Eager and bushy-eyed, 3,200 University of Rhode Island graduates can’t wait to start their lives and enter the world.
But, what lies before them may be a lot tougher than they realize. For the first time in 21 months the unemployment rate here in Rhode Island is under 11 percent. That’s a slight improvement, but still daunting odds for young graduates looking to score a job right out of college.
“I haven’t even found a job yet but I’m looking now, so I have to go out … I lifeguard during the summer, so in the fall I have to look for a job and see if I find anything, “ said Devin Smith.
Saddled with mounds of student loans, that hunt for employment is serious business. “I have a lot of student loans I need to pay off and for grad school I know it’s going to be a lot of money, “ said Smith.
Experts say it’s important graduates take internships or entry level positions in the fields they want to eventually work in.
Rob Deveney took that advice and landed a job, despite the tough economic climate.
“I got offered a job straight from there, so it saved me a lot of hassle. I’ve had a lot of friends who graduated before me and they went over a year without a job. It’s tough to find something that’s a good steady job,” said Deveney.
According to a recent study: the average college student graudates with $24,000 in student loans. The research also shows that in a healthy labor market, it usually takes recent college grads an average of 3-9 months to find a job.
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