Ever since the global economy plunged into dark depths in that fateful year of 2008-09, graduation time for college students has been one of extreme uncertainty. To get that dream job with a fantastic pay package is not the smooth ride it used to be. According to the Economic Policy Institute, college grads face uncertain job prospects for the fifth year running, entering “a profoundly weak labor market and will face high unemployment and underemployment rates and depressed wages”. However, this Infographic by SpareFoot presents some facts that show the scenario might be improving.
For instance, employees expect to hire 13% more students in 2013 than in 2012. This point is a significant one, even covered well by the Atlantic.com in a report that states, “Bachelor’s holders have about half the unemployment rate of high school graduates and you’d much rather have a degree in this job market than not”. An estimated 1.8 million college students will graduate this year with bachelors degrees, according to SpareFoot. The bigger problem as in many quarters however is the problem of underemployment, more so than unemployment. Recently, WSJ’s Ben Casselman reported that 284,000 Americans with a BA or higher were working in jobs that paid minimum wage or lesser. This is double the prerecession era, and is captured very well in a graph in the infographic.
The infographic then goes on to states various lists and facts – 10 best jobs for college grads, 9 highest paying majors for a college grad, most attractive cities to work in etc. These are plain and simple lists that are useful for college grads planning their careers. It is easy to read, is light on the eye and uses some very minimal colour combinations. According to a Bloomberg report, 37% of professors agree that professionalism, which includes attentiveness, punctuality and work ethic, has declined in the last 5 years. Hence, potential employees must look at the section on corporate culture and imbibe as much as they possibly can from it. All in all, the infographic is neatly designed, easy to read and has extremely useful information.
