2004 graduates enjoy best chance in years of landing job

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

Franklin Clay turns in his blue jeans and steel-toed boots this week for slacks and button-down collars as he says goodbye to college and a part-time job to join thousands of other graduates across the country in his first professional position.

University of Hawai'i graduate Franklin Clay is leaving his part-time job operating a forklift at Madison Services in Wahiawa for an entry-level position in advertising. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

"Normally, you intern for a year or two at the tail end of senior year, and then you hope to step up and have a chance," he said.

But after graduating yesterday with a degree in communications from the University of Hawai'i, Clay starts an entry-level advertising job in a week with McNeil Wilson Communications.

"I didn't think I was going to get in this easily," he said.

It's a good year to be graduating from college. Economic experts point to a strengthening economy and expanding job market in Hawai'i, and even in some Mainland job sectors.

"The economy itself is looking better than it has in over a decade," said Leroy Laney, professor of economics and finance at Hawai'i Pacific University and a consultant to First Hawaiian Bank. "We're looking at one of the better labor markets we've had in years."

Through the 1990s, job growth was in the basement, typically far less than 1 percent a year when there was any, Gangnes said. In four of those years, the state lost jobs. From the first quarter of 2003 to the first quarter this year, the increase was 1.5 percent, among the best since the early 1990s.

"The job market has continued to strengthen," said Gangnes, "and if you look at different industry information, nearly every part of the local economy has been adding jobs over last year. It's almost across the board."

Casie Singh is counting on that. Within a few weeks of starting an unpaid internship in February with the Honolulu Medical Examiner's office at the city morgue, Singh knew she had found her calling, but she also knew job prospects were slim.

Singh graduates in December, and already has sent out job applications in hopes of staying in Hawai'i.

"I'm still waiting to hear from Tripler Army Medical Center for a federal job in forensic toxicology," she said. "It's not easy, depending on what your degree is in. Some people find it tough, but some have been lucky. People in business can get pretty good training jobs in management."

With the job market improving nationally, Norm Stahl, director of career services at UH-Hilo, lured 43 employers to a career fair on the Big Island campus this year — a 60 percent increase over three years ago — and launched a Web site where 165 employers have posted jobs for the school's 429 new graduates.

"Employers (nationally) plan to hire about 11 percent more new college graduates from the class of 2004 than they did from the class of 2003," said Stahl, citing data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which tracks work force trends.

"That's the first significant increase since 2001. Indications are that the economy's improving, and employers expect they're going to need more entry-level folks."

Alison Houghton, Chaminade's director of career services, has managed to steer a good many jobs to students through e-mail outreach. "In the last two I've sent out, there were 12 organizations with jobs, and often multiple jobs," she said.

"My impression is that many banks have positions at the moment. City Bank made a comment that even with the merger the positions were still available. There's just generally a steady flow of positions in banking. And the insurance industry, I know, is looking for people. They have a lot of people nearing retirement over the next five years and they need to replace them. They need to be bringing on people all the time."

The job market is being helped as well because the leading edge of the baby boom generation is within a heartbeat of retirement. And while entry-level positions may pay only $20,000 to $30,000 to start, opportunities for advancement will come quickly.

"The large percentage of our graduate students have clearly got work already," said Houghton. But many also are deciding the time is right to pursue an advanced degree to put them in an even better position two or three years down the road, as boomers retire and open up even more space.

"If (students) just had a diploma, they'd really be at a disadvantage," said Bieberly, whose program requires completion of an internship. "In this business, you don't just go in with a degree. You have to go in with your work samples and a portfolio. We encourage them to do work in class that builds their portfolio, and an internship helps build that."

Work experience, a portfolio, a professional-looking résumé, and work-related activities during college all made a difference when David McNeil was looking to hire the right people for his McNeil Wilson Communications. In sorting through 250 applications for two entry-level positions, the fact that Yvette Mackler of Chaminade had interned with his office carried weight. She starts today.

"When it comes time we're hiring, we go back and take a look at the interns we have and the ones we've recently had, and also others who respond (with résumés), and it does show they've taken initiative," McNeil said.

"It shows they have a passion for the industry and they've taken the time to do something more and do the extra work, and that's something that catches our attention."

Employers increasingly are looking for ways to find the best applicant in the most expedient way. For David Izat, managing director of Prudential Financials, whose company hopes to add 10 people this year, it means abandoning "cold recruiting," such as newspaper advertising, in favor of "warm-source recruiting.

"We've found we've been able to reduce turnover by going to warm-source recruiting, which means we have to have a personal relationship with the source of the candidates, such as a network of contacts, a business partner, the Chamber of Commerce," Izat said. "We're the first company to go exclusively to warm-source recruiting in the industry, and this is becoming more common in the financial arena."

For instance, a mixer at HPU helped identify several potential hires. "We've developed a good relationship with HPU where they refer people to us," Izat said. "They've referred a couple who've been very successful."

For new college graduates, that means being creative — and assertive. It means thinking ahead by planning internships and professional activities during college years, then scanning newspaper ads and the Internet and also sending out résumés as graduation approaches.

"It's not always the best answer to assume that the jobs available are the ones advertised in the newspaper," said Chaminade's Houghton. "Students should be approaching employers where they want to work even if vacancies haven't been advertised. If a good applicant walks in, they'd rather take that person than test the market. That's my advice: Take the initiative and follow up where your interests are."

It all means that finding a competitive edge is only getting tougher. In a report as far back as 1992, the federal government's Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that "college graduates entering the work force during the period 1990-2005 are projected to encounter increased competition for college-level jobs."

That hasn't been lost on Wahiawa's Vanessa Katz, who earns her bachelor of arts degree with a major in advertising from Hawai'i Pacific University this week at the Waikiki Shell.

Holding down a part-time job as an advertising assistant at HPU managing a $30,000 budget, and being named Most Promising Minority Student by the American Advertising Foundation, has meant landing a prestigious New York internship.

"Before I won that award, I was thinking of going to grad school, because I didn't have that edge in the advertising world — because most agencies hire people with portfolios or master's," Katz said.

She credits fine-tuning her resume with a professional — a step she recommends to all job applicants. "It's your foot-in-the-door. You have two minutes to catch the recruiter's attention with it," she said, "or you're in the trash with the rest of them."

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

Correction: A previous version of this story contained incorrect numbers for non-farm jobs in Hawai'i and their growth.