Meghan Canipe, Overland Park junior, thought she had gotten on the ball early. A month before the fall semester began last year, she had already begun the process of applying for jobs. She estimated that she picked up 40 applications for places around Lawrence, including almost every store and restaurant on Massachusetts Street.
As the first day of the semester edged nearer, Canipe, still jobless, called her prospective places of employment to check on the status of her applications, but it was to no avail.
"They all told me the same thing, that they'd put my application on top," Canipe said, "but I never heard back from any of them."
The search for on-campus jobs wasn't any easier for Canipe. She applied to 10 more places on campus before finally getting a job in the fines office of Watson Library. After a two-month search, she said she considered herself lucky to have found a job.
Ann Hartley, associate director of the University Career Center, said job searches this fall aren't likely to be any easier. Online applications submitted for campus jobs increased by almost 15% for the month of August from 2007 to 2008. For the 227 available on-campus jobs posted online this year, 6,151 applications were submitted in the month of August alone.
The national unemployment rate rose to 6.1 percent in the month of August, the highest percentage in five years according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With 9.4 million unemployed people in the United States, this national trend hits home in Lawrence as fall job searches continue for students.
Mary Chappell, director of University Recreation Services, said the Rec. Center employs around 300 students over the course of the year for a variety of positions, and the competition for those positions can be fierce.
"Just recently we had 77 applications turned in to fill two positions in facility management," Chappell said. She said for other facility positions, like working the front desk and swiping cards, it is not unusual to get 100 applications or more turned in for one position.
University Libraries deal with the same kind of application increase in the fall. Courtney Foat, administrative associate for libraries, said that fall is always the busiest time for applications. Foat said the libraries can receive anywhere from 50-300 student applications for one library position.
One reason students like Canipe can have a difficult time find jobs is if they are not eligible for the Federal Work Study program. Based on financial need, the work study program provides funding to universities that goes toward the wages of part-time students who qualify. Students eligible for work study will have 75% of their wage paid for by the program, and the University has to provide only the remaining 25% of the student's wages.
"Campus employers really like to find a student who is eligible for Federal Work Study because they can really save money, or stretch a thin budget," Hartley said.
But the federal work study program offers another program that benefits all students, regardless of financial need. This program, called the Job Location and Development program, was implemented at the University in January has drastically increased online postings of off-campus jobs available to students. The program is allowed to use part of the federal funds it receives under the work study program to hire two University students who specifically work to market and promote off-campus jobs to both employers and students.
"The idea is to increase the number of job postings available to students through marketing to employers and getting them to post to our HawkStudent employment Web site," Hartley said. "This is the first year that we have been able to really promote and increase the number of postings."
Job postings of companies looking to hire KU students at the career center's part of HawkStudent employment website, KUCareerHawk.com, increased dramatically in the last year, nearly doubling from 481 to 827.
But these increased opportunities don't necessarily mean that jobs will be easier to find off campus. Nick Wysong, manager of Ingredient in downtown Lawrence, said he doesn't even need to advertise because of the everlasting stock of applications on hand.
Hartley said persistence is the only way to insure that students will find jobs.
"I've talked to students when it's just taken months before they can find a job," Hartley said. "Sometimes it's just a numbers game, you just have to keep applying, keep applying, keep applying."
As the first day of the semester edged nearer, Canipe, still jobless, called her prospective places of employment to check on the status of her applications, but it was to no avail.
"They all told me the same thing, that they'd put my application on top," Canipe said, "but I never heard back from any of them."
The search for on-campus jobs wasn't any easier for Canipe. She applied to 10 more places on campus before finally getting a job in the fines office of Watson Library. After a two-month search, she said she considered herself lucky to have found a job.
Ann Hartley, associate director of the University Career Center, said job searches this fall aren't likely to be any easier. Online applications submitted for campus jobs increased by almost 15% for the month of August from 2007 to 2008. For the 227 available on-campus jobs posted online this year, 6,151 applications were submitted in the month of August alone.
The national unemployment rate rose to 6.1 percent in the month of August, the highest percentage in five years according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With 9.4 million unemployed people in the United States, this national trend hits home in Lawrence as fall job searches continue for students.
Mary Chappell, director of University Recreation Services, said the Rec. Center employs around 300 students over the course of the year for a variety of positions, and the competition for those positions can be fierce.
"Just recently we had 77 applications turned in to fill two positions in facility management," Chappell said. She said for other facility positions, like working the front desk and swiping cards, it is not unusual to get 100 applications or more turned in for one position.
University Libraries deal with the same kind of application increase in the fall. Courtney Foat, administrative associate for libraries, said that fall is always the busiest time for applications. Foat said the libraries can receive anywhere from 50-300 student applications for one library position.
One reason students like Canipe can have a difficult time find jobs is if they are not eligible for the Federal Work Study program. Based on financial need, the work study program provides funding to universities that goes toward the wages of part-time students who qualify. Students eligible for work study will have 75% of their wage paid for by the program, and the University has to provide only the remaining 25% of the student's wages.
"Campus employers really like to find a student who is eligible for Federal Work Study because they can really save money, or stretch a thin budget," Hartley said.
But the federal work study program offers another program that benefits all students, regardless of financial need. This program, called the Job Location and Development program, was implemented at the University in January has drastically increased online postings of off-campus jobs available to students. The program is allowed to use part of the federal funds it receives under the work study program to hire two University students who specifically work to market and promote off-campus jobs to both employers and students.
"The idea is to increase the number of job postings available to students through marketing to employers and getting them to post to our HawkStudent employment Web site," Hartley said. "This is the first year that we have been able to really promote and increase the number of postings."
Job postings of companies looking to hire KU students at the career center's part of HawkStudent employment website, KUCareerHawk.com, increased dramatically in the last year, nearly doubling from 481 to 827.
But these increased opportunities don't necessarily mean that jobs will be easier to find off campus. Nick Wysong, manager of Ingredient in downtown Lawrence, said he doesn't even need to advertise because of the everlasting stock of applications on hand.
Hartley said persistence is the only way to insure that students will find jobs.
"I've talked to students when it's just taken months before they can find a job," Hartley said. "Sometimes it's just a numbers game, you just have to keep applying, keep applying, keep applying."
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