Outlook for job seekers not bad

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

Contrary to concerns that the war in Iraq will put a dent in job prospects for graduating seniors, recruiting is in full swing at Hawai'i college campuses — with security and war-related fields flourishing.

"We've had recruiters from the Mainland, big companies, come down to recruit, and none have canceled out or told us 'Because of the war we're unable to come,' " said Cheryl Yamashiro, employer liaison for the University of Hawai'i Career Counseling Service.

The country's domestic intelligence agency, the FBI, is looking for 900 special agents and support personnel this year, and Raytheon — a defense contractor specializing in stealth guidance systems and Tomahawk missiles — will be here hunting engineers, plus math, physics and astronomy majors. And a number of new companies are opening Hawai'i offices and want graduates in a variety of majors.

About 30 companies in the tourism industry will be at the UH campus at the rate of one a day through April looking for Travel Industry Management School graduates, and internships in the College of Business are pouring in, though more than usual are unpaid.

All this is taking place amid an array of conflicting economic indicators. While Leroy Laney, Hawai'i Pacific University economics professor and Bank of Hawai'i analyst, sees a continuing flat economy because of "lack of job creation" here and nationwide, Hawai'i's jobless rate dropped to 3 percent last month, the lowest in 12 years, indicating growing strength in the economy.

"Basically the job market looks pretty healthy right now," said Byron Gangnes, associate professor of economics at UH. "There's a lot of recent evidence of job market recovery. I know we're going to be affected (by the war) ... but at least we're starting from a healthier spot than a few months ago."

"To be honest," said Carl Bonham, also a UH associate professor of economics, "we may actually face a greater risk from SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) than the war."

Lianne Maeda, director of HPU's Career Services Center, said that while there are still "lingering effects" of uncertainty among students because of Sept. 11, the war isn't dampening employer enthusiasm. "Employers aren't scaling back recruiting," she said. "I haven't seen a decrease in job postings. It's basically business as usual."

These conflicting signs have not been lost on the students, who also waver between confidence and concern. Accounting and marketing senior Kelly Yokote, 23, began her job search in earnest in January, scanning newspaper ads, poring over Web sites, hitting job fairs.

"Being a graduating senior, not knowing what's going to happen, you're always cautious," she said. "I'm having problems finding entry-level positions. A lot of what I'm finding requires five to 10 years experience."

Various strategies

Even if Yokote doesn't land the West Coast job she dreams of, she's heading to the Mainland regardless, with a fall-back position of "taking anything" and savings that should stretch six months.

"I think there's a lot of hope the war will be over by the time they move into the job market in the summer," said Pauline Sheldon, interim dean of the TIM School, of which graduates are placed at a 98 percent rate. "But in TIM, there are always more jobs than our students can fill."

Liane Kaneko, another 23-year-old marketing major, calls herself lucky. A friend's mother passed the word of a job opening in the state office where she works, and when Kaneko applied, she was hired on the spot. "It's not really accounting, but it's a good start," Kaneko said. "I feel like I'm one of the fortunate ones."

Nationally, the hottest jobs for 2003 graduates include accounting, but also financial planning, pharmacy, investigation, corporate librarian and nursing. The hottest industries? Preventive healthcare, security, insurance, biotechnology — all catering to the increased needs of aging baby boomers and a more fearful post- Sept. 11 society.

That makes Clyde Campos golden. A 22-year-old graduating in mechanical engineering from UH, Campos is being wooed by the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, which plans to hire 50 engineers annually during the next four years.

But he isn't sure he wants it. "It's a good job, but I just don't think it's for me. Am I feeling the pressure of war? Yeah. But I really look at the job description and the atmosphere where I'm going to be working. They do maintenance engineering. I want to do design work."

Some of the new companies opening offices in Hawai'i are in healthcare, Yamashiro said, and several have been on the phone regularly. "The positions they're looking for are entry-level management, and it doesn't matter what major," she said, "as long as you have your bachelor's degree."

In general, counselors say college seniors are slow to start the transition from a comfy collegiate life to the harsh realities of job-hunting and a 9-to-5 world, and this year is no different despite the uncertainty that the war brings to the economy. Résumés are dribbling in to the career center, and students are waiting until the last minute to schedule interviews with recruiters. "I think they're just particular in what it is they want to look at first," Yamashiro said.

Eager employers

For their part, employers are just eager to meet the graduates.

"We take all disciplines," said Honolulu FBI Special Agent Kal Wong. Along with openings for accountants, attorneys, architects, medical technologists, biologists, computer and electronics specialists and others, the bureau wants graduates with language abilities.

"Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic, Persian, Spanish, Punjabi, Urdu," Wong said.

Science and Technology International, a high-tech Hawai'i company building imaging equipment for airplanes, plans to hire two dozen people by the end of the year, and Raytheon expects to be booked solid interviewing about 50 graduates next week.

"We've been fairly aggressive in the job market over the last several years," said STI's Diane Kurtz, senior vice president of finance and administration. The company is thriving, especially since it refocused from peering into outer space to scrutinizing "inner space" — that critical arena between an airplane and earth.

"Our company has been growing and expanding," Kurtz said. "Last year we hired around 15 people."

But even fields unrelated to military, security or defense are offering hiring possibilities. At Senplex Corp., an O'ahu air-conditioning firm, recruiter Evelyn Sakugawa is looking for engineering and business graduates.

"Is the war causing us to cut back?" she asked. "No. We're looking for people. We have a need now, and it's a need we're trying to fill."

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.