| diyalo |
Posted
on 04-Feb-02 07:37 PM
Grads find tech jobs scarce
Quests for `fantasy' work on hold as newcomers adjust
BY KAMIKA DUNLAP
Mercury News
In the annals of the unemployed in Silicon Valley, there are the laid-off, the dot-gone and a uniquely unlucky group -- the never-hired.
They graduated this year with degrees in high-tech fields from prestigious schools, landing in a job market littered with remains of the bursting Internet bubble.
Now, some are taking jobs outside their fields to get by. Some are going back to school. Others are just waiting.
``Being out of work causes a lack of motivation in all aspects of your life,'' said Danny Kahn, 22, who graduated in June from Stanford University with a degree in computer science. ``I'm not depressed, but I'm often pessimistic.''
Kahn had hoped to land his first job out of school as a computer programmer, joining legions of graduates from recent years who juggled multiple job offers, stock options and signing bonuses before being snapped up by a company.
Kahn searched for months for a job in technology, sending out dozens of résumés and scrolling Web sites from his Berkeley home. When nothing turned up, he decided he would have to look for a job outside his field.
``I'm not upset that I'm not using my degree,'' said Kahn, who has been living off personal savings and financial support from his parents. ``I just want to get out of the house and do something.''
Recently, he interviewed for a job as a tutor at Kaplan, the test preparation company. He had to give a demonstration of how to teach something in five minutes, and chose a presentation on how to juggle tennis balls.
John Challenger, CEO of the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said the sting of joblessness may be felt more acutely by recent graduates comparing their plight with the glory days of the dot-com boom.
``Students had choices to work at their fantasy jobs,'' he said. ``Work was an extension of college. You work hard and play hard and there were jukeboxes and pinball machines.''
Not so anymore.
``It's more difficult this year for recent grads to get jobs,'' he said. ``It's much more realistic now and we're no longer in the bubble days.'
Corporations nationwide will hire 19.7 percent fewer 2001-2002 college graduates than they recruited from last year's graduate pool, according to a Job Outlook survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
The hiring picture is even more bleak in Silicon Valley because so many companies have laid off workers and cut jobs as the recession pounded the technology sector.
In Santa Clara County, the number of jobs at high-tech companies -- defined as those providing computers, components, telecommunications equipment, special instruments and software services -- shrank by 22,400, or 5.8 percent, in the period from October 2000 to October of this year, according to the state Employment Development Department.
State figures show that Santa Clara County's unemployment rate rose to 6.4 percent in October, up from 6 percent in September and four times higher than the 1.6 percent in October 2000. About 66,000 people were looking for work in the county in October.
Those figures don't include recent college graduates like Dave Weinstein who, at least for now, have given up looking for jobs.
Weinstein, 22, of Palo Alto, thought he had it made after graduating in June with a computer science degree from Stanford University.
As the top award winner for designing a digital photography device for a senior class project, he was offered a job with Trilogy, an Austin-based software company.
``I was really excited,'' he said. ``I instantly became an evangelist on campus and convinced my friends who were still undecided to sign with them.''
Wined and dined
Weinstein said the company wined and dined him with welcome gifts including limousine travel, concert tickets and a luxury hotel suite. The company even sent his parents a coffee table book, he said.
``They were throwing money around. They made sure I felt special.''
Until his job offer was rescinded because of the economic downturn.
Trilogy spokesman Reed Byrum said he couldn't discuss Weinstein's situation specifically. But he said the company rescinded many job offers earlier this year because of a difficult economic climate that included cutbacks of 15 percent to 20 percent of the company's existing staff.
Now, he said, the hiring picture is improving -- but not for entry-level applicants.
``As a company, we're still hiring,'' he said. ``But not at the college level. We're looking at industry veterans.''
Burned by the experience, Weinstein decided to go back to school. In the fall he started a master's degree program at Stanford for management science and engineering.
June Lim, associate director at the San Jose State University Career Center, said she encourages students to be persistent.
``There are jobs out there but they may not be as glamorous as they were a year and a half ago at big-name companies,'' she said. ``I think adjusting their expectations will be the hardest part of the reality check for students.''
Khoa Nguyen, 25, a computer engineering graduate student at San Jose State, said he is preparing for the worst-case scenario.
``Right now it's hard to find a job,'' he said. ``If I can't find a job in my field than I'll look to work in other fields.''
Widening job hunt
John Santos, 21, is taking a similar approach in his job hunt since graduating in August with an electrical engineering degree from DeVry Institutes in Fremont. To keep his options open he plans to apply for jobs with BART and Home Depot.
``It's a job,'' said Santos. ``I'm trying to look at the positive side.''
Weinstein hopes he'll have better luck this time when he graduates in June from a year-long master's degree program. He has accepted an offer to start a job with Qwest Communications in Denver in July 2002.
``I don't have a contingency plan this year,'' he said, ``and I can't hide out in school another year.''
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/techcareer/grad121001.htm
|
