U.S. Campus life Will work for pay By Masako Yamada	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
就職難の時代 ボストン大学就職フェアで、企業が学生に無料配布したグッズの数々。

Many companies in the States actively recruit college students, both undergraduate and graduate, in the fall. Right now, students who are planning on graduating in the spring of 2002 are actively seeking jobs. It's the "recruiting season." It's true that most companies hire year-round when there are open positions, but it's still the case that many students try to get a job lined up by the winter of their last year in college.

I'm no exception. I would like to graduate next spring and I have started participating in recruiting activities this fall. Last week, I attended a job fair at Boston University. This week, I will be attending a company information session. At the end of this month, I will be attending another job fair. I've written several versions of my resume and I've gathered a list of people who would be willing to offer recommendations.

On the surface, it seems that I'm engaging in lots of job-hunting activities and that the possibilities are many. I've gotten a lot of promotional materials from different companies touting their superior job opportunities. However, the dominant opinion of the job-hunters I've spoken to is that the recruiting terrain are extremely rough this year. Even business schools are admitting that having an MBA is not a form of magical insurance that makes one immune to economic downturns. A friend of mine at Harvard Business School told me that she's already been rejected by companies that, in the past, she would have considered beneath her.

For a couple of years already, people have been complaining that the economy has been terrible. Finding a job has not been as easy as during the dot-com era. One of my friends who graduated from a top business school last year did everything he could to try to get a job in Boston. He was forced to accept a job in Washington D.C. since it was the only reasonable offer he got. However, now he's grateful that he even has that job. I suspect he has suspicions that he might lose it.

Stories of minimally qualified people getting maximally compensated Internet jobs seem like fantasies Eor even jokes Enow. The economy has certainly not been doing well this year to begin with, but the Sept. 11 attacks have pushed many companies near or over the edge. The companies in relatively good shape still come to job fairs to recruit new employees, but even they admit they are looking for only a fraction of the people they usually hire. Companies in slightly worse shape accept new employees but tell them they'll have to delay their start dates by a few months or a year. Companies in bad shape have hiring freezes and are not recruiting this year. Companies in the worst shape are executing mass layoffs or are going completely bankrupt.

Over 120 companies were originally registered to recruit at the job fair I'm attending at the end of the month. Almost half of them have pulled out, including many established multinational companies. I'm finding it difficult to choose interesting companies from among those that are still coming to the job fair (although the fact that they are coming at all probably means they are durable, resilient companies). I imagine that the attendees of the job fair will be competing aggressively over the few positions with these companies, and that the companies will be in a position to pick and choose the best among those. I've heard that on some college campuses, the number of companies recruiting at jobs fairs is one third of the usual number.

A friend who started a well-paying job at an investment bank a couple of months ago told me that he would not have been able to get the same job after Sept. 11.

I'm still researching different companies in order to find my dream job Eor at least a job that I like Ebut I know that I shouldn't set my heart on a particular position. I have to support myself, and I might have to accept a job that is not ideal. This is not the time for me to reach for the stars. This is the time for me to be grateful for the small bounties in my life. And I am.

Shukan ST: Oct. 19, 2001

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