Stephanie Black just received her degree in psychology from Sacramento State this past weekend. And now she's ready to enter the workforce.
"I was a little nervous but now I'm really excited to move on."
She doesn't have a psychology job lined up yet. Her dream is
to work in neuropsychology, researching Alzheimer's disease.
"Now I'm looking to research experience or internship
experience while I'm looking for a job too."
And that's been a growing option for new grads - internships.
Beth Merritt-Miller heads Academic Advising at Sacramento State's
Career Center.
"We have a lot more interest from employers to hire
interns than we did a few years ago."
Merritt-Miller says when she began working at the Career
Center six years ago companies were still hiring new grads for
full-time employment. That was before the recession.
"Then when the turn hit in about 2008 or so, employers
just started cutting back on everything. And now, employers are
being much more prudent in their recruiting cycles."
That's one reason employment among people 16 to 24 years old
in the U.S. is at the lowest level since the 1950s. Recent federal
numbers show the youth unemployment rate at 17%.
"They don't have the same level of experience; they're not
as attuned to the workforce as the older population."
Edwin Koc is with a group that tracks the employment of
college students - the National Association of Colleges and
Employers.
He says among employers who are hiring young people - paid
interns appear to have an advantage over the unpaid.
"In our student survey, 60% of those who had applied for a
job had at least one job offer. By comparison, unpaid internships -
only 40% had a job offer."
Paid or unpaid - Beth Merritt-Miller at Sacramento State's
Career Center says internships are valuable.
"It's not just filing - I think a lot of students think
that in an internship they're not going to really learn anything.
They're going to learn a lot on that job."
New grads looking for work can get career counseling and
resume help at the Career Center for six-months after they
graduate.
