SALT LAKE CITY — Brooke Shell graduated last month from the University of Utah with degrees in psychology and anthropology.
Now comes the hard part.
She has one job offer to treat adolescents at a residential mental health facility. That one doesn't pay enough.
And though the job she's starting in two weeks — working at a call center for a cell phone company in West Valley City — pays better, $30,000 with the possibility of a promotion in a year and a half, she knows she won't like it.
Shell is many years and at least one advanced degree away from her dream of owning her own clinic. Until then, there are bills to pay, and the slumping economy restricts her choice of quality jobs.
"(The recession) made me lower my standards a lot," she said. "I've been applying for everything. I don't care if it's a job I hate."
Shell is one of many recent graduates settling for whatever they can get. A National Association of Colleges and Employers survey conducted this spring found that only 24 percent of graduates had a job lined up, a slight bump from 20 percent last year. Students majoring in accounting, business administration, computer science, engineering or mathematics were most likely to get offers. The average starting salary offer is down 1.7 percent from a year ago to $47,673 for someone expecting a bachelor's degree, the survey found.
Utah is faring better than most states, with an unemployment rate at 7.3 percent as of April (below the national rate of 9.9 percent). But when you add in people who have stopped looking or have taken jobs for which they are overqualified, that number almost doubles. Competition for available positions is fierce: The number of unemployed people per job opening has jumped since 2006 from 1.4 to 6.2, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Employers are reacting cautiously to signs that the economy might be slowly improving, said John Mathews, an economist for the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
"When these graduates selected their career four or five years ago, they didn't know there was going to be a recession," he said. "They have to step back, take a look and see if they have an intermediate choice."
For Jennifer Jones, a family and consumer science major freshly graduated from Utah State University, that choice means deferring her ultimate goal of being a school counselor or owning a business in the cosmetology field.
"None of my friends have a job lined up yet," she said on a recent afternoon at her Sandy home as she prepared to interview for a position as a bridal consultant (aka selling wedding dresses). "We're still nervous about not necessarily finding a career, but just taking what we can get right now."
Fellow USU grad and international business major Vikki Ballard said she was "lucky" after a six-month search to secure a job as a strategic analyst for a metal distribution firm where she interned as a student.
"I have so many friends who are absolutely brilliant, are willing to relocate, and still can't find a decent job," she said. "Even with a job lined up before graduation, I still felt the doom and gloom."
Donna Crow, career services director at USU, urges students not to think of it as "settling" if they don't start out in their dream job. She recently advised a graduating senior who wants to be an accountant for a Major League Baseball team.
"How does he get from here to there? He might start with the (Salt Lake) Bees," she said.
Crow said the important thing is to be able to show future employers you have continued to develop your abilities.
"Never lose sight of that. Make yourself that person," she said. "As long as you're adding skill sets to your resume, that's OK."
e-mail: pkoepp@desnews.com