Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Aug. 29, 2012, edition 1 / Page 2
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NHIK f. - . ^ r. . Photo by Ricky Emmons - Assistant Photography Editor Greg Garrison, now one of the owners of The Hop Ice Cream Cafe, graduated from UNC Asheville in 2005 with a degree in mathematics. New graduates struggle to find jobs in tough economy Sheldon Schenck sschenck@unca.edu - Staff Writer The millennial unemploy ment rate from last month is amongst the highest of all time, according to a grassroots orga nization. Generation Opportunity an nounced the millennial unem ployment rate at 12.7 percent in July. The organization strives to connect the 18-29 age cat egory with job opportunities. This unemployment rate is among the highest youth un employment rates since the end of World War II. The national unemployment rate, which in cludes all ages, is 8.3 percent as of July. In addition to the rise in youth unemployment is the decline of the youth labor participa tion rate. An additional 1.715 million of the 18-29 age group were not counted in July’s un employment rate because they were not identified as currently and actively seeking employ ment. Discouraged workers and the underemployed are some of the worker classifi cations not included in July’s millennial unemployment rate. Generation Opportunity an nounced if these 1.715 million discouraged and underem ployed workers were included in the youth unemployment rate, it would be 16.7 percent. UNC Asheville graduate Allison Nalley is dealing with the 12.7 percent youth unem ployment rate first-hand. “I am having a lot of trouble finding a job doing anything that is close to what I majored in,” Nalley said. "The institutions are adapting them selves to maximize the labor out of the individuals who they've already hired." Dwight Mullen Political science professor Nalley graduated from UNCA in the spring of 2012 with degrees in psychology and sociology. Like many oth er career-seeking graduates, Nalley faces the confusion of finding the perfect strategy to a secure job. “My advice for currently en rolled students is to do as many internships and other opportu nities that are related to work experience as you can during your time at school,” Nalley said. UNC Asheville political sci ence professor Dwight Mul len also places importance on internships when it comes to scoring a job in a jobless mar ket. “The most common way (to get a job) right now is to do an internship, and the earlier you do it, the better,” Mullen said. I have students right now who are sophomores who are doing internships, and they should do them all the way up through their senior year.” Tommasanne Davis, the internship and employer re lations coordinator in the UNCA Career Center, says there are positions available out there for graduates, it is just a matter of marketing yourself in an appealing way. “We try to help students and graduates promote themselves as best as they can,” Davis said. “Understanding what you have to offer and being able to articulate that is important. Employers are still looMng for people with a good skill set and for students who have a liberal arts background and can com municate and write well.” While some look at the strategies of finding work as a means of securing a job, others approach the situation on an in stitutional level. Paul T. Conway, the presi dent of Generation Oppor tunity, announced in a press release that the burden of un- see JOBS on page 3
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