CAN GRADS EXPECT JOBS?

Less than half of SSU's graduates had jobs waiting for them last year, and there's no reason to think things will be better for the 2,200 in this year's class. Only 88 of the 185 who graduated from the School of Business had lined up work, and 30 of those were internships that turned into full-time positions, said Sarah Dove, director of SSU's Career Center. Here's what students and recruiters at a recent campus job fair had to say about their prospects.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ANDREW GIESE

SSU junior

"I'm sort of cynical about the whole job thing right now," Geise said. He doesn't think there will be a steady job for him when he graduates, and he worries that he will be competing against applicants with more experience.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ANDREA FARIAS

SSU senior

Farias would like to work as a Spanish translator in the criminal justice system and has already applied for a probation translator's position with the County of Sonoma. She worked there as an intern, she said, "so I know what they're looking for.' Even so, she is competing against more than 150 applicants for the part-time, on-call position.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

KATHY WILLIAMS

Human resources technician, County of Sonoma

It's going to be tough for graduating students to find a job, said Williams. "They're looking at a tough market out there." The county routinely receives as many as 700 applicants for every open job, many of whom have a lot of experience. She suggests that students work as interns or volunteers in their fields and use that as a networking tool when applying for full-time positions.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SGT. 1ST CLASS CORY BARNES

U.S. Army

The outlook for graduating seniors is no different than for youth without college degrees, Barnes said, because landing a job requires more than just a degree. People already in the Army tend to stay because it's too hard for them to find a job once they leave, he said.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GREG WRIGHT

Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., Novato

College students have "a cloudy future," Wright said, because it takes more than a college degree to land a job. Last year, a lot of SSU seniors took internships with his company just to improve their resumes. His company has started hiring again this year, he said, but "financial services are cyclical," with good and bad years.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------