Class of '92 finds employment luck

Last spring, as the University's seniors were preparing to graduate, media reports blared the news that the job market they were about to enter was the worst it had been in decades. But officials at the Career Planning and Placement Service say that the class of 1992 has been fairly successful in the job market so far, despite a lingering recession and the economy's continued sluggishness. "It has not been an altogether bleak year by any means," CPPS Director Patricia Rose said Monday. "It may have taken longer [finding a job] than in the past, but Penn students have done very well overall." She said although CPPS is still awaiting post-graduation surveys from a number of 1992 graduates, the early results suggest that many have fared better than media reports predicted. "We've had students come in and tell us their parents were laid off and we've heard of alumni who have been laid off," Rose said. "But some of the companies who are laying off the parents and alumni are hiring our seniors." One explanation, she said, is that while many companies decided to cut "middle management" positions -- which tend to be filled by older people -- many still hired students to fill entry level positions. "It was a reaonable year," said CPPS Associate Director Beverly Hamilton-Chandler, who oversees Wharton students. "There was all that doom and gloom in the media, but we didn't experience that situation [at Wharton]." She said more than half of the year's Wharton graduates had found jobs and that there was "not an extensive number of [Wharton] students still looking [for work]." She also noted that Wharton students received 150 walk-in interviews last year and that there was a 40 percent increase in "correspondence opportunities" -- letters from companies saying they would not be interviewing on campus but were still interested in seeing students' resumes. But the University was not entirely spared the effects of the recession. She said the number of interviews that potential employers offered students dropped last year to about 10,800 -- down from more than 12,000 the year before. And CPPS Assistant Director Peggy Curchack said surveys received to date show that 182 College graduates have enrolled in graduate school, while 125 have accepted jobs -- a possible indication of students' concern about the poor economy. If that distribution holds, she said it would be the first time in about four years that more students from the graduating class have gone to graduate school rather than right into the work force. But Cuchack said that those College graduates who have been hired are receiving an average salary that is about $2,000 higher than the average for last year's College class, according to surveys already received. She stressed that it is still early and said the results could change once additional surveys are received. She is expecting about 850 students in the College to return surveys in the next few months. Once all the surveys for the College are processed, she said, the average salary may drop somewhat. She said this is because many early respondents got jobs with corporations, which tend to hire earlier and pay better than non-profit institutions such as schools.

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