Some grads still in demand despite economy - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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“I graduated May 2 and started on May said Hall, 25, of Marietta, who works in humanm resources at the Atlanta office of , a health-care technologu consultant. “It’s been a but it’s going pretty Hall’s new company overlaps two sectors of the economhy that are going strong despitethe recession. University careerf services directors say medicaol and technology companies are continuingg to recruit and hire new employees even as other industries freeze payrolls and hand outpink “When recruiters call me to hire, they ask for computer scienc majors or engineers,” said Ralph Mobley, director of career servicesw at Georgia Tech.
“Our data indicate they’rw doing better in the job marketthan non-technicalp majors.” Overall, however, interest among employers in the Class of 2009 is The ’s spring career fair attracted only 145 companies, down from 215 that sent representativesw to the Athens campus last fall, said Scot Williams, executive director of UGA’s Careert Center. Likewise, the last three quarterlyy career fairs held at drew abouy 20 percent fewer companies than thepreviousx year, said Ramona a career and employer relations specialistf at the downtown Atlanta school.
Students are reacting to the tepis response from corporate recruiters and the tight job markert it signifies by applying to graduate schoolin droves. At Georgiaw State, for example, MBA applicationzs for the coming school year increased 22 percent over last while the number of students seeking master of arts degreew went up19 percent. Timothy Renick, GSU’s associate provosf for academic programs, said many graduatee school applicants are coming directlg fromundergraduate programs. “The decision makesa sense,” he said.
“Rather than face unemploymen or takea minimum-wage job, students can increase their academixc credentials for a time when the economyt takes a turn for the better.” The scarcityy of jobs is motivatinv other graduates to take a breakl from their formal educations or put off enterinhg the workforce to enroll in such servic programs as the Peace Corps or Teacj for America. “We’re seeing an increass in the number of students who want to take a year off to engagw in aworthwhile adventure, discover some things and make some said Paul Fowler, executive director of the Career Centere at .
Hall said making connectiond proved important to her landing a job so She said she met her new boss at McKesson during a mock interview while she was an undergraduat marketing majorat UGA. “We just kept in touch,” she “When I was having trouble findingy a jobin marketing, he had a positio open here.” Hall said it was also importany that she was willingy to be flexible in her job “Finding a marketing job in Atlants right now is impossible,” she said. “[But] this is a big If I want to move over I can.” While marketing jobs aren’t to be had, some jobs fieldsz are still hot.
Mobley said government particularly at thefederal level, are in high He said one growth area is the , createed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.