Claims of the improving economy have done little to boost the number of job opportunities for NIU students.

“Job placement can’t be assessed yet, but the number of students interviewing is the same as spring semester last year. Right now, we have 465 students going through 1,600 interviews with 154 employers. We had 162 employers recruiting last spring,” said Jean Callary, campus recruitment coordinator for NIU Career Planning and Placement.

She said recruitment reflects how the job market is going, but added that NIU graduates seem to be doing well.

“NIU students have an advantage being so close to Chicago. Employers seem to really like having our graduates as employees. Students shouldn’t underestimate the worth of their NIU degree,” Callary said.

She said job placement for minorities and women is basically equal to the job placement of white males. “We have a lot of employers who are interested in recruiting minority students, some even have an additional interest in hiring minorities, but minorities have to be as presentable and professional as other NIU graduates,” Callary said.

She added that opportunities have opened up for women in the past few years.

“Women are looking into careers in fields that were traditionally male-dominated, such as technical fields,” she said. She also added that there aren’t as many salary discrepancies between men and women in similar careers.

She said, however, that women are less confident because of some adversities they do face in the workplace.

“Promotion is a difficult thing for women to obtain because of the larger responsibility women have when it comes to raising a family,” Callary said. She also cited the existence of “glass ceilings,” when a woman tries to move up the corporate ladder but cannot and “sticky floors” as barriers in a working woman’s advancement in her field.

She said it was very important for those students graduating this May or August to go to Career Planning and Placement and get working on a resume, learn interviewing skills and to start looking for a job.

Callary said the biggest job markets at the moment are computer science or computer-related fields. She said a lot of companies are offering sales positions to start, but students should remember taking positions such as sales positions are a good way to get a “foot in the door” to a more specialized position.

“Students must be prepared to consider alternatives to what they feel their ideal job is. They must be optimistic, but realistic at the same time,” Callary said.

She said it was important for all students to remember that learning is an ongoing process and they must keep improving on the degree they receive for more success in their field.