Recent UNC grads struggle to find work

After putting out more than 30 applications to internships and government jobs with no luck, May graduate John Knechtel said he wishes he had experience as a restaurant server.

 

He’s one of many graduates who has stayed in the area because of a lack of prospects anywhere else.

 

They’ve entered an increasingly competitive market. Orange County’s unemployment rate at 7.1 percent is far worse than last August’s 4.5 percent rate but not as bad as the state’s current 11.1 percent, said Pamela Rich, the manager of Employment Security Commission’s Chapel Hill branch.

 

Knechtel, who graduated in May with degrees in economics and political science, just started as a host at Rockfish Seafood Grill at The Streets at Southpoint after rejection from Franklin Street businesses. Eventually, he said, he wants to be promoted to server.

 

His next step: maybe move to Colorado and work at a ski resort, then apply to grad school earlier than he planned.

 

“I’m going to sort of go with the flow,” Knechtel said. “I just got denied from another job. It almost doesn’t faze me anymore.”

 

Jeffrey Sackaroff, associate director of University Career Services, said bad news about the economy kept last year’s graduating class from committing themselves to a job search in their field of study.

 

“A lot of them said, ‘What’s the point of trying?’” Sackaroff said. “It’s easier to say, ‘My roommate couldn’t find a job and they had a higher GPA, so I have no chance.’”

 

Because more people are looking to the services industry, competition is more intense than it was last year, Rich said.

 

She said the days are gone when one could walk down Franklin Street and get a job. Now all kinds of people walk down to her unemployment office at 503 W. Franklin St. — professionals and college graduates included.

 

May graduate Laura Adams, who has a B.S. in environmental science, renewed her lease in hopes of starting her career within 50 miles of Chapel Hill. Now, she waitresses at Ham’s Restaurant during the day and Nantucket Grill at night.

 

Adams’ resume was critiqued and polished before she filed more than 50 job applications, she said. The rumor is you have to put out at least 75, she said.

 

Sometimes she’ll get calls back. Sometimes the responders say they’d like to hire her, but they don’t have funding for her position anymore.

 

“That’s pretty discouraging,” Adams said.

 

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.