Anna Gorman, Campus Carrier news editor
As the school year comes to a close, seniors’ time at Berry comes to an end and their focus is placed on plans after college, whether that’s postgraduate education, work or taking a gap year. But as President Donald Trump’s policies affect the economy and the future of the job market, students harbor doubts about acquiring stable jobs after graduation. Berry’s Center for Career Development, under the Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD), offers resources.
As part of the graduation survey required of all graduating seniors, the CPPD collects consistent data on graduate outcomes through the First Destination Survey. Every year, it is launched a month before graduation and collects data through the end of the year on what seniors are doing.
According to Dean of Personal and Professional Development Marc Hunsaker, for the last five years, 99% of Berry graduates have experienced a positive career outcome – anything other than being unemployed – within seven months of graduation.
“That means that 99% of them took a positive next step in their life or career, an intentional step towards their goals by the end of the year after graduating,” Hunsaker said.
Hunsaker said that, last year, almost 80% of students had that positive career outcome ready for them by the time they walked across the graduation stage.
“The thing I will constantly say to people who ask us about graduates [is that] we know about what more of our graduates are doing, and our graduates are doing better than most, when you compare them to other schools,” Hunsaker said.
Even with this high percentage of positive career outcomes, the fluctuating job market and the state of the economy in the aftermath of Trump’s tariffs has caused much uncertainty among graduates, Hunsaker said.
“Everyone seems to be doing okay, but it’s requiring people to be flexible,” Hunsaker said. “In order to be flexible, you have to ready. You have to be moving in a direction so you can pivot. It’s kind of like riding a bike – it’s really easy to turn if you have momentum, not so much if you’re standing still. The idea of having multiple good options in front of you is very helpful in a moment of uncertainty.”
Despite these fluctuations, several fields are currently experiencing shortages in employees, and students planning on going into those fields should not have to worry about getting a job related to their majors.
“Our education and nursing majors are in a really strong position,” Director of Career Development Sue Dudt said. “There is a nationwide shortage of nursing, and the hospitals and healthcare organizations are heavily recruiting here at Berry, and that would be the same for the teaching field as well.”
Dudt said that she is optimistic and doesn’t have any dread for this class when it comes to securing jobs, but she has heard challenges in applying for jobs after graduation.
“The biggest challenge that they report, that I’ve witnessed, is that students are not hearing back positively from some of their applications,” Dudt said. “They cite how many organizations they’ve applied to, and they’re not hearing back.”
To combat this, Dudt recommends seniors apply through the company’s portal, if they are viewing the job position on LinkedIn, Handshake or Indeed, instead of clicking “Apply Here” on the job posting.
“I think that blends into some frustration for students or anybody who’s applying for a job, because they think they’ve applied and they think they’re not hearing back when they never really applied through the appropriate means,” Dudt said.
If students are sure they are applying in the right place, Dudt also recommends that their resume and their cover letter is AI-friendly and strategically tailored towards that employer and that job position. The Career Peers in the Career Development Office offer resume review services to help students craft resumes and cover letters that hit these guidelines.
Dudt said many seniors were feeling overwhelmed with the job search process.
“I think they feel pressured, and the questions, when everybody hears you’re graduation they ask, ‘What are you doing next?’ and you see your friends and peers posting things on LinkedIn or Facebook that they got accepted into this graduate school or into this job, and so the fears start creeping up,” Dudt said. “And there’s some who are not fearful, but they’re saying ‘I waited too long because I was so focused on school.’ You have to pace out your job search according to what’s best for you.”
Hunsaker said students should start preparing for jobs after college their first semester of freshman year, and every semester after.
“I think students, to make the most of their time in college, need to be thinking not just about these four years, but how these four years are preparing them for what comes next,” Hunsaker said. “That doesn’t mean that you come into college only with a career mindset, but it means that you’re taking full advantage of the opportunities that are available to you.”
Hunsaker said that students should have intentionality behind the choices they make to develop a sense of calling and purpose, which is ultimately the goal of college and work after college.
“We don’t want to have students drift through these four years,” Hunsaker said. “We want them to be thoughtful, intentional, purposeful. So, when I say I think students should start thinking about preparing for life after college the moment they start college, I mean that in a very vocational or broad way, about helping identify a sense of calling for their lives, a sense of purpose for what they want to get out of these four years, the kind of person they want to be at the end.”
Help for seniors in the middle of the job search doesn’t stop after graduation. The Career Development Office continues to support alumni even years after graduation.
“I think students have the impression that once they graduate, all services stop, and that’s never been anything Berry has ever stated,” Dudt said. “As far as Berry is concerned, anybody who graduates from Berry can always come back to us and seek help. We’ve had students who are five years out. We’ve had some people even further out, 10 years out, who realized that they could come back and ask questions in resume review or job strategy help.”
The CPPD and Career Development Office offer resume review services, mock interviews and job search strategies, among other services, to ensure any discouraged students get the help and support they need as they navigate the job market after graduation.
“The discouragement might be coming from just not utilizing the processes as best they can, not being aware of how to compose a cover letter,” Dubt said. “Just come see us, just to make sure that they’re really presenting themselves in the best way possible.”
Dudt advises seniors to prepare for the job search, but to also make the most of their remaining time at Berry.
“I saw [a post] on LinkedIn, kind of a letter to a college senior, just saying that the job search will always be there, but these last several weeks of your college career won’t,” Dudt said. “Don’t forget to spend time with your friends right now before graduation. Remember to enjoy these last few days at Berry.”