College graduates can't put degrees to work

When Kenny Lyons graduated seven months ago with degrees in finance and real estate from the University of Mississippi, he had plans to work as a broker raking in lucrative commissions at a real estate firm.

Instead, in an economy weakened by severe blows dealt by both banking and real estate, Lyons finds himself waiting tables at Nashville's Watermark Restaurant, earning about $35,000 a year — not bad, but hardly the hefty post-graduation paycheck he may have been hoping for.

"It's definitely frustrating," said Lyons, 23. "People ask me what I'm doing now. And, you know, I'm waiting tables. That's not exactly what you want to say once you graduate college."

The declining job market is taking its toll on college graduates like Lyons.Job prospects haven't looked this bad in at least five years, some economists said, as companies are cutting back on positions. Unemployment in Tennessee stands at 6.5 percent, a full percentage point above the national average.

"It's going to get worse," said Bill Fletcher, director of Middle Tennessee State University's Career and Employment Center. "Those who are having the most trouble are those who are just entering the job search."

Vanderbilt University and Middle Tennessee State University students landed fewer jobs by graduation compared with a year ago, career center officials said. And jobs in banking, where college graduates once commanded good starting salaries, have cut entry-level positions, analysts said.

Companies nationwide said they are offering 17 percent fewer entry-level jobs to graduates this year compared with the previous year, according to the online employment database MonsterTRAK. One silver lining is that the anticipated average starting salary for 2008 graduates is $39,500, up from last year's average of $36,000, MonsterTRAK said.

In Nashville, fewer jobs are being added to employer payrolls. The area added 7,440
jobs during the first half of 2008, a marked contrast to the 26,020 added during the same period in 2007, according to the latest Tennessee state labor report.

"You have to think with the unemployment rate rising, if they haven't found a job now, it's not going to get any easier," said MTSU economist David Penn, who called this the worst job market for graduates since 2003. "It's going to get more difficult."

Not all schools have reported declines. University of Tennessee-Knoxville, among other schools, said it has not seen an impact on its students at this point.

For his part, Lyons hasn't given up. He has made about 30 inquiries for jobs at banks or as a broker at real estate firms. He estimates that he's been turned down at least 10 times because of a lack of openings, but Lyons says he doesn't count those as rejections.

Instead, he chalks them up to networking experiences, setting aside notes he has prepared before interviews to revisit later.

"I've had a little interest, but nothing ever panned out to a job offer so far," Lyons said. "It's pretty unfortunate, the timing."

Debts grow; jobs shrink

The lack of jobs comes at a time when more college students are taking on debt to pay for the rising costs of higher education. About 42 percent of the state's graduating students carry student loans, with Tennessee's average student loan debt at $19,549 in 2006, according to a report by New York-based Demos, a public policy research and advocacy organization.

In the last five years, tuition rates in the U.S. have climbed 35 percent, with the average at a four-year public university costing $5,836, the report said.

On top of that, people ages 18 to 24 carry an average of $2,305 in credit card debt, Demos said.

Eric Williams, a 2007 graduate of Tennessee State University, has racked up several thousand dollars in credit card debt. He accumulated most of it in his senior year, he said, thinking he could pay it off once he got a job.

But the tightening job market has left the computer-science major still searching for a job in his field. He applied for 50 jobs, mostly in computer programming at companies like IBM and Raytheon Co., but employers said he didn't have enough work experience.

So, he settled for a part-time job answering customer service calls for SunTrust Bank. Instead of earning at least $40,000 a year as a computer programmer, Williams, 24, now earns half that.

"There was a time a bachelor's was all you needed," Williams said.

Meanwhile, Richard B. Wilhite, who graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 2007, is stuck at the same job he had while in school — selling apparel for "346" Brooks Brothers at CoolSprings Galleria in Franklin.

"For a while there, I was upset about it," Wilhite said. "I just kind of came to accept the fact that's what I have to do to survive."

According to data from the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, the wage premium on a bachelor's degree — the difference between what a worker holding a bachelor's degree earns versus someone with a high school diploma — has stayed relatively flat since 2001.

Workers carrying bachelor's degrees earn an average of $26.51 an hour, compared with workers with high school diplomas, who earn $15.01 an hour, according to the institute's data.

Employers get choosy

Meanwhile, some employers are becoming more selective about the degrees they require, making it more difficult for those with just a bachelor's to compete, said Lawrence Mishel, the institute's president.

"Employers are requiring more credentials, in part, because they can get people with those credentials without paying a whole lot of money," Mishel said. "Getting a college degree is no longer a surefire recipe for growing wages and good benefits."

As a result, more college graduates are considering graduate school as a way to gain more education and wait for better job conditions. In addition, test preparation companies said they are seeing an uptick in enrollment to prepare for graduate school admissions exams.

Patrick Saale graduated in May from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville with a major in finance, which typically commands an average salary above $41,700 a year. Saale thought he'd land a job as a home lending officer, but months before he graduated, the housing market declined and national banks began cutting positions.

"Within a semester of graduating, all that happened — bam, I'm stuck in it," said Saale, who lives in Kingston Springs. "I couldn't really help that I picked finance. … It scared the hell out of me."

Saale said even his two finance-related internships didn't help him land a job. Instead, he plans to begin attending Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management this fall to earn a master of science in finance, as he waits out the tough market and gains more skills.

But even a graduate degree doesn't guarantee a job. Joi Chatman, who graduated with a master's in business administration from Belmont University in December, said she applied for a job in brand management at Macy's in Nashville earlier this year, never to hear back. Ditto for the job she applied for as a T.J. Maxx clerk to earn extra cash.

Analysts said college graduates might have a hard time getting part-time work because employers fear graduates will leave for greener incomes once landing their ideal job.

"I didn't get an interview," Chatman, 30, said. "I didn't get a chance."

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