Special to the Flash
There is good news for 2016 college graduates. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the hiring outlook for college graduates continues to improve as employers plan to hire 11 percent more new college graduates from the Class of 2016 for their U.S. operations than they did from the Class of 2015.
And the good news doesn’t stop there, the NACE survey also found that the perception of the job market among employers is also climbing. This year, 42 percent of employers that participated in the survey characterized the job market for Class of 2016 graduates as very good or excellent.
Just two years ago, only 18 percent of responding employers had the same lofty view of the job market for Class of 2014 graduates.
According to Lashanda Jordon, the director of the Career Services Center at Jackson State, “Graduates should utilize the resources that have been provided for them, like the Career Services Center, to assist with their job search. By now they should have made contact with the Career Services Center and activated their Tigers2Work account to peruse and apply for job opportunities.”
Jordan added: “Students should also research opportunities utilizing career websites, business journals/magazines, USAjobs.gov, along with various employer career opportunities websites. Graduating students should also network with faculty, staff, family, and friends to find out about other job opportunities that might be available.”
So what are JSU graduates doing to get those most sought after jobs?
“I’ve gone to a few conferences. One was a national conference, and I had a few interviews from there. A lot of the positions they were looking for are post-graduate, so I lot of them won’t get with me until after I graduate. I’ve also been doing a lot of searching on many job career websites such as Indeed and Career Builder. I’ve gotten a few calls back, but I’m still waiting on official offers,” said Khalal Walker, a senior from Fairfield, Calif.
Walker added: “I’m a computer science major, and there are a lot of people in my program, but I kind of want to be on the business side of it. I wouldn’t mind a business technology or business analyst type of job dealing with how processes work and once the code and program is done, it gets sent to me for business processing.”
So what jobs are in high demand in 2016? According to CareerBuilder.com, technology and health care sector jobs continue to lead the field in providing job opportunities.
Registered nurses came in at No. 1 with a whopping 296,631 average monthly job postings. Software developer positions are next with 114,921 average monthly job postings. Marketing managers, sales managers, medical and health services managers, network and computer systems administrators, industrial engineers, computer systems analysts, web developers and financial managers round out the list of top 10 in demand jobs.
JSU Career Services Center offers different services and programs to prepare and assist students with the career development process and post graduation employment services such as: Tigers2Work, professional development seminars, career fairs, on-campus recruitment, resume and interview preparation and more.
Throughout the year, the staff at the Career Services Center offers students a wide range services; such as career coaching, to assist students in developing realistic and innovative career goals. Job search preparation is also offered to provide assistance with resume and cover letter writing, and the interview process. The center provides on-line career services that include TypeFocus and Perfect Interview.
Congratulations to 2016 graduates who are prepared to walk off the stage and into the dream career. However, if you still need help, contact the JSU Career Services Center at 601-979-2477 for assistance.
