Senior Evan Donohue said he is looking for a full-time job in finance. He attended the April 1 Career Fair, and said it was helpful to meet employers face to face. At the time, he said he had applied for about 30 jobs or internships, but only heard back from about eight employers and interviewed with one.

“I need a job,” he said. “I just have to tell myself I’ll find something. I know I’ll find something, and I’ve been keeping my head up. But it is frustrating for the most part.”

Graduating seniors will be job hunting in one of the most competitive markets, in one of the worst economic periods in U.S. history.

 John Fracchia, associate director of Career Services, said when he was getting his master’s in business administration at Binghamton University in 1988, jobs were readily available. By 1990, however, the market had already changed.

“I remember, in Binghamton’s business school, ... there was this really long corridor, and it was wallpapered, and I do mean covered, in rejection letters,” he said. “That’s how my classmates managed the psychological aspect of a really challenging market.”

Fracchia said the current job market is comparable to that of the early ’90s. Of the more than 2,500 hiring managers surveyed in CareerBuilder’s Annual College Job Forecast, 43 percent planned to hire recent college graduates this year; that’s compared to 56 percent in 2008 and 79 percent in 2007.

Allison Nawoj, spokeswoman for CareerBuilder, said the site averages about 23 million unique visitors per month. In January, there were 25.7 million visitors, the highest in company history.

She said as companies continue to proceed with caution amid economic worries, job seekers will have to make themselves as marketable as possible.

“It’s really a matter of making sure that on the entry-level job side, that you’re just attacking the job market in every way you can and not focusing on how many jobs might have been lost,” Nawoj said.

To stand out in the market, Fracchia said it takes action, experience, a strong résumé and cover letter, and networking. Students should remember that their network includes everyone from parents to cousins to family friends, he said.

“Sometimes we forget that contacts are all around us,” Fracchia said. “I really do believe when asked for help and asked with good etiquette and politeness, I think most people want to do someone else a good turn. I really do believe that.”

Both on campus and on the Web, students have access to tools, that, if used effectively, can lead to significant opportunities, Fracchia said. Many students know the Web sites Monster and Craigslist, but Fracchia said more students should look at www.erecruiting.com. The college has its own portal on the site, which has a section targeted toward entry-level jobs for students at the college.  

Julie Bartolome ’08, who graduated last December, will start her dream job in June working at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Syracuse, N.Y. Fracchia helped Bartolome find her job using www.erecruiting.com.

“It was hard [last semester], but I think it’s tougher now because of all the companies that are making cuts,” she said. “The toughness is relative to the type of industry you’re looking to get into. I’d say the finance, the business, the accounting world, I think that is very tough right now.”

Stefany Fattor, internship program director and trading room manager in the School of Business at the college, works with students to help them reach career goals and alumni to assist and offer advice. Fattor met with more than 200 students between August 2008 and March 2009.

“They’re actually generally positive, but as time goes by, I’m getting a sense of desperation,” she said. “They have a lot of anxiety over it, especially the students who thought that they could start looking for a job in January or March.”

There are positives. Nawoj said she’s seen growth in government jobs in Washington, D.C. Technology companies are doing well in California, and the South is driving health care growth as baby boomers retire there and need those services, she said. Fattor said the big cities are proportionally losing many more positions than small cities. She has been encouraging students to look in the suburbs.  

“Small to midsize companies are still hiring pretty much business as usual,” she said. “It’s just the large corporations that have cut back so much.”

Jim Sinisi, regional talent manager with CareOne, a senior care company based in Fort Lee, N.J., came to the April 1 Career Fair with about 480 openings. He said the company has benefited from the down economy.

“Fortunately, we haven’t really felt the recession like the other companies have had,” he said. “We actually have more openings now than we had two years ago.”

Joseph Cheng, professor and chair of the Department of Finance and International Business, said the job market depends on the economy, and he has seen signs of improvement.

“Some banks are reporting earnings, so that’s one hopeful sign,” Cheng said. “Another hopeful sign is that the Chinese economy is showing resilience, so when the Chinese economy recovers, that may also help the economies of other countries.”

Cheng said the issue comes down to consumer confidence, which he said was relatively low in early April. He said it has risen quite a bit since then, and he hopes it will improve as the year goes on.

“When people begin to purchase, ... then there will be a reason for companies to produce,” he said.

However, Fracchia said everyone is feeling a push from the economy, so it is important for people to be grateful for the opportunities they have.

“There are people in the world, that, if they had to live under the conditions that the average American lived in under the Great Depression, would feel like they had the greatest wealth in the world,” Fracchia said. “Our benchmark in this country, for the worst time, ... for a large part of the world, would be considered living in riches. ... Perspective is a good thing to have.”