As graduating college seniors brace themselves to enter one of the worst job markets in recent memory, campus career centers are rallying to lend students a hand through workshops, one-on-one assistance, concrete job leads and sometimes even a shoulder to cry on.
Late last month, New York University offered a seminar called “Recession-Proof Your Job Search.” Trudy G. Steinfeld, executive director of the university’s Wasserman Center for Career Development, asked the 60 or so job seekers in attendance: “How is everybody feeling?” Students called out: “fearful,” “desperate” and “panicked.”
Ms. Steinfeld tried to reassure the discouraged group. If they are applying for jobs in New York, she pointed out, they have an advantage over out-of-towners in that companies won’t have to pay for prospective hires’ travel for interviews or for relocation. “And entry-level hires are cheaper,” she reminded them.
Focus on fields in which sales are up, she said, or on services or products that people will not abandon, like alcohol and beverages. “People drink more during recessions,” she joked. And look at historically recession-proof fields; these include beauty, utilities and health care–and not just patient care. The health care industry needs technicians and people to work in finance, administration and marketing, she said.
