Economy Causes College Students to Seek Alternative to Working after School

By: Neal O'Doherty

As current college seniors prepare to graduate, for some, the current economy has caused many to completely change their plans.

For the past few years, at Stonehill College, the rate of people who have a job at graduation or plan to go to graduate school has been around fifty seven percent.

“When I was in the middle of my college search, one of the reasons that I picked Stonehill was their eagerness to help students get jobs. Not to say that Career Services isn’t doing a lot to help us, but I still haven’t been able to find a job yet,” Shawn Torres, a senior economics major at Stonehill College, said.

There are a few different options seniors have as they approach their graduation.

One way to approach graduation is to have a job lined up

“I did an internship over the summer between my junior and senior years. When I finished with the internship, the accounting firm that I worked at offered me a job for after graduation,” Kevin Bonnett, a senior business major at Stonehill College, said.

If students aren’t ready to completely leave a school-like atmosphere, they have two options. The first option is to come back to the same college for a fifth year.

“There were a few different factors that influenced my decision to stay in school for a fifth year, but one of the biggest is the current economy. Trying to find a job right now, in this economy is next to impossible,” Greg Sanzari, a fourth year student with a communications major, at Stonehill College said.

Others are considering graduate school.

“Once next school year comes along, I expect that I will attend Villanova in Pennsylvania. Hopefully once I get out of there, the economy will be much better, and it will be easier for me to find a job,” Courtney Gaughan, a senior at Stonehill College, said.

Then there is the option of getting a low-paying job, then starting to look for a better job.

“I am currently a substitute teacher at an autistic school, but the pay isn’t great. I enjoy doing it, and I will continue to do it until I can find a better job, but I can’t wait until I’ll be able to start my career,” Tim Vyscocil, a senior business major at State University of New York at Albany.

A year of service to help people who are less fortunate is something some soon to be college graduates are pursuing.

“I had no idea what kind of job I wanted to pursuit after I got out of school, so I decided to apply for a position teaching English as a second language. I haven’t heard if I have gotten the position yet, but if I get it, that is what I am going to pursuit,” Sean Powell, a Philosophy/Political Science double major, at Stonehill College said.

There is one last option. Not to do anything at all.

“I have applied for jobs in a few different states, but I have yet to find anything that looks even remotely promising. I guess I’ll just continue to pursuit possible jobs, and see what that turns into,” Shawn Torres, senior economics major at Stonehill College, said.