Despite the economic ups and downs of their four years in college, this group of graduating seniors enters a job market with excellent prospects, according to Career Center director Hilary Flanagan.
"This year's job market really is good," Flanagan said. "When [the seniors] came in as freshmen, it was a really different picture in terms of the national job market than it is now."
Statistics about the Class of 2013's post-graduation plans are not yet available, but Flanagan said the Career Center will collect that data at graduation ticket pickup.
Career counselor Robyn Centilli said she expects most graduating seniors to have a job or other plans for after graduation.
"I would say, without having all of the numbers and the data, ... [the hiring rate is] probably going to be pretty comparable to last year or previous years, where a higher percentage of our students are graduating with some type of future plans," Centilli said. "I don't want to say just jobs, because we have a large percentage of our student population that will do service for a year or two, or are going to graduate school in some form."
Notre Dame graduates typically face many job opportunities, Flanagan said. Centilli said she expects graduates to build on relationships with alumni and employers despite the volatile economic climate.
"We have a very loyal alumni base, but we also have very loyal employers because of the quality of our students," Centilli said. "Even when the market was down, recruiting didn't really see that fluctuation here because of the fact that they wanted to continue that partnership."
Flanagan said approximately three percent of seniors typically graduate without future plans, but she noted that they may continue to use Career Center services.
"We don't cease and desist," she said. "When they walk across the stage, it doesn't mean that the University is done with them. If they're within one year of graduation, it's basically, as far as we're concerned, like they didn't leave."
Flanagan said the Career Center has many resources to prepare students to enter today's unpredictable job market.
"[We are] getting the students ready to think about how to market themselves in terms of [their] own unique personal brand as a student," she said. "How you market that in 2013 and beyond is a lot less about getting your foot in the door somewhere and being there for 60 years. That's not the world of work that you all are entering."
Centilli said the Career Center's services are available to all students. The Center performs résumé and cover letter reviews, and it helps students with networking and interviewing skills.
Contact Nicole McAlee at nmcalee@nd.edu
