Seniors face a very cold job market

Here are a few facts about employment (or the lack thereof): (1) the economy grew at the remarkable rate of 7.2 percent in the third quarter of this year, but there was still negative job growth. (2) The economy must add 130,000 jobs every month simply to maintain a constant employment rate. (3) As of late October, new claims for unemployment insurance were at slightly below 400,000 per week, the number that corresponds with zero job growth. (That is zero, bupkis, zilch, the big goose egg).

Essentially, the economy seems to be in a jobless recovery in which the employment market continues to shrink while the labor market continues to grow.

Why should I, or any Hopkins student, care about these numbers?

For us graduating Hopkins seniors, both those of us graduating at the end of this semester, and those graduating in May, these numbers actually do mean something extremely concrete: we're going to be jobless!

Of course, there will be a few of us who are lucky enough to actually find a lowly job somewhere and be able to barely cover our rent checks on our own. For a large portion of us, however, we will be required to job hunt for weeks, and probably months, until we find something, anything.

Everyone who knows a recently graduated member of the Class of 2003 knows how hard zero, and sometimes negative, job growth has been on us college students.

I personally know many friends who did all the right things while at Hopkins, graduated with honors, had internships, networked, went to job fairs, but came up empty for several long months once they hit the job market. Some are still unemployed.

It wasn't so long ago that a Hopkins bachelor's degree meant something in the job market. Now it's, "Your resume looks great, but unfortunately we're not hiring right now. We'll keep your resume on file, though!" Anyone can figure it out; go online and read the job listings and soon you'll come to the same conclusion as many recently-graduated and soon-to-be graduating students have: no one's hiring.

Of course, there are many ripple effects of such imbalance in the job market -- low labor demand, high supply -- besides joblessness. Positions previously open to job seekers with only a bachelor's degree now state "Masters Degree in a related field required." The desirable jobs, the ones that deal with substance, are not only harder to get, but they pay less than before.

What we lowly possessors of bachelor's degrees are starting to realize is that in order to get a job, we need to lower our expectations dramatically. A bachelor's degree from a top-20 school no longer means you will automatically find a great position in which you can start applying those well-honed skills your parent's money bought you. It now means you will be the voice on the phone saying "Thank you for calling [fill in the organization title of your choice]. How may I help you?"

How about those who decide to forgo the harsh job market and apply to graduate or law or medical school? Naturally zero to negative job growth pushes admissions standards at those institutions ever higher, as well. Getting into one of these programs is now harder than ever.

So what all this boils down to is that to get a good job, you often need a higher degree, but getting admitted to a school that will give you a higher degree is harder now than ever.

It also boils down to the fact that, if you decide to try the job market, you will probably be filling a lower position for less money than you anticipated you eventually would when you were a wide-eyed freshman.

The next time you read The New York Times or The Economist for your economics class and see "High GDP Growth, Zero Job Growth," or "New Unemployment Insurance Claims Up," think twice before moving on to the next article.

These numbers mean something extremely direct for students everywhere. And next time you call a company or organization and hear a youthful voice asking if they can assist you, take notes on their demeanor, phrasing and efficiency because you could be on the other end of that phone line sooner than you think.

Joel Meyer is a senior International Studies major from Piedmont, Calif.