Subject: [NEXTEL-1] From Nexthell To Embroidery

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 04:18:29 -0400

Some college graduates find it hard to land jobs in their field

By SCOTT WARTMAN - The Herald-Dispatch

On a poster board in the lobby of Career Services at Marshall, about 20 sheets of
paper are neatly tacked up advertising full-time positions at a variety of area
companies.  Right across the room, a similar board overflows with letters
advertising part-time positions. The two job boards serve as a good symbol of the
state of the economy facing Huntington and the rest of the country, said Sue
Wright, Director of Career Services at Marshall. Many of those trying to find
full-time employment are not having an easy time, she said. Part-time employment,
however, is booming.

The recent survey of May 2002 graduates from Marshall found 73 percent of them
have found a job related to their field, down from 84 percent from the previous
year. Wright said that is a drastic reduction. "A lot of students are waiting
tables or doing telemarketing until the economy improves," Wright said. Recent
graduate Chip Gue, 31, is still searching for a local teaching position after
receiving his master’s in music this May. Gue said he hopes to be a music teacher
at a school in the Huntington area. In the interim, he said he has taken small
retail jobs and is currently giving trombone lessons to fill the void. So far, he
has had five interviews, but no offers. "It has been depressing," Gue said. "I see
my friends getting jobs. If I don’t see a job in the area soon, I will have to
find a job substitute teaching." The trick is being in the right field at the
right time, Wright said. A low volume of graduates creates a higher demand for
employees.

The easiest field for a qualified person to find a job in now is accounting,
Wright said. A survey done by Marshall’s Career Services Office in November 2001
of 800 employers found accounting firms had the greatest difficulty in finding
applicants. Wright said many students steer clear of accounting because of the
difficult math involved.

Nursing, social services and law enforcement were the next three professions with
the best job availability, according to the survey. "You can’t find enough
nurses," Wright said. The jobs hit the hardest over the last year were
manufacturing jobs. According to the West Virginia Bureau of Labor Statistics, 700
manufacturing jobs were lost in Huntington. The trouble of local manufacturing
plants mirrors others around the nation, said David Calvert, director of research,
information and analysis with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"With slow orders, manufacturing plants are very sensitive to the economy," he
said.
In the last two years in Huntington, manufacturing and construction jobs have
moved outside of Huntington, said Chuck McKenzie, manager of Leco Sales, a
supplier to area manufacturing and construction firms. In that time, McKenzie said
his company has almost solely gone outside of Huntington for work. There isn’t
enough development in the area to keep construction and manufacturing viable, he
said.

"I can chase business elsewhere. If I had to stay in the general area, I would be
in trouble," McKenzie said.
McKenzie, however, is not completely pessimistic about the future of manufacturing
and construction in the Huntington area. He said if developing projects like
Pullman Square and KineticPark come to fruition, the area will be more effective
at generating business.

While big businesses and industries are floundering, many small businesses
flourish during tough economic times, officials said. Many of West Virginia’s
rural areas are surviving the hard times through small businesses opening up to
serve the tourism industry, said Gary Pommerenck, executive director of the West
Virginia Region 2 Workforce Investment Bureau.
In his job, which offers job training for the unemployed, he sees many people open
restaurants and other attractions in hopes of cashing in on tourists visiting the
countryside.

"You are seeing a gradual change or shift from manufacturing industries to
tourism," Pommerenck said.
Huntington residents Brian and Melissa Young decided to try their hand at running
a business when they found the job market too tough.

Melissa Young said her husband couldn’t find a job after graduating Marshall
University two years ago. In response, she said she decided to quit her job at
Nextel and open Stitchen’ Threads, an embroidery company off of U.S. 60 in
Huntington.
Business has been slow since starting out of the gates in April, Young said, but
she and her husband have no regrets. With her husband unable to find work, Young
said entrepreneurship was their best option.

"Right now, it is the best way to go," Young said. "My husband graduated two years
ago, and he had nothing but trouble. The only places hiring wanted 10 to 15 years
experience." Unemployed people often turn to self-employment to find work, said
David Harrington, director of the entrepreneur training group Unlimited Futures.
He said about two-thirds of his students who want to learn about how to start
their business are unemployed.

While statistics from the Bureau of Employment Services show the local
unemployment rate rose to 7 percent in July, the highest since February 2002,
there are some signs of an economic turnaround. More companies are beginning to
contact Marshall’s Career Services asking for student applicants, Wright said.
While people won’t notice a change in job availability for some time, she said,
companies are slowly starting to rehire. "We do have good jobs, but they are not
coming in as fast," Wright said. "It is taking students longer to find entry-level
positions."

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/2003/September/01/LNtop2.htm

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