Slowing economy cuts into campus recruiting

With a sluggish economy apparently here to stay, Penn's seniors are now facing an even bigger hurdle as the job search enters its final stretch. While Penn officials say the University has largely shielded itself from the effects of the economic slowdown this recruiting season, some are feeling the strain as companies hire fewer graduates. The recent stock market crash has hit the dot-com, financial and consulting sectors especially hard, according to Wharton Career Counselor Barbara Hewett. "Though there was not much of a slowdown in fall recruiting, some slowdown is occurring in the spring, with some offering fewer second interviews," Hewett noted. And although Hewett claims there has been little impact on job searches in recent months, few can predict the long term impact of the changing economy on recruiting. Hewett said two companies -- one financial firm and one consulting group -- canceled several second interviews for the spring. Numerous companies also canceled recruiting for summer positions. Hewett declined to specify which companies have canceled. But what Penn officials cannot measure is how many companies have decided to forgo recruiting all together, as many companies have recently announced layoffs in the tens of thousands. Despite the economy, Hewett said that current students should not worry about the impact of the slowdown on their career prospects. "There is still a lot of demand out there for educated college students, and Penn should fare well because the students we have are very good," she said. Job growth has slowed to about 150,000 new positions created each month, compared to the monthly growth of 200,000 in the past few years. Career services companies are also upbeat about the career outlook for current college students despite the economic turndown. "Even with a slowing economy, we are still seeing very heavy recruiting across the board," said Keri Kraft, a spokeswoman for JobTrak, which helps match job-seekers and employers. Kraft cautioned against overreacting, noting that it was unrealistic to expect the economy to continue on its path of unprecedented prosperity. Over the past five years, the average starting salary for Wharton graduates has seen dramatic growth, increasing by over 30 percent, from an average of $37,111 in 1996 to $49,380 last year. But to some senior job-seekers, the cooling economy has affected their job hunts. "In all the presentations by companies, they always talk about how the economy is not affecting their hiring, but I feel that is not always the case," Wharton senior Aaron Jones said. "While I don't think that it is affecting the number of people getting interviews, it probably affects the number getting offers," he added. However, some other students said they believe the slowing job market has not affected their searches. "I really wasn't affected by the slowdown because in my experience, the economy hasn't changed any company's decision of how many to hire," Wharton senior Jeffrey Sherer said. But even though Sherer said he didn't think the economy was hurting his search, he did speculate that current juniors will have a tougher time in the market with the slowdown. "I guess I was lucky because fall recruiting happened at the tail-end of the boom," Sherer said. "If the pattern continues, there will be a more competitive time next year for the fewer spots."