By KYLE KITTREDGE

STAFF WRITER

Many college seniors are facing the prospect of being jobless after graduation.

In our country today, four out of five graduates are leaving college without jobs, according to GradStaff.com.

GradStaff is a company that recruits and interviews students and graduates on behalf of hiring companies, and matches job seekers to open positions based on their transferable skills and interests.

The University of New Hampshire Advising and Career Center has 14,000 current positions, 88 percent of which are full time positions, on Wildcat Careers. But students are not landing the positions.   

“There’s sort of a diagnosis going on, and we try to figure out why the students are not getting interviews and not landing jobs,” said Krystal Hicks, the associate director of employment outreach and career support at the university Advising and Career Center.

A few students are finding jobs within their field, while other students have no idea about what they will be doing after graduation.  Many students are trying to get jobs, but are finding it difficult to apply to them.

Senior Madison Dunn is one example.

Dunn is graduating with a major in psychology and a minor in business administration. She does not currently have a job for after graduation, but has been hunting for one.

“I’ve really only applied to one place so far because I don’t know what I’m looking for,” Dunn said. “That’s the thing, being a liberal arts major, there’s lots of ways you could go with it.”

Dunn has had past experience with jobs like retail throughout her college career.

“I don’t know what else is out there,” Dunn said.

“A lot of people doubt themselves,” Dunn added. “I’m trying to get past that, but you have more skills than you think you do.”

On the other hand, there are some seniors who have a job lined up after graduation.

Lenny Mullen is graduating with a major in business administration with an option in information systems and business analytics. He has a job after graduation with Bottomline Technologies in Portsmouth as an associate project manager.

Mullen also commented on the process of searching for and obtaining a job.

“I applied to a lot of places, even if not too enthusiastic,” said Mullen. “It’s an opportunity for that story and experience.”

Mullen is excited to start his job and graduate from UNH.

“I was very lucky to have been able to put myself through the entire process. There’s a lot of hard work that goes behind it,” Mullen said.

As some advice to others, Mullen said, “I think the biggest thing is being able to tell a really good story because I think that’s where my strong point came into play.” 

GradStaff CEO Robert LaBombard wants to make sure students understand what is going on and how to improve.

“There is a demand for college graduates, but it’s not a clear connection to what they can do,” LaBombard said. “It’s all about transferable skills, really. There are very good jobs out there, but they don’t understand what value they bring to the workforce.” 

GradStaff explains its inefficiency that’s restricting hiring and preventing graduating seniors from finding professional positions. The jobs and candidates are out there. Students just aren’t finding the positions because they don’t know how to navigate the job search process.