GREEN BAY (NBC 26) -- They've spent years working to get their degrees. Now, recent and upcoming college graduates are finding that their dream job may have to wait.
We recently brought several UW-Green Bay students together to get an insight into the job market as a new round of college graduates prepares to enter the workforce. Students said opportunities are fewer, and competition is higher.
“I’ll just use the buzzword from our time here - It’s an unprecedented situation that we’re in,” upcoming graduate Julia Kreitzer said.
Some students, like Kreitzer, began preparing for a backup plan. Kreitzer said she will start her career at Kohl's in a few months, but she also took a job with a local parks department that was hiring. Another student said he is prepared to go back to work he did in high school if recent interviews don't pan out. A third student said she's been job searching since she graduated in December and has been considering work in a different field than the one she graduated with.
Leaders at UW-GB's career services said these students are entering a vastly different job market than the one they prepared for. However, students can use this pandemic to their advantage when they are in interviews.
“They went from classroom learning to online learning, they had to adjust to that," UW-Green Bay's director of career services, Linda Peacock-Landrum, said. "Talk about their resiliency, talk about their focus and determination.”
Students have also learned a lot through their job searches, and shared some advice that could help others.
“Keep an open mind," upcoming graduate Jada Davis said. "You may not specifically be able to get into the field you want to after graduating right away, but those other skills that you have and the other background knowledge that you can bring to the table, use that as an opportunity to seek a job in something you maybe haven’t thought of before.”
Peacock-Landrum said students should also utlitize social media and other ways to maintain and expand on their networks. Those connections can open up new job opprtunities for students to find work.
