There's good news for job-searching graduates across Canada this year.
Figures released by the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE) show that 65 per cent of recruiters plan to increase overall hiring, with only five per cent expecting workforce cutbacks.
This positive trend is reflected at the University of Victoria's employment centre, where the number of job postings is up 58 per cent over last year, indicating that employers are looking more to university graduates to fill their vacancies.
"Many of the new opportunities are in high-tech, biotechnology, and science-related industries, but we're also seeing increases in other areas, such as social sciences," says Lynn McCaughey, an employment advisor with the centre.
The CACE survey, "Campus Recruitment Outlook 1998," is based on responses from 95 campus recruiters across the country. In it, employers state the need to attract talented, energetic, and intelligent graduates to remain competitive. On average, each expects to hire 27 university graduates this year, up from 24 last year.
At UVic, this has translated into more campus information sessions and student interviews. Last year, there were 161 recruitment days at UVic with companies such as Nortel, Price Waterhouse, and PanCanadian Petroleum. An increase is expected this year.
But this doesn't mean that students can sit back and wait for job offers to fall into their laps, says McCaughey.
"It's all about being proactive," she cautions. "It's always been a challenge to become connected to the workforce. Students should recognize this, and become more creative about how they look for work."
This is where the employment centre-which is intended to serve all members of the UVic community including students, alumni, faculty and staff-comes in. Hundreds of job listings are on display, along with a library for researching employers. One-on-one employment counselling is also offered and there are workshops on subjects such as résumé and cover letter-writing, and job-searching on the Internet.
McCaughey advises that students become familiar with the facilities and services provided by the employment centre as early as possible. "The whole concept of looking for work should start in a student's first year," she says. "Even jobs for next summer start being advertised in September."
She adds that, even though the number of positions available is increasing, it's not a time to be complacent. "There's no wrong time to look for work," she says, "and that's what we're here for."
Many of the centre's services can be accessed at their Website at http://www.stec.uvic.ca, or the centre can be reached at 721-8421.