In recession, grads find themselves out of work or stuck in unskilled labor

Lauren Semet is a little out of breath as she heads into an evening of work at one of her two jobs. She has a reason to be—she's trying to find a third job to pay the bills.

Semet, a 2009 graduate of Seattle University, is one of a large group of recent alumni the university doesn't talk about: those who are unemployed or working multiple jobs in unskilled labor or fields that don't require the college degree they just earned.

"It's hard to focus on what my goals are," Semet says, "when I have the distractions of going from one job to another job to make ends meet."

The national employment rate for recent college graduates up to 24 years old is 15.8 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Graduates are considered employed if they're working anywhere at all—even a part-time job.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers' Student Survey shows that less than 20 percent of 2009 graduates who were looking for a job actually found one. More than half of graduates just two years earlier found jobs before they graduated.

Semet graduated with an English degree with a minor in visual arts and decided after graduation that she wanted to work in arts education or leadership. To get more experience in the field, she's been applying to art internships, but competition is stiff and the positions are subject to cuts. One internship, for example, was supposed to be paid, but the museum decided it couldn't afford to pay an intern after posting it as a paid job.

Semet, who works more than 30 hours a week between retail at GAP and being a receptionist at a market research firm, is now thinking of going back to school for a master's degree in arts leadership. She's considering Seattle University and Lewis and Clark College in Portland.

Joshua Guerci, who graduated with a journalism degree in December 2008, is also headed back to school after more than a year of unemployment broken up with occasional odd jobs or volunteer work.

But he says relying on a degree to land a job just isn't enough.

"I think the biggest mistake for college students to make," Guerci says, "is to assume that their diploma will be the key to employment opportunities. The truth is the diploma is not even an asset to your resume. Having a college diploma is like telling a potential employer that you have a pulse."

Tips for living with unemployment

• Make a to-do list or schedule tasks in a calendar, and stick to getting those things done.
• Schedule time to apply for work at least five times a week.
• Research topics that interest you in your field that you don't know much about.
• Keep up a healthy social life to avoid depression or loneliness.
• Make time for exercise every day.
• Tell everyone you know that you are now unemployed. It may be embarrassing, but it may open up opportunities you wouldn't have gotten otherwise.
• Apply for unemployment benefits in order to help you stay ahead of bills and student loan payments.

Joshua may be reached at editor@su-spectator.com.