2009 has turned out to be a better-than-expected job market for recent graduates, says Lee Svete, director of the Notre Dame Career Center. 

According to a survey conducted annually during graduation week by the Office of Institutional Research, 29 percent of the Class of 2009 have accepted employment, while 20 percent are still looking.

Median starting salaries ranged from $50,000 for Arts and Letters graduates—an increase from the 2008 figure of $48,000—to $66,000 for engineering graduates, up from $63,000 in 2008.

The number of students planning to attend graduate school held steady at 33 percent, while the number pursuing service opportunities increased by two percentage points to 12 percent. The percentage of those planning on military service was unchanged at two percent.  

The job market ground to a halt nationally after Christmas, Svete says. “In February and March, it was scary. I was not sleeping.”

Considering the market, Svete notes, 20 percent still seeking employment is a low number at the college level. “But by Notre Dame standards of the past five or six years, it’s high.”

One positive for Notre Dame graduates is that only six students had job offers rescinded—at one Big Ten university, Svete notes, 106 had offers rescinded.

The Career Center also has noted a dramatic drop in the number of paid internships companies are offering. “At the Career Fair, 132 companies yielded one or two paid internships each, versus five or six previously.”

In response, the Career Center developed an “externship” program, Svete says. “Businesses said they couldn’t take any internships. We said we would fly the students in and give them $300 for expenses. Will you give them a project? A lot of alumni stepped forward on that. This year, 25 externships were funded. Next year, we hope to double that.”

The Career Center has also seen a dramatic increase in the number of advising sessions for students, from 4,700 to 5,800. “More students are being aggressive about their job search,” Svete says. “The ones who worked the hardest found opportunities with smaller companies.”

The Career Center continues to be proactive in helping students find employment. “I think we’ve weathered the storm,” Svete says. “We’ve been very resilient in dealing with what the market has thrown at us. 2010 will be the real test.”

Reprinted with permission from ND Works