Freshmen focusing on jobs right away

Editor’s note: Fifth in a series of articles on paying college costs.

PHILADELPHIA – As college freshmen nationwide continue exploring their campuses – finding dining halls, laundry rooms, bookstores and gyms – officials at many schools say the newbies are increasingly finding their way to career centers.

Once considered the place for panicked seniors to look for jobs ahead of graduation, college career offices are reporting dramatic hikes in use by first-year students looking for the earliest possible jump on the employment market.

“College is expensive and difficult … probably the largest single investment that our students will ever make,” said John Kniering, career services director at the University of Hartford. “It seems natural that freshman year is not too early to start.”

Hartford has seen a 37 percent increase in freshman career counseling appointments since 2006, Kniering said.

Freshmen who are concerned by the nation’s 9.6 percent unemployment rate and the prospect of repaying college loans don’t want to squander tuition money on irrelevant coursework.

The so-called millennial cohort is also filled with go-getters, said Nancy Dudak, director of the career center at Villanova University near Philadelphia.

“This generation of college students is used to being busy and having it all,” Dudak said. “They had really packed careers in high school. They just look to continue that intensity when they come to college.”

Career centers are also making a concerted effort to target first-years to ensure more relevant guidance and increase student retention. Duke University has seen a 33 percent increase over previous years in freshmen attendance at career center programs, due in part to outreach, said spokesman Chris Heltne.

Outreach is “a matter of self-defense” for career counselors, Kniering said.

Knowing students’ skills and passions is important in an age where some professions can appear – think social media consultant – or disappear – think of the financial collapse – in the course of a college career. Encouraging early internships and coursework can help students find the right path without requiring extra classes and tuition money.

“If we see them on the cusp of graduation, often it’s too late to make a significant difference,” Kniering said.