College graduates who stay local have more difficulty in the job market than those open to relocation.
The majority of graduates stay local, but face more competition with fewer opportunities, said Steve Carlson, career services director at Grace College.
"When grads want to stay around the same area, their job search takes longer and is harder than they anticipate," said Carlson.If graduates are willing to relocate, they have the advantage of nationwide opportunity. Locally, one of the most competitive fields is education.
Education majors in the job market deal with competition and timing. Their job search starts immediately after college and is long because schools often don't get or announce openings until later in the school year, said Liz Bushnell, associate director of career services at Manchester College.
At Grace, one-fourth of the graduates are education majors, a large number focused on elementary, Carlson said. In northern Indiana it is very competitive because there are so many candidates, he said.
"But there are great needs for education in other portions of the country," he said.
At the local and national level, graduates in computer science areas and with technology skills are in demand, Carlson said. Also, individuals with foreign language skills, like Spanish, and good communication skills are considered valuable in the job market today.
Employers also still consider certain qualities in entry-level graduates. Among others, strong character, integrity and honesty are key, Carlson said.
The majority of graduates from Grace and Manchester College look to go into their career field immediately after college.
A five-year average of 96 percent of Manchester graduates are employed, are in grad school, or are volunteers in their area of study, Bushnell said.
"We've had really good success, and a recent survey showed we were right on track in connecting graduates to the job market," she said.
While most graduates dive into their career, a good number go to graduate school first.
Carlson said 20 percent of Grace graduates go to grad school within a year after they graduate to further their medical studies or get their master's degree.
Thirteen to 15 percent of Manchester graduates go to grad school, but 70 to 80 percent progress their career immediately, said Bushnell.
The job outlook nationwide has improved in the last year.
"On a national level, employees are increasing the hiring of entry-level candidates," said Bushnell. "Locally, we really make an effort to let students know about career services from their freshman year, so we can get them thinking about the job market from the start."
Grace and Manchester College both cater to their graduates' needs in searching the job market. The schools and their career services offer help with interview preparation, resume writing, determining different career tracks, job search appointments, networking and understanding the job search process overall.
Being successful in the job market really depends on graduates' willingness to look at relocation and varieties of opportunities and the economic costs of businesses, said Carlson. Although competition has increased, hiring is on the rise.
"But the fuel prices probably don't help entry-level grads," he joked.
