Three weeks following her graduation from the University of New Hampshire, Valeriia Kholmanskikh is uncertain about what the future holds for her.
Originally from Russia, Kholmanskikh was planning to remain in the United States for another year following graduation to start her career in journalism. But now that her plans with internships and jobs have fallen through due to the global COVID-19 crisis, she worries that she might not get to work in the profession she studied for four years.
“I’ve been looking at journalism jobs for a while, but I’m moving further from that field now since people are more reluctant to hire a foreigner, especially during a crisis,” she said.
She currently has no regular source of income, but has been getting some financial support from her family. “Unfortunately, my part-time job choices are limited to online things since I cannot be hired without a visa, so I can’t really deliver pizza or bag items at the supermarket.”
College grads across the world are entering one of the most difficult economies and job markets since the Great Depression. Research from the Economic Policy Institute shows that students who graduate into recessions settle for lower-paying jobs than those who graduate into healthy economies. These periods of “scarring” can last as long as 10 or 15 years for people, affecting their earning potential long term.
According to a recent poll of 73 employers conducted by the University of New Hampshire, 26 percent of those employers canceled some or all of their internships, while 15 percent have delayed the start date for summer interns.
“We’ve been hearing as a team that students are nervous, whether they have a destination or they don’t,” said Tyler Wentworth, director of marketing, communication and engagement at UNH’s Career and Professional Success. “Even if they had a destination lined up, they’re still kind of being pushed back a bit.”
Since colleges realized that COVID-19 was here to stay for the foreseeable future, some have tried finding creative ways to help their students. One college that has been making headlines for its initiative is Colby College in Waterville, Maine, which recently promised to find jobs or other opportunities for all of its 500 graduates within three months of their graduation.
The ”Pay It Northward” campaign taps into the college’s community of alumni, parents, faculty and partner organizations in order to achieve the goal, said C. Andrew McGadney, vice president and dean of student advancement at Colby.
Although 200 seniors already had their own plans, opportunities for the remaining 300 have not been difficult to come by, he said. Since the initiative kicked off three weeks ago, Colby has received about 600 opportunities for its students, roughly half of which are full-time jobs. Others are short-term projects, fellowships, internships or volunteer opportunities.
“Understanding the landscape that our students are going to be moving into, we knew that we needed to turbo-charge our efforts to ensure post-graduate success and really launch this initiative to make that happen,” McGadney said.
Although not all opportunities are full-time jobs or long-term opportunities, McGadney encourages students to be flexible with what is available to them, as some short-term projects or volunteer opportunities may lead to paying opportunities, he said.
“In some cases, we would encourage students to have multiple short-term projects,” he said. “One of the things that we’re telling students right now is to remain open, to be flexible, and to trust their liberal arts education that they’ve received from Colby, knowing that the type of knowledge that they’re receiving from our great faculty, that they really can kind of be world problem solvers.”
Kholmanskikh thinks a commitment like Colby’s would be helpful to students like her.
“Graduating from college used to be a guarantee of employment, but not anymore,” she said. “I believe colleges have ways to help us find jobs, and I believe they should.”
McGadney believes colleges in other states can, and should, adopt initiatives similar to Colby’s.
“Every institution has a powerful network within their own right. They have alumni that have graduated and gone on and done great things. How can they create a real meaningful call to action to support their graduating seniors right now?” McGadney said.
Wentworth said it wouldn’t be realistic to try to find opportunities for all of UNH’s nearly 3,000 graduates, in comparison with Colby’s 500. Colby College, a private not-for-profit institution, also had an endowment that grew to $870 million in 2019, as opposed to UNH’s $404 million in the same year.
“It’s a great idea if you can do it. But guaranteeing that … you’re making a promise that I’m not sure you’d be able to keep, especially with how the landscape has changed too,” Wentworth said. “And how do you define finding a job, too? Is it a job related to your major? Is it a job related to your skills? Is it a part-time position?”
UNH has launched other efforts this summer to help students continue building a professional foundation whether or not they have a job or internship. Beyond career advising appointments now available online or by phone, UNH is offering a summer career academy free to all of its students and recent graduates. Students can enroll in different tracks – digital marketing, coding and data visualization – while building career skills that go beyond perfecting a resume or cover letter.
According to Wentworth, more than 200 students across disciplines have signed up for the academy.
“All skill subjects are in demand for our employers, and are kind of irrespective of a major,” Wentworth said.
Dartmouth has also created a slew of new resources for its job-seeking students, according to Diana Lawrence, associate vice president of communications at the college. Those include making efforts to connect students with alumni and partner companies, and creating a new resource for its 2020 graduates to get alumni career advice and networking support. The college is also launching resources to help students conduct their job search remotely and without direct access to in-person resources like job fairs or face-to-face networking.
At Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) the method of approaching graduating students hasn’t changed, said JoAnna Louiso, associate director of the Career Development Center. Rather, the types of conversations career advisors have with students are shifting. She said it is too early to tell what the job market looks like for this year’s young professionals.
“We’ve been in a really good economy for a very long time. There have been more opportunities available than students to fill them, and that’s been a challenge to employers to find talent. Now it’s shifting a little bit more where there’s less opportunities and more talent,” Louiso said.
Many SNHU students who spoke with the Granite State News Collaborative said that they felt well-supported by their school when it comes to the job search.
Lana Michele Artley, an online student from Richmond, Kentucky, got her associate’s degree in digital photography this week. She said that even though she might not be able to dive into a full-time photography career because of the pandemic, her advisors at SNHU have helped her secure an internship with a photographer nearby.
“I went to a couple previous colleges before going to Southern New Hampshire, and there was nothing. No guidance for the students. You were just on your own. That’s the reason I chose Southern New Hampshire,” Artley said.
Rather than guaranteeing jobs or opportunities, Louiso says, SNHU focuses on student support. Career services are available to students and alumni regardless of where they are professionally.
“For us it’s not about placement rate, it’s about making sure that students are supported, that they have the skill sets that they need, and that they’re able to translate that into a business environment,” Louiso said.
Graduates at some of New Hampshire’s community colleges haven’t experienced the same threat of unemployment immediately after graduation. Brian Bicknell, president of Manchester Community College, said many of the school’s 300 graduating students are getting jobs because half of them graduated from nursing, medical assistance, tech and trade programs, where there is always a need for employees.
“Anecdotally, students are getting jobs,” Bicknell said. “If we were looking at a graduating class that had mostly bachelor’s degree students with liberal arts degrees, I would say we have to do something. But it’s a different context for us.”
Most students who earn associate degrees in business or liberal arts at Manchester, if not looking for a job, will continue on to bachelor’s programs in the fall. However, many degree programs at community colleges are targeted toward industries in the state that have a deep demand for new talent.
“In so many places across the state, the need is greater than we can provide. A year from now, who knows what’s going to happen with the economy. But if you look at our programs, there’s a need for those positions even when the economy is not great,” Bicknell said. “People still drive cars and they still need to be fixed. We still have hospitals that need nurses and medical assistants.”
One of New Hampshire’s greatest economic challenges pre-COVID-19 was keeping students in New Hampshire for higher education and their careers afterward. According to the state university system, 61 percent of the state’s college-age students choose to leave New Hampshire for college. New Hampshire’s population is also one of the oldest in the nation.
Although New Hampshire’s colleges may not have initiatives like Colby’s, the state house is paying attention to programs that other states have implemented to incentivize out-of-state college students to stay and work there after they graduate, like the student loan reimbursement program in Maine.
In August 2019, the New Hampshire College Graduate Retention Incentive Partnership (GRIP) became law without Gov. Chris Sununu’s signature. The bill has since been sent back to the state house to modify some original language before the program can go into full effect. The program would promise an incentive of at least $1,000 per year, paid for by companies, to graduating college students who work with those partnering companies.
Although the state is experiencing high unemployment at the moment, Sen. Jay Kahn (D-Keene), who proposed the bill, believes that retaining talent in New Hampshire – through the incentives offered in the bill – will help the state’s economy long term.
“This was envisioned to be the communication from the New Hampshire and college and university council, through the campuses, to all of their prospective graduates, to consider New Hampshire. Before you go to a big city, consider New Hampshire and these quality employers,” said Kahn. “Before the crisis, there were acute workforce needs, and I don’t think that there’s any reason to doubt that those workforce needs will continue to be high priority needs for the state and to promote our growth and welfare in the future.”
These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.