By Jeremiah Moore
Trinity Times Correspondent
As graduating seniors at Trinity Washington University prepare for their commencement next week, they face a tough job market, statistics and employment agencies show.
“The number of people employed part-time for economic reasons, at 4.5 million, changed little in March,” according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part-time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.”
Soon-to-be Trinity graduates such as Flor Marez and Christy Ramos know the odds don’t look great, but they also hope everything will work out.
“I believe that each professor has helped me build a different skill in me,” said Marez, a business major who plans to pursue a master’s degree.
“I do get a lot of email … on the opportunities and things we can do in our field,” said Ramos, a philosophy major.
According to the Career Services and Employer Alliance: “A degree no longer guarantees a ‘degree-level’ role. While overall unemployment remains low, the underemployment rate for recent graduates has climbed to 42.5%. … In this environment, our students aren’t just competing against each other; they are competing against a seasoned workforce for the same entry-level seats.”
Trinity Washington University professors encourage students to never give up on their dreams.
Kaitlin Wellens teaches biology, and she uses her mother’s lessons about education to help motivate students. Wellens said her mother created a more empathetic approach to keep Wellens and her brother motivated and confident.
“She cared more about the effort that we put in than the outcome,” she said.
Wellens said that in her data courses, students learn tools to use in the workplace. She teaches students that there are multiple outcomes for every problem. Assignments enhance the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, she added.
Steven Gable, a Trinity philosophy professor, said he initially wanted to be a priest.
“I studied philosophy, which encouraged you to question everything, so I kind of moved away from the priest idea,” he told Trinity Times. “But I still wanted to serve and help others the best way I could, and I think education was the best way to do that.”
Gable utilizes today’s worldwide trends and topics to draw his students’ interest and make them think outside the box. He also tries to oppose or critique what they are saying to enhance their interpretation and speech, forcing them to elaborate, not because they are wrong but to help them back up their opinions. That can ultimately strengthen their confidence and enhance their ability to respond quickly at work or an interview, he added.
“I think in the workforce they want different perspectives, like here is approach A, and here is approach B,” he said.
Meraz, whose minor is data analytics, said her love for business began in high school. She studied with both Wellens and Gable.
“Dr. Wellens has helped me build my skills with data analytics and helped me prove I can also play in the healthcare field,” she said.
“Dr. Gable taught me the importance of ethics and that shaped philosophical thinking.”
Ramos is a psychology major who did not have Wellens or Gable, but had others who helped guide her.
She believes that being successful after college is more about capitalizing on the time you have and using it to network and take initiative.
A graduate’s success is not solely based on what insight, practices or concepts they may gather throughout their college years, but is based more on how they will take what they learn and utilize it in the workplace, according to the Career Services and Employer Alliance.
“Certificates and degrees don’t have to be an either/or decision,” said the Career Services and Employer Alliance. “They’re highly complementary. Degrees provide foundational depth of knowledge, while certificates give you the agility to adapt, or pivot quickly in this fast-changing job market.”
Having a degree and certification shows an employer that you not only have the knowledge but also the skills they need to take their company to the next level.