The Class Of 2012 On Jobs

Caps, gowns, and a still tough economy. We’ll talk with the Class of 2012 about jobs, strategies, and how the real world looks from Graduation Day.

The graduating class of 2012 caught a cosmic break – sort of. Just as the country’s economy was sliding into turmoil and meltdown four years ago, they went off to school, to college. As waves of layoffs and foreclosures swept the nation, they were tucked away in class and dorm room, more or less sheltered from the mayhem.

Now they’re donning caps and gowns and stepping out into the world, joining a lot of jobless recent grads and more looking for work. It’s better out there. But it can still be brutal, too.

This hour, On Point: we talk with the Class of 2012 about jobs.
-Tom Ashbrook

Carl Van Horn, director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University. You can find his recent report on the job situation for recent grads here.

Evan Merkelson, graduating from Marist College who majored in human resources.

Tia Johnson, a graduate of Augusta State University, who majored in communications.

Naja Edwards, a graduate of the University of Illinois who majored in aerospace engineering.

We'll hear a few minutes of Tom's commencement address at Niagara University, given on May 12, 2012. You can find a transcript here.

New York Times "Kelsey Griffith graduates on Sunday from Ohio Northern University. To start paying off her $120,000 in student debt, she is already working two restaurant jobs and will soon give up her apartment here to live with her parents. Her mother, who co-signed on the loans, is taking out a life insurance policy on her daughter."

Wall Street Journal "Graduating college students face a mixed job market at best this year, and most will leave school without an offer in hand, despite an uptick in hiring by on-campus recruiters."

Kansas City Star "They're entering a slow job market recovery that has left behind many recent college graduates, as well as women and minorities. While other reports show that the 2012 graduates are facing the best job market since the Great Recession, the Rutgers study shows they'll be fighting a lot of pent-up competition for the openings."

Huffington Post "She's far from alone. Of all those who have graduated college since 2006, only 51 percent have a full-time job, according to a Rutgers University study released Thursday. Eleven percent are unemployed or not working at all."