3 On Your Side: Many College Grads Not Working In Careers Requiring Degrees
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 5.8 percent in October, the lowest level since July 2008 and down from 7.2 percent a year earlier. Employers have now added at least 200,000 jobs for nine straight months -- the longest such stretch since 1995.
While those unemployment figures seem to be heading in the right direction, they don't always paint the full picture. The numbers don't include people who've stopped looking for work or those that are under-employed, which as 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan found, includes many recent college graduates.
Adelyn Maldonado got a full time job after she graduated from college with a degree in media studies. Unfortunately it's not the job she wanted. For now she waits tables at night and during the day applies for media jobs, but nothing has come through. She says, "a lot of resumes, a lot of replying online and hearing nothing back, very discouraging after a while."
A new survey from Careerbuilder.com looked at recent college graduates with a job. Like Maldonado, half are working in a field that does not require a degree. According to Michael Erwin of Careerbuilder, "Four in ten college students say college didn't prepare them for the real world."
Erwin believes colleges need to do more to help students prepare for a career. He says, "Academia has to work with businesses to figure out what the curriculum should be so when they do come out they can be placed in jobs that meet their skills."
The survey found graduates who majored in healthcare, science or technology were more likely to find work. Students who applied for a job well before graduation were more successful and internships also gave new graduates a leg up.
"I paid a lot of money for a degree and I want to put it to use," says Maldonado, who is hoping to find a job in her field and pay off almost $40,000 in student loans.
The survey also found 56 percent of college grads expect to make less than $30,000 their first year out of school.
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