It’s graduation season, and as students prepare to leave college life behind, some say they aren’t ready to enter the workforce. WAMC’s Samantha Simmons spoke with students at two Capital Region higher education institutions and has this report.
In the well of concrete known as the main fountain at the University at Albany, students study in the sun before taking a dip post-graduation. Jeremy Daly is hanging out with friends. Daly is a history major, but he doesn’t plan on putting his degree to work — at least directly. He’s going into the trades to be an electrician.
“It’s kind of what I it's what I realized I wanted to do before college, but I still just wanted to go to college to I guess, meet people,” Daly said.
“Do you regret going to college and spending the money instead of just starting right out of high school in like a trade?
“It's a question I've asked myself a lot,” Daly said. “No, because I met good people.”
Daly says he’s excited to get his life started and spend time with his family and friends.
Students like Daly are entering an uncertain job market. While statewide unemployment rates were down .1 percent in March from 4.3 percent to 4.2 percent, according to the New York State Department of Labor, many businesses and state agencies have paused hiring while awaiting clarity on the tariff wars.
Across the river, students at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy are weighing their choices between entering the workforce or continuing on to a four-year school.
Playing volleyball with classmates, Ryan Connors will be graduating this year. Connors, who plans to transfer to a four-year school, says he is not worried about finding a job. A business administration major, Connors says it can’t be that hard.
“I don't think job security is a huge worry. I think even in the today's society, if you don't have a job, there's still always ways to make money,” Connors said. “You know, everyone has access to the internet here, and if you do, there's absolutely no excuses to not make money. You know, I'd really hope for a good job, but if not, the only thing stopping me, besides that, is laziness.”
Around the corner, Tyler Hines is leaving class. Hines, a digital media major, has been doing freelance work and making connections to design websites, create logos, and more.
“My family had connections, so I met with their connections, and those people work for the state, so kind of just solidified relationships with those people so I could rely on them when needed,” Hines said.
Some students, however, are pushing off the working world to pursue higher education. Clare Hart studies psychology and sociology at UAlbany. She says she hasn’t done any internships or clinicals yet, but suggests undergrads do. Hart was accepted to grad school at UAlbany, but is deferring for a year. In the meantime, she’ll be teaching in a job she got through a relative’s husband.
“I feel like I've been lucky or taken everything kind of for granted, and maybe I'll get, like, a rude awakening,” Hart said. “So, I guess I am a little nervous.”
Noah Simon is UAlbany’s Director of Career and Professional Development. Simon has worked for the university for 18 years. He says getting a job this year is not any harder than past years for most students. Simon says college goes by quick and some students are in denial when it’s time to move on. He adds the department has seen an increase in first-year students using the service.
“Some students are more eager to engage that process post college and others, and it's not going to change this year,” Simon said. “It's not going to change this year. It's not going to change the next not going to change in the next 10 years. Students are going to be students, and some are going to put it off until they have to tackle it, and others are going to engage it earlier.”
Simon says locally, cuts to federal funding in fields like environmental and social work haven’t affected students’ job search yet.
“I think there is more awareness certainly seeing some of the cuts that are happening in federal government, and looking at opportunities, but that's something we always talk about. Too often, individuals in their job search get stuck in I'm studying x, so I've got to go work in this field. And we need all job seekers and students, of course, to say, what I'm studying,” Simon said. “And you name it. It could be a psychology, it could be an account, it can be anything. You know, maybe I should look in other industries, and it's getting students to broaden their horizons.”
