Alumni suffer in job market

Megan Pellegrino

Despite hard work and professional

experience, college graduates are having difficulty finding steady work in the declining job market.

“I finally got my break and I only saw room for growth and never expected my job to be in jeopardy,” Alyssa Moore, who graduated just this past May, said.

After a summer of job-searching, in August 2008, Moore finally thought she found a job that put her communication major to good use. She began at a health care publishing company as a post-graduate intern, performing the tasks of an editorial assistant, and was assured she would later be hired after a two-month trial period.

The internship was without pay but seemed to be leading to a great job. “With that being promised, I worked for the company everyday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. without pay . for two months straight to prove to them that I was a dedicated employee,” Moore said.

After two months, Moore then applied for the position of production associate and was accepted. The day she was to start as production associate, the company held a budget meeting, which resulted in downsizing-leaving Moore without a job.

So here she was, a victim of the world-wide economic downturn, just two months into her career.

Recent economic events have caused companies to lay off workers and not take on new employees. According to a report released by the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University in November, hiring for graduates at all degree levels will decrease by 8 percent.

Moore was not the only recent grad to be smacked in the face by the layoffs across the country. Brian Coary, Cabrini alumnus class of 2008, has found himself in the same position as Moore. After working for Ace Mortgage

Funding for three months as a residential loan officer, he is now without a job due to the company filing for bankruptcy.

“The banking division of Ace Mortgage had lost a large amount of money in 2008 and no longer had the resources to continue operations; so instead of trying to fix it they cut losses and said, we’re done,'” Coary said.

Ace Mortgage said it had between $1 million and $10 million of both assets and liabilities, and between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors, according to published reports.

Both Moore and Coary are having difficulty adjusting to their current situations and have turned to their parents for assistance.

Moore moved back home because she was unable to pay rent while Coary looks to his parents to help with rent so he can remain in the King of Prussia area.

“It has been an adjustment, but I have to keep reminding myself that it is not a permanent adjustment.

The economy will gradually pick up and hopefully I will find myself working again soon,” Moore said.

Hoping to find new work, both have their applications on various job search engines and are slowly beginning to receive interview offers.

While Moore is working part-time during her job search, Coary is collecting unemployment. Ace’s bankruptcy was filed in the third quarter, which means he will not receive unemployment based on his salary until Jan. 1. Coary is currently collecting unemployment from his part-time job while he was at Cabrini.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate rose to 6.5 percent in October, and the number of unemployed persons increased to 10.1 million. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 2.8 million and the unemployment rate has risen by 1.7 percentage points.

Coary is skeptical about his next position. “With the way the economy is I don’t want to get involved with another mortgage company. The same thing could easily happen and I don’t want to put myself in that situation again,” Coary said.

“I have become a lot less picky about what I want to do,” Moore said. “I have come to the conclusion that I will not get my dream job right off the bat and that I just have to work towards it.”