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Credit: Nick Romanenko
Two job candidates scour a list of more
than 230 employers and set up a plan of
attack at the recent New Jersey
Collegiate Career Day.
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If Richard White, director of career services at Rutgers in New Brunswick, had to advise his 12-year-old son on a good, solid career choice, he would suggest accounting.
“The supply of accountants is the lowest it has been in 10 years,” White said at the New Jersey Collegiate Career Day, held Jan. 4 at Brower Commons and the Rutgers Student Center in New Brunswick. He also said the nursing and teaching fields are likely to experience high demand for years to come.
White and the career services office look to this twice-a-year event, which began in 1987, as a bellwether of New Jersey’s job market. This year’s fair delivered some good news for job seekers. More than 230 employers reserved booths. That is the highest number of firms looking for workers since before Sept. 11, 2001. Last year, 182 employers attended the event.
“In January 2002, right after 9/11, we had 4,800 candidates. It was more than the event could handle,” White said. “Anxiety, panic and uncertainty were pervading the country and the job market.”
This year, a healthy but manageable 2,300 job-seekers moved through the display booths, with many lining up at brand-name employers such as L’Oreal, Target, Philip Morris and Merck. Small, local businesses came in droves as well, looking for the best new hires. “Employers like to come to Rutgers. They love our students because they are well-prepared and eager,” said Janet Bernardin, coordinator of special programs with Career Services and manager of the event.
While many of the candidates are Rutgers students and graduates, the job fair is open to anybody in New Jersey. “It’s part of our service mission as a public university,” White said. Its early January date acts as a draw to students who go to school out-of-state but want to find work at home. The job fair is just one measure to reverse the tide of New Jersey’s “brain drain.” More than 50 percent of New Jersey high school graduates attend college out of state.
With many open positions in the financial and sales industries – accounting, marketing, finance and any business-related field were some of the most popular majors sought – a Rutgers College senior like Dillon Yeung had many choices. Although he is a psychology major, Yeung just became interested in finance this year. “Psychology deals with human behavior and consumer behavior. I think they correlate with each other,”
said Yeung, who left his resume with several employers.
Fortunately, graduates looking for work in other fields can attend Career Services’ 12 fairs throughout the year geared toward education, computer science, government and nonprofit jobs, among other industries. In February alone, Career Services staff are busy preparing for Internship Career Day Feb. 3, New Jersey Diversity Career Day Feb. 17 and Education Career Day Feb. 24.
Many employers were not only seeking full-time workers but also summer employees and interns. Erik Velthaus, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering, went in search of a summer internship. He said attending the career fair felt like attending “an underground, secret meeting” since he found opportunities not available on the Web or in classified advertisements. “I am definitely going to take advantage of any other events that give me leverage in my internship search,” Velthaus said after the event.
Kinyotta Dollar, who is studying environmental policies, institutions and behavior at Cook College, came to a realization at the career fair.
“It’s very difficult trying to find employment in my major. My best bet is to get ready for graduate school,” Dollar said. “I don’t see any opportunity now. Most people need at least a master’s degree. I’m just realizing that now.”
While helpful, a master’s degree won’t come in too handy for a job-seeker like Dominick Durante. A 57-year-old information technology specialist, Durante was laid off from his job at a chemical company in northern New Jersey. He heard about the Career Services event from another laid-off friend.
“Hopefully we can make some connections here,” Durante said. “I have the feeling a lot of IT jobs are going to India. That’s how I lost my job. I’ve given a couple of people my resume. This is a very nice job fair, but overall the search has been tough. At this point, I’ll take whatever I can to bridge me until I retire.”
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