Wednesday's career fair featured recruiters bearing gifts and a lot more concerned students' faces.
The past year's economic downturn and a competitive job market limited the number of companies attending the career fair to 71, down from 84 last year and 130 in 2000.
Tom Halasz, interim co-director of the Career Development Center, blamed the drop in corporate attendance this year on a softening of the economy in general, but particularly in the financial sector. He said this has prompted many companies to reduce hiring or to hire only from within their intern class.
"I believe that the drop in participation is a budget issue with the companies," Halasz said. "Continued economic weakness and uncertainty has caused cutbacks in campus recruiting across the country, not just at Duke."
Jeanne Pryce, a representative for General Motors, said she regretted her company's inability to attend last year's fair because of the terrorist attacks, but maintained that GM has a strong commitment to Duke, which they have renewed by scheduling two recruiting trips this year. She added that recruiting from universities like Duke remains a top priority for her company.
Many seniors expressed concern over the state of the economy only seven months before graduation, as they attempt to find a career they will enjoy or to simply find a job.
"The state of the economy has made me re-think my post-graduation options," senior Mike Pesce said. "And I think the competitive job market has forced people to work harder in order to prove that they want the job more than the person who is standing next to them."
Senior Leslie Collier agreed that finding any job--let alone the one she wants--will be challenging.
Others seemed less concerned, and have decided to pursue a graduate school degree or spend time working for a non-profit organization instead of trying to get a job immediately after graduation.
"The economy has forced me to strongly consider going to graduate school in order to make myself more marketable when I enter the job market and hopefully give things some time to recover before I start looking for a career," senior Ashley D'Uva said.
Seniors are not the only ones affected by the drop in campus recruiting. Junior Megan Murphy lamented the decreased availability of summer internships from the companies participating in this year's fair, and sophomores are also beginning to look to the future with apprehension.
"As a sophomore, I'm just exploring my options right now, but I'm really not sure how many positions are going to be available to engineers in the near future," said sophomore Justin Shapiro, a student in the Pratt School of Engineering. "We're all just standing here crossing our fingers that things will be better in two years."
Despite the concerns, Halasz remains optimistic about the job prospects facing this year's senior class if graduates don't have their hearts set on one particular job.
"As long as Duke students work hard and aren't too selective, they will get a job," Hallasz said. "They may not be able to specify the exact type and location that they want as much as in the past, but opportunities are out there, and the Career Center is here to help students find them."
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