Release date: April 30, 2004
Contact: Beverly Cox Clark, Assistant Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-712-8780 or bclark2@emory.edu

Emory Seniors See Better Job Prospects This Year

While the economy and the job market have yet to recover to the heady days of the late 1990s, Emory University seniors are seeing an improvement in their job prospects this year.

Tariq Shakoor, director of Emory's Career Center, says this year's job market "has absolutely improved from the past four years, but at this point we're not sure by how much. If we can build on it next year, we can feel safe that there is a legitimate upturn in the economy."

Terri Straw, director of corporate recruiting, says the past two years have been "miserable," but this year saw a 10 percent increase in on-campus recruiting, and the spring jobs fair was the largest in four years in terms of the number of employers.

"All signs indicate that the job market is definitely picking up for college students, at least here at Emory," Shaw says. "We're also seeing the recruiting cycle extended further into the year, with recruiters still coming in May, which is unprecedented."

Although most students head for the corporate sector, biology major Amy Rubinson is one of 27 soon-to-be graduates hired by Teach for America, the largest employer by far this year, along with the Peace Corps. Rubinson says she applied for other non-profit and corporate jobs, but felt that the job market was still tough.

"I felt lucky to find a job, but I'm excited about doing Teach for America. I think it will be a very rewarding two years, and an opportunity to figure out what I want to do long term while hopefully contributing to others," Rubinson says.

Kolade Apata, a native of Nigeria and a computer science and finance major, turned down a job on Wall Street to work for the Boston Consulting Group, a highly competitive job for those going into consulting. He found the job through networking with an Emory alumnus who works for the company, and making it through two rounds of interviews.

"The job market has definitely improved. The last two years were extremely disappointing and many qualified Emory seniors faced a tough job market. At the time, employers had information sessions on campuses even though they were not hiring. This year they are. They have increased their recruiting efforts and I have benefited from that experience because it gave me more options," he says.

Business major Stephanie Seibert landed a job with AT Kearney, a consulting firm in Atlanta, although going into her senior year, she was worried about her prospects.

"After seeing the trouble that many of my friends from the past two years had finding jobs, I was expecting quite a challenge," she says. "There were more jobs available than I had expected but the jobs were all very competitive. The job search itself was a constant mix of nervousness and excitement. It's overwhelming to think that you are about to begin the next phase of your life, but it's exciting to know that you're going to start putting years of education to use."

Back