Even 
though it is the start of a new school year, it doesn’t hurt to look ahead to what awaits the senior class when they graduate and start looking for a job. Better yet, those with a few years to go should be looking ahead and acquiring the skills that will make them employable.
In that pursuit, it might help to look at the University of Georgia’s James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research’s Annual Survey of Journalism and Mass Communication Graduates for 2006, which found that the job recovery that started two years ago for communication and journalism positions has now stalled (pdf of survey results).
“Graduates of U.S. journalism and mass communication programs confronted a weakened job market in 2006 and early 2007,” according to Lee B. Becker, director of the Cox Center and professor of journalism in UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
But it isn’t all bad news, while benefits are in decline (for all workers), salaries for graduates with full-time jobs increased and even outpaced inflation slightly.
Before you get too depressed, remember that the best and brightest will still find a job. They will just need the skills that employers are looking for. The survey gave some clues as to what those skills are. Here are the skills that employed graduates reported using in their jobs:
| Write, report and edit for print | 38 percent |
| Still camera | 15.4 percent |
| Write, report and edit for broadcast | 14.5 percent |
| Photo imaging | 9.2 percent |
| Video camera | 8.1 percent |
| Designing and creating computer graphics | 8.9 percent |
| Video camera | 8.1 percent |
| Produce content for mobile device | 1.6 percent |
Looking at these numbers you might think that you should specialize in writing, editing and reporting for print. But I would say that while you MUST have the skills that are used most, having skills like producing content for video and mobile devices might make you stand out from the crowd and win the job.
Most communication professionals are looking for ways to include these new skill sets and many don’t have them. An entry-level employee with these skills in hand looks attractive. I know this because in my consulting business I am often hired by these same senior managers to do the jobs for which they haven’t developed the skill sets in house. As a new graduate, you can save your company a lot of money (hiring people like me) by bringing these skills with you.
So, join your school television station, learn graphic and web design by getting an internship or helping a non-profit, learn how to take and edit photos at the school newspaper…and so on.
What skills do you think you need to get a job and how do you plan to get them? Let’s share ideas and resources to help your fellow students and those that will come in the future.
