified.
University of Tampa writing graduate TJ Shields says he is stuck working 50 hour weeks at an electronics store to pay for his loans, which means he doesn’t have time to look for a real career.
“In a perfect world I would get paid very well and could quit this job and pay my loans,” Shields said. “But right now I'm forced to work a crappy job like (the name of TJ’s current employer) while I pay my loans and try get my ideas for my future together.”
Many students are dealing with the same loans first, future later, problem as Shields. According to the New York Times, the average college student graduates with $23,000 in student loans, leaving many having to take menial jobs instead of moving toward the future they went to college to achieve.
Because they don’t want be forced to find a minimum wage job in a bad economy, many students are ignoring the job market and exploring other alternatives for their first several post undergraduate years. Graduate school has become an increasingly popular choice for seniors like UT English major Mary Kelley, who says that she feels bad for the people who are actually going to try to get a job.
“For me, it’s grad school all the way,” Kelly said. “I am going to get my Masters in Education here at UT. Good luck to those seniors trying to get a job right now. It is awful.”
English major Heather Gromley agrees.
“I have plenty of friends who graduated last year who are still looking for jobs around the nation. Gromley said. “Right now I'm planning on going back home and saving up money to attend grad school abroad the fall after next.”
But for college seniors, graduate school isn’t the only option out there. Some students turn to the military, see Chris Campo’s article on seniors in the military, and some look for alternatives that pay the bills and will be enjoyable, like UT graduate Shannon Grippando. In a few weeks, Grippando will head to Miami for a final interview to get into JET, the Japanese Exchange and Teaching program. Should he be accepted, Grippando will get paid fly out to a school in Japan and help teach English.
Grippando says that thanks to his plans with JET, he doesn’t have to worry about finding work.
“The dismal job market doesn't concern me right now,” Grippando said. “Of course it sucks trying to get a part-time job to cover expenses and to start paying back student loans, but it's not impossible to find one. A career is another thing, but thankfully I'm not looking for one at the moment.”
But despite the scary unemployment numbers and intimidating loans, some students are finding work. Cindy McCormick, an English Major at UT, says that she applied to the Tampa Tribune for an internship, and they offered her a full-time job.
“I guess perseverance pays off,” McCormick said. “You just have to keep trying, get yourself and your resume out there.”
McCormick’s positive outlook should be a reminder to students that finding a job is a full time job, so you’re only unemployed when you stop trying.
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