While education is important, it’s no secret why most students have come to college: They want that diploma ticket to a better job, to the bigger money.

But as that graduation date inevitably creeps up, it might be easy for students to give in to the consternation about what happens after they toss the cap and gown into the air and are thrust headlong into the real world. Economic woes aren’t helping to abate anxieties, and the career field seems to loom before students like the gaping maw of a slumbering dragon.

There also seems to be a popular sentiment in this day and age that a bachelor’s degree doesn’t hold the same weight that it used to.

“The most important thing is what you do in addition to your degree,” said Angela Williams, associate director of career education at the UA Career Development Center. “Work experience, coupled with a bachelor’s degree, is what employers are looking for. Students always do well to involve themselves in any activities and organizations that will look good on a resume.”

The CDC, located in the Arkansas Union, offers a variety of services for post-graduate preparation, including practice interviews, resume editing and counseling on how students should present themselves professionally in the business world.

“There are a lot of tricks of the trade,” Williams said. “It is a competitive market out there. Every employer is looking for someone who can think on their feet. That, in essence, is the interview process. Students who know what they want and how to job search will be successful. Those skills are what we try to equip people with.”

Success after graduation, though, is varied. Sam Burns, a UA graduate with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, found a job doing research at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences after he graduated. “It pays surprisingly well,” Burns said, “and it has inspired me to go to medical school. I didn’t know I wanted to be a doctor before I took this job.”

Stephen Coger, another UA graduate with a degree in English, has also found work in his field of interest. He currently teaches English in Argentina.

But some other UA graduates have had a rather different experience finding jobs after college.

Blaine Mosley graduated from the UA in 2008 with a degree in English and emphasis in creative writing, and his job search proved difficult.

“For six months after graduation I was on the Internet, looking in the paper, going all around town applying for work. I sent out probably 2,000 resumes all across the country,” Mosley said. “‘I am a marketable commodity with a degree,’ I thought to myself. I applied for every kind of job, from forest ranger to manager of a corrugated cardboard box factory. Whether I was underqualified or overqualified for the job, I applied, anyway.”

Mosley received hardly any call-backs from the places to which he applied.

“Mostly, the only people who contacted me were from scams or pyramid schemes,” he said.

The job he settled for was cooking at the Flying Burrito, where he is currently employed.

“Truly, it is not what you know but who you know,” Mosley said. “I concluded that I have a B.A. in B.S. I feel like a castaway. I’m on the verge of making friends with a volleyball named Wilson.”

Kyle Wasser, who double-majored in South American Studies and Spanish, did find work in his field but decided against it.

“I make more money delivering pizza than I could make being a translator,” Wasser said. “I learned a lot at the university, but for all the good my diploma has done for me I might as well have rolled it up and smoked it. I’m just going to save up money and ride a bike across South America.”

But while life after graduation remains a toss-up mystery for some, not many students seemed to regret the experience and accomplishment of earning a degree.

As far as students finding a job they love after graduation, Williams said, “If there’s a will, there’s a way. Know what you want and pursue it consistently. And if you find a job you love, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”

With the state of the job market still in doubt, some students are turning to internships, which not only provide valuable experience and career contacts, but can also take students in unexpected directions, they said.

UA student Jessica Powviriya interned last year at University Relations, where she wrote press releases, learned the basics of videography, wrote for local magazines and conducted interviews on TV.

Through her experience at the on-campus internship, Powviriya said she was provided opportunities and advantages that other students might not receive.

“The position gave me free reign on projects, and it was a very open environment that was comfortable enough for me to ask questions,” she said. 

The nature of the internship helped shape her writing abilities, and also gave her experience working with various supervisors. Powviriya said that each of her superiors had differing viewpoints, and this allowed for a more broad education about the same basic principles. 

Powviriya is now working on her master’s degree, but she said the University Relations internship taught her more than any of her classes did.

“They gave us responsibilities and expected us to finish them,” she said. 

For some students, internships are not limited to those listed on Web sites and connected to colleges.

Eurostuma, a company that produces household items, needed a business position filled, so an internship position was created for chemistry major Courtney Peterson. 

During her six weeks with TCT, the Eurostuma company share in Portugal, Peterson’s main objective was to introduce a new product – but she was also allowed to see the actual production process and the professional technology after spending weeks on research and working on scaled-down versions. 

“It definitely had the feeling of a business trip, since I had to smile constantly and be on my best behavior,” Peterson said. 

Her biggest challenge, she said, was working in a country where she didn’t know the language and worked closely with two women who didn’t know any English. 

But when Peterson’s workload was completed in four weeks, she felt the experience was well worth the difficulty of a language barrier, particularly because the remaining two weeks were filled with travel to surrounding Portugal cities.

However, not all internships lack the comfort of an on-campus position or the excitement of an international summer job. 

Architecture major Kayla Freeman dreaded the telemarketing internship that her father arranged for her. Eventually, though, Freeman turned the job into a creative opportunity, expressing her boredom and frustration through journal-like Facebook notes that detailed her avoidance of daily internship activities.

“I tried out different accents and used many aliases when calling prospective clients, I brushed up on my Spanish watching Mexican soap operas while hanging out with my friends Juanita and Jorge in the break room, and I wrote a children’s story, ‘Little Larry and the Big Scary,’ potty training at its finest,” Freeman wrote. “I switched the decaf and regular coffee and later skipped out at noon to catch a baseball game with the boys.” 

Even though Freeman clearly didn’t enjoy her internship, she encourages other students to choose internships and work experience wisely.

“Any internship is a step in the right direction,” she said.

At the UA Career Development Center, officials help students find internships through listings on the eRecruiting feature of the CDC Web site, Career.uark.edu.

As seniors begin to face a still-uncertain job market and underclassmen look to optimize their career potential early, UA Career Development Center representatives are seeing office traffic pick up – and they’re working to ensure students reach their career goals, despite the economic slump.

CDC Director Barbara Batson even said she thinks this year’s graduates will be more likely to find a job than last year’s – though the search may still prove tough.

“I anticipate spring 2010 graduates will have more job opportunities in more areas,” she said. “I like for our graduates to have choices when it comes to accepting a job – however, the choices may be more limited in some fields for a year or so.”

But that’s why the CDC is available – to help students make the best of the job market as is. Celebrating its 60th year on campus next fall, the CDC, in Batson’s words, “assists all students, all majors, all degree plans in exploring their career interests and developing a plan to reach their career goals.”

And it’s not just for seniors, she said. The CDC helps all students find experience to benefit – and complement – their degree.“There is not just ‘one way’ to plan for a successful career,” Batson said. “Some students find study abroad, work abroad, internships, research and volunteering to help point them in the direction of a meaningful career.”

By: Stephen Ironside

Batson and other CDC officials work with UA students throughout their college career, beginning with the most basic element: choosing a major. At the CDC, this is established by not only students’ natural abilities, but also their everyday interests and work values.

From there, the CDC helps students develop skills to accompany their degree programs – and the Professional Development Institute, with more than 1,600 UA students as members, “is maybe one of (the CDC’s) best features,” said Kevin Jones, a CDC career ambassador. “I definitely encourage students to use it.”

Through internships, study abroad, community service, research opportunities and more, PDI “helps students develop the professional skills needed to compete in the job search and/or graduate school application,” Batson said.

PDI “career coaches” determine the best experiences for individual students and guide them through workshops and presentations, like “Diversity in the Workplace” and “Professional Interview Skills.”

“These are invaluable resources to job-seeking students, and they’re free,” said Madalyn Watkins, a CDC career ambassador. “(Signing up for PDI) was one of the best decisions I’ve made at the UA.”

Marshall Carter, CDC career counselor, agreed that the job search strategies learned through PDI give students an edge out of college.

“Their application materials are usually going to be in better shape, and their interview and job search skills are going to be better,” he said. “This counts in the ‘real world.’”

For students, the ultimate purpose of this work is to secure a job, preferably one that pays well and is in their field of interest. But Batson said soon-to-be-graduates might have to shift their thinking, at least for a little while.

“Students need to adjust their expectations to be realistic about the job market and the economic environment,” she said. “No. 1, it may take longer to find a job. No. 2, a graduate may have to relocate or be willing to within a few years. And No. 3, salary expectations need to be realistic – signing bonuses are rare these days.”

Greg Renick, a CDC career ambassador, said it’s vital that students take advantage of the CDC’s services – and because of his own experience at the CDC, Renick said he’ll be able to find a good job, even in a competitive market.

“Today’s economy is the toughest we have seen in years,” he said. “It is essential that students have a strong, tailored resume, great interview skills and the relevant experience needed to land a job in such a tough market.”

The CDC is located in the Arkansas Union 607, Bell Engineering 3158 and 3188, and Old Main 518. Students who want to set up a meeting with CDC officials can visit Career.uark.edu or call 479-575-2805.

“Students need to visit the career center – they’re missing an important part of their college education if they don’t,” Batson said.

Whatever experts might forecast about the 2010 job market, there’s no guarantee they’ll be right: Last year, hiring was expected to increase by 6 percent, but it actually decreased by 21 percent, according to a report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Perhaps that’s why economists and career development officials are hesitant to offer radical predictions now.

“Everybody is really unsure,” said Becky Vianden, associate director of program development for the Career Development Center. “This time last year, the market turned on a dime and, boom, things went bad.”

2010 graduates might have a slightly easier time finding a job than 2009 graduates,  said CDC Director Barbara Batson, but economics professor Javier Reyes said he expects the job market to be as difficult as ever.“There are a lot of people out there with no jobs, but with experience. It will be harder for graduates because they’re competing with people graduating and people with real experience,” Reyes said. “Companies might be stopping their hiring freezes, but it will still be challenging to find a job.”

Arkansas has an unemployment rate of about 8 percent right now, and it’s not expected to drop in 2010, he said.

Recruiting

Most recruiting will happen in the fall this year, according to the NACE report, but employers plan to attend fewer career fairs and shift their focus to social networking instead.

At the UA, though, a healthy 60 companies turned out for the engineering career fair and 34 companies for the all majors fair, Vianden said.

“This was much more than we had projected,” she said.

As this solid turnout suggests, NWA didn’t really experience the economic downturn as severely as the rest of the country, Vianden said.

Even in NWA, though, companies might not have quite as much to offer new recruits as they once did.

“Students will have to understand that salary and wages might not be what they once were,” said Rashad Delph, Tyson Foods, Inc., manager of corporate recruiting.

Given that, students might want to consider graduate school instead, Reyes said.

If students know what city they want to work in, they should look at graduate programs in that city, he said.

By the time they graduate and are looking for a job again, the market will have had time to recover, he said.

The intrepid who insist on looking for a job now will have to prove how they can contribute to a company, Delph said.

“When hiring, we look at our shortfalls (as a company) and where we need improvement,” he said. “(Applicants) have to establish (themselves) within a good foundation and prove (their) worth to that foundation.”

Sectors

Earning a job is easier or harder, though, depending on what sector it falls under.

NWA is a good market for service, medical, education, technical and finance positions, Batson said.

And, of course, Wal-Mart makes a significant difference in the local economy, as well.

“We’re in a unique situation with respect to Wal-Mart,” Reyes said. “The NWA (economy) follows the sales side of companies like Wal-Mart. Our market, then, is very much dependent on the consumer. How they do will affect how NWA will do.”

Nationwide, education and medicine are strong fields, Batson said.

Students need to be willing to relocate, she said, because that flexibility increases their chances of finding a good job.

Students with work experiences, such as internships, will also have an easier time with the job search, Batson said.

Some other top jobs across the country include public accounting, software design, engineering, nursing, teaching, sales and research, according to Job Choices: Diversity Edition 2010.

Green Companies

And, of course, any picture of the 2010 job market would be incomplete without a few words devoted to the green sector.

Newsweek has recently released the first major list of the “greenest” companies in America.

Hewlett-Packard was awarded the No. 1 slot as the greenest company in America. Dell, Johnson & Johnson, Intel and IBM followed to fill the top five rankings.

The Bentonville-based Wal-Mart has spot 59 in the overall rankings and sixth within the Industry sector, according to Newsweek.

Creating zero waste, operating entirely on renewable energy and selling products that help conserve resources are the company’s top three objectives.

Another local company, J.B. Hunt Transport Services is listed as 429 of the top 500 ranked companies. Tyson Foods Inc. follows closely at 479, according to the Newsweek list.

The rankings were created with the help of environmental researchers, who based the rankings on a combination of environmental policies, performance and overall reputation.

The “greening” of U.S. companies might help them compete financially in the future – and alleviate long-term costs to the public – because the controversial cap-and-trade system proposed by President Barack Obama would make companies pay for their carbon footprint, rather than pass the environmental cost onto the public, according to the latest Newsweek.

Sarah Colonna has traveled quite a distance from her hometown of Farmington to her current position as a comedy writer for the “Chelsea Lately” show on the E! Network.

A graduate of the University of Arkansas, Colonna received her bachelor’s of art degree in drama and studied theater under such instructors as Kent Brown, Amy Herzberg, Pat Romanoff and Michael Riha.

She remembers her time in Fayetteville with fondness, and cited a summer trip to New York with classmates to see plays on Broadway and acting at a writer’s retreat at Mount Sequoyah as some of her favorite experiences with the UA drama program.

After graduating from the UA, Colonna moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting and comedy. Just like anyone trying to make it big in the world of show business, Colonna spent most of her time waitressing and bartending at first, and she looked for as many stand-up comedy opportunities and commercial gigs as she could get.

“Anything to get a foot in the door,” Colonna said.

The move from Farmington to L.A. wasn’t a rocky shift, as might be expected for a small-town girl making the switch to big-city life.

“I had a little easier transition because my dad has lived in California a good portion of my life,” Colonna said. “So I basically graduated and moved right afterward. Everyone knows it’s hard to go to school and save money, so I stayed with him and worked at a restaurant and stashed all my money to get my own apartment in L.A. 

“Once I did live in L.A. and live by myself, it was kind of weird,” she said.

Starting out on her own wasn’t immediately successful. But Colonna recognized that her struggles and the hard work she put in to achieve her goals were meaningful to her experience.

“Every time I started to get frustrated, something would come along … like working on ‘The United States of Tara’ with Toni Collette,” she said.

Other credits to her acting experience include a guest appearance on the USA hit show “Monk” with Tony Shalhoub, work on BBC’s comedy show “The World Stands Up,” a regular spot on Sci-Fi’s “Scare Tactics,” a semifinalist position on “Last Comic Standing” and appearances on various other Comedy Central shows.

Colonna cemented her place on “Chelsea Lately” after appearing as a guest comedian on the Round Table. In May, she was hired as a full-time writer, and she continues to do stand-up comedy for the show.

“It’s a great job and it’s a lot of fun,” Colonna said. “It’s a great group of people, and I’ve been really lucky to be able to morph into that after 10 years of trying to get into the business.”

And fully into the business she is. Colonna recalled how “cool” it was to be at a restaurant recently with Al Pacino nearby.

“I was kind of in shock, like, ‘Wow, that’s Al Pacino,’” she said.

Colonna described similar experiences with other stars, like when Jennifer Aniston appeared on the “Chelsea Lately” show for an interview or when James Gandolfini came into a bar she was working at.

“Even at a grocery store, you’ll see someone randomly,” Colonna said.

Yet Colonna is reluctant to abandon her Arkansas roots. She usually comes home to visit family at Christmas and during the summer, and still remains a loyal Hogs fan. 

Colonna spoke highly of her Arkansas background, and recalled getting together with fellow UA alums working in California for the occasional dinner out.

“You know, anytime anyone asks me about school, (I tell them) I loved going to the UA,” she said. “I had so many great professors and so many friends … (and) a few of them are even working out here now. It’s great to have this camaraderie from back home.” 

And though L.A. is a diverse city, made up of people from around the country and world, Colonna doubts her California peers will be able to let go of her association with the South.

“Yeah, I don’t think people will ever stop the ‘Did you marry your cousin?’ jokes,” she said. “But the few of us just usually make fun of them right back.”

Many people across the nation know and love the tale of Pinocchio, the wooden boy whose rapidly growing nose prevents him from telling a lie. It’s a story full of lessons in morality – namely, the importance of telling the truth and the negative consequences that can arise from lying.

But what would happen if the beloved, ultimately moral Pinocchio encountered the undead?

That’s the question that inspired UA graduate Dusty Higgins to create “Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer,” a graphic novel detailing Pinocchio’s quest to destroy vampires who have overrun his town.

Higgins, along with writer Van Jensen, created the novel based on the original story by Carlo Collodi, but it takes a much different route than the fluffier Disney film. In Higgins and Jensen’s novel, Pinocchio’s wooden nose isn’t a simple truth barometer: It’s used to impale vampires.

“We approached the story as if maybe Pinocchio wasn’t meant to live happily ever after. With a continual supply of wooden stakes and no flesh or blood to worry about, he’s really the perfect weapon against the undead bloodsucking menace,” Higgins said, according to a press release from Slave Labor Graphics Publishing, which will publish the novel.

Higgins, who received his bachelor’s degree of art in 2003 and is pursuing a master’s in journalism at the UA, is a former cartoonist for The Traveler. He credits his time at the paper with helping him “develop a professional attitude” and acquire “real world skills” to advance his craft.

And it’s a craft that happened almost by chance. Higgins said it was his friends in high school who encouraged him to continue his drawing hobby in college, and once he arrived at the UA, Patsy Watkins, chair of the journalism department, also was a source of support.

“After I showed her some of my drawings, she said that I could make money doing what I loved,” Higgins said. 

Watkins’ advice turned out to be quite prophetic: Higgins’ novel is set to hit stores in late October. But it wasn’t without effort. 

“It’s very difficult to get published in the comic world,” Higgins said. 

But, after exploring their options, Higgins and Jensen settled on SLG, a company whose work they “respected and liked.” Most importantly, SLG also gave them more creative control than other comic book publishers, Higgins said. 

Higgins’ plans for the future include publishing two sequels to Pinocchio’s dark tale, as well as two other unnamed projects.

“Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer” will be available in October through Amazon and at major bookstores.