Job Market Proves Challenging for Students

Sophomore Lindsey Thornburg needs $6,000 for tuition and she can't get a job.

Last year, she worked at Bistro Liaison on Shattuck Avenue 15 to 22 hours a week, but the restaurant couldn't hold the job over the summer and her current academic schedule doesn't have the room for those hours.

However, she's not having luck with any alternatives.

"I tried to apply for a lot of jobs through (UC) Berkeley, but they won't hire me because I don't have work-study or financial aid," she said. "At the same time, because I don't have financial aid, I'm in a position where I really need a job."

On Monday, a government organization officially declared that the continuing national economic downturn was a recession. During a panel discussion on Tuesday, UC officials warned of hard times ahead, including potential tuition increases.

With these economic hardships, students have been searching for jobs and holding tightly to the ones they have.

Junior TJ Crouch has been working at Raleigh's on Telegraph Avenue for almost a year-a job he said he intends to keep until he graduates.

"The government pays for my tuition so I need money for rent and food," he said. "The money's good waiting tables."

Although Crouch said he is economically sound in his position, he has noticed that not as many people are eating out, especially this semester.

Problems are especially evident for students looking for a job after graduation.

Although it is too early to see what effect the market will have at the UC Berkeley Career Center, only 14 investment banks came to the early fall forum, while 21 came last year, said Suzanne Helbig, marketing coordinator and career counselor at the center.

She also said some students have voiced concerns about the economy in their career counseling appointments and at career fairs.

Senior Jeff Young, who is graduating next week with degrees in economics and molecular environmental biology, said he is applying to graduate school because of the harsh job market.

"I never really thought about going to grad school when I was younger, but in the past six months I made up my mind that I'm going to apply because the job market is so competitive," he said. "You have to do anything you can to get an edge."

In addition, Young decided to stay at his current job in an evolutionary biology lab on campus instead of working as a snowboard instructor in Tahoe for the rest of the season.

"I just had to think realistically and realize, 'Shoot, that's probably not a good idea,'" he said. "If the job market wasn't so bad, I'd do what I really want to do."

Tags: JOBS, ECONOMIC TURNDOWN