Job numbers increase for Class of 2011

The stock market may be unstable and the economy may be shaky, but that has not and will not stop Penn seniors from securing employment, according to Career Services.

As of Sept. 6, 2011, 10 percent of the Class of 2011 reported that they were still seeking employment based on a 72-percent return, Career Services Director Patricia Rose wrote in an email.

At the same time last year, 14 percent of the Class of 2010 was still seeking employment, a number that eventually fell to nine percent. Further statistics are yet to be tabulated about general employment rates of the class of 2011.

One explanation for the increased employment was last year’s 14,000 On-Campus Recruitment interviews — the highest number of interviews in the last 10 years, according to Rose.

“We had two years where On-Campus Recruitment was [below average] because of the recession,” she explained, “and last year’s employers had pent up need for entry level staff and did lots of recruiting. This year, we’re expecting the momentum to continue.”

Wharton senior Erin Silk is not discouraged about today’s job market. “Everyone knows it’s a difficult time to get a job, but we all started school in 2009 when the economy was even worse,” she said. “So we actually feel pretty lucky.”

While the Class of 2011 had the aid of increasing economic stability on their side, current Penn seniors face a more precarious financial state — one that will ultimately take a slight toll on recruiting in certain sectors.

“The stock market has been volatile because there’s so much uncertainty [such as] how we’re going to solve our debt crisis … in general, employers don’t like uncertainty,” Rose said.

Because of the current federal budget crisis, Rose said she believes there will be fewer jobs available in the government sector than in previous years.

She also predicts that due to the “unprecedented number of interns hired last spring,” investment-banking firms may not be recruiting in the same high numbers. However, this means that many students will return to campus with job offers in hand from the firms where they interned.

Rose remains firm that investment management, boutique firms and private equity recruiting will keep their numbers relatively close to the previous year. “At this point,” Rose said, “it’s a matter of whether all of the fall activity” — which would include OCR and upcoming Career Fairs — “will translate into job offers.”

Anant Shukla, a Wharton and College senior, said he does not think the economy will play that large of a factor in this year’s recruitment. “Even though the economy is bad, people are still coming in and recruiting at Penn,” he said. “Students shouldn’t worry too much about it, but the general sentiment is that people are stressed.”

“I think most people in Wharton are feeling pretty good about their job prospects,” Silk added. “There will be a lot of competition, but I think there always will be and we’re used to that.”

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