A job fair for graduating Drexel students

Ciara Coughlan, 22, expected to graduate from Drexel University in June and get a full-time job with SAP, a Newtown Square software company where she had interned.

But that hope evaporated, as have many jobs in the troubled economy, and yesterday Coughlan, a marketing major from Havertown, joined more than a thousand other students looking for work at Drexel's job fair.

"I'd be so much more excited about graduating if I had a job at this point," said a pensive Coughlan, dressed in a business suit.

With thousands of seniors ready to turn their tassels and enter the working world this spring - many under the weight of student loans soon to come due - the job scene is tough.

Employers are expected to hire 22 percent fewer graduates than last year, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

The Drexel fair drew about 90 companies and organizations to 30th Street Station, fewer than half the employers it had last year.

"We're told by employers who chose not to come this year that they simply don't have jobs to offer," said Peter J. Franks, executive director and associate vice provost of the Steinbright Career Development Center at Drexel. "All businesses have been affected to one degree or another by the downturn."

About 1.4 million college graduates, or 3.7 percent, were out of work in December, just shy of the record 3.9 percent in January 1983.

Engineering firms, biomedical companies, and construction companies were among those at the five-hour job fair.

"The U.S. government is in a very big hiring mode," Franks added.

Finance, architecture, and construction were some of the employment areas not as prevalent at the fair, he said.

Marvin Tan, a senior finance and economics major from Marlton, walked up to a Drexel alum working a booth for DuPont.

"We don't have any jobs right now," she told him.

Tan said he had heard the same from other companies.

"I'm not the only one that has a problem. A bunch of my friends - I would say 70 percent - have had problems getting a job," he said.

Some plan to go to graduate school as an alternative, he said.

John DiMattia, 22, an information-systems major from Glenolden, had hoped to work for the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he had interned. But that's not likely, he said.

Now he's looking for a job in the San Diego area, where he has always wanted to live.

"My major is a little more secure than some of the other majors," he said, "but I'm still developing a lot of fallback plans. My all-else-fail plan is to stay in Philadelphia and talk to people I know. It seems like they're still hiring around here."

Jeff Robinson, 23, a business major from Plymouth Meeting, envisioned a few years ago that he would be heavily recruited. "It doesn't help to freak out about it. Something will come along eventually, and, if I need to, I'll find something in the meantime."

He could live with his parents.

"I'd rather not," he added.

Franks said the development center, which has expanded its hours to help students, recommended that the young job seekers broaden their career goals.

"You shouldn't be too narrow for your first full-time job, given the market," he said. "You want to think about industries as opposed to just one company."

Franks said Drexel graduates were at an advantage because of the school's co-op program, which allows students to graduate with up to 18 months of paid professional experience. Many companies at the fair were looking to hire students for co-op work.

The job fair brightened Coughlan's mood. She got a couple of leads that could lead to interviews.

"It's definitely a good opportunity," she said.