Students graduating in May from St. Edward’s University can look forward to a stabilizing job market, though they are not out of the woods just yet.

The national unemployment rate has remained steady at just under 10 percent. In March, many states reported slight decreases in the unemployment rate.

In addition, Austin and other Texas cities have been named by Forbes and Time magazines as places that will lead the nation out of a recession.

“The economy is starting to pick up, and hiring is up about 5.3 percent,” said Elizabeth Garcia Nichols, who handles employer relations at Career Planning. “The bad news is that some of our students need a wake up call. They haven’t put their job search in gear yet.”

The average student will need anywhere from three to six months to find a job or longer depending on their field, Nichols said. Nichols said that a mistake graduates make is waiting to look for employment after graduation.

“Internships are going to be key,” Nichols said. “If you’re a graduating senior and you haven’t done any internships, you’re kind of behind the game already.”

In summer 2009, the Office of Career Planning began collecting survey data to determine what graduates were planning to do after graduation. Although all of the survey results have not yet been collected for May graduates, the statistics for summer and fall have.

‘”Approximately 42 percent of our seniors are employed, and 11 percent say they’re going to grad school,” said Nichols. “And the rest are job seekers,” Nichols said. “That’s very approximate, because we haven’t yet filled in the May graduate stats.”

Nichols said that she expects the May statistics to resemble the previous semesters, with about 40 percent of students reporting employment and 10-15 percent going to graduate institutions.

“We reach about 90 percent of our graduates each semester, which is pretty high for a survey result,” Nichols said.

Graduating students are eligible for career planning at St. Edward’s even as alumni. Although some universities charge fees or limit resources for graduates, Nichols said that St. Edward’s alumni are eligible for career planning services indefinitely.

One of the resources available through the Career Planning Office is Hilltop Careers, a website that lists jobs and internships for St. Edward’s students.

“Since the beginning of the semester, we have in Hilltop Careers 458 job postings,” Nichols said. “That specifically is the best place to start your job search because those employers… want to hire a St. Edward’s graduate or student for internship. It’s very tailored to the St. Edward’s student.”

Over the academic year, Career Planning had 2,696 appointments with students, offered 51 workshops with over 700 students participating and gave over 75 class presentations. Nichols encouraged all students to begin their job searches now.

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