The class of 2011 has left McGill, diplomas in hand, eager and career-ready. However, realizing these goals has proved to be challenging for some. The current economic climate, combined with the fact that college students typically experience a period of unemployment after graduation, has caused a great deal of anxiety among both recent and soon-to-be grads.

“In terms of the job market, since graduation, and even during fourth year, when many students are interviewing for jobs, it has been tough,” Erik Reed, a graduate of the class of 2011 with a joint degree in physics and history, said.

Reed, who is pursuing a career in business, has been looking for a job since graduation. So far, he hasn’t found one.

Michael Ammendolia, a 2011 graduate from the faculty of management, has a job, but agrees with Reed.

“Not many companies are hiring, so the job hunt is competitive,” Ammendolia said.  

The current unemployment rate for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher in Canada is 5.5 per cent, according to Statistics Canada (which does not keep a record of unemployed recent graduates).  In the United States, unemployment for the same demographic was 4.6 per cent for the month of August, up 0.3 per cent since June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

According to Thomas Velk, professor of economics at McGill, graduates today may be unprepared for the working world.

“I think [the job search] is okay if you have been studying something pretty serious. For example, if you can do software design, if you can call yourself a specialist in mathematical finance, if you can do hard things, if you have a serious accountancy degree, if you have a serious engineering degree. I think students [from fields like engineering and accounting] are getting good jobs … However, if you have not trained yourself for a really useful occupation, you’re in a lot of trouble,” Velk said.

Velk adds that there is a skills mismatch between what companies are looking for and what applicants have. While jobs are available, they may be difficult to obtain.

“I think it’s always been true that, during the worst phases of the business cycle, only the most talented, aggressive, hardworking, gifted, et cetera, students get jobs. Unless you’re in that fraction, you either have to accept something a lot less remunerative than you thought or you go back to school and train yourself in one of these other occupations.”

This could explain why Ammendolia, who has a degree in management, an in-demand field, found a job, while Reed, who does not have an in-demand degree, did not.

“In some cases I can chalk it up to the fact that I’m not a bachelor of commerce,” Reed said.

“[Graduates like me are] just not offering [employers] the type of [easily-employable] plug-and-play graduates they’re looking for in this market.”

According to Gregg Blachard, Director of McGill Career and Planning Services (CaPS), this is to be expected.

“Arts students have to do more work because they have to do that focus and targeting, and their degree doesn’t match their industry,”  Blachard said.

This is by no means cause for arts students to despair, according to Blachard.

“The message is: it will work out, but it takes energy and thinking and work to get a job.”

Blachard explained that McGill’s CaPS program could help students with their search for a job, and encouraged all students to take advantage of the services offered to them by McGill.

“People who use our services will have a better chance of finding a job than those who don’t,” Blanchard said.

Ammendolia echoed this sentiment.

“Speak with a career adviser about how your resume looks and compare it to what your career is looking for in terms of experience and knowledge,” Ammendolia said.

From the business perspective, companies are hiring, but the workers they are hiring tend to be highly specialized, according to Andrea Gilpin, a representative for Pfizer, one of the Montreal area’s largest employers.

“It’s a combination of education and previous work experience,”  Gilpin said about the type of skill-sets that Pfizer looks for.

Even with the highly specialized nature of their employees, Gilpin indicated that the economy has made labour abundant and finding workers easy.

“There’s a bit of a surplus of people looking for jobs. The industry … has had a number of layoffs. There’s a good number of people right now who are skilled who are looking for work,” Gilpin said.

Some recent graduates, like former SSMU General Assembly Speaker Cathal Rooney-Cespedes, had advice for students on how to better find employment.

“If you know exactly what you want to do, do it before you graduate by way of internship. This is by far the most successful method to getting a job,” Rooney-Cespedes said.

“As a BA student, it is very hard to attract an employer simply because you have a certain degree. Find the extracurricular opportunities at McGill that you know will look good for your career and make the most out of the experience, all the while enjoying it.”

Blachard had similar advice.

“Develop skills and interests in the McGill community,” Blachard said. “Get involved—in what you love, and not just to get it on your CV … and [have] achievements in that activity, not just [by] being a member but becoming a ‘changer’ [in] that group [through] developing activities, moving in a new direction, [or] developing a new strategy.”