When I was about to receive my undergraduate degree, my advisor leaned on me. He wanted me to interview for jobs. Oh, sure, he knew I was going to grad school. But, he wanted me to take the interviews for a few reasons.

First of all, to give me experience. To let me know how and what the process was when industry came calling. (Yes, he knew that despite my aspirations to obtain advanced degrees, my psyche and modus operundi were more attuned to the business world than academia.) It was good experience.

But, his other reason was to help my school get the great companies to keep coming back. By seeing graduates with my credentials and capabilities, they would be more prone to show up next year and the next to seek out candidates from among our program’s graduates.

And, for that I was all too willing to help.

But, a funny thing happened that year. By the time Spring Break had rolled around, every one of my graduating classmates had received layoff notices. Yes- layoff notices. Even though they never worked one minute for these firms that recruited them. The recession that obtained made it impossible for the firms to honor their commitments. (You would not be surprised to find that most of my compatriots decided to seek out, over the next month or so, schools where they could earn Masters degrees.)

That same situation obtained for those folks graduating in 2008 and 2009. When the Great Recession hit.

But, this year, the job markets seems better.  Except…

Back when I graduated, the primary industry was manufacturing. (Since we were Chem E’s, the question was whether one went to a chemical firm or a petroleum supplier.) Over the next decade, the retail and finance sectors joined the ranks of the big recruiters.

But, now, the Fortune 500 are not hiring slews of graduates from each school. Instead, they tend to select one, two, or maybe a half-dozen candidates. And, the recruiting firms include much smaller businesses- or nonprofit entities. So, the recruiting season extends from early January and February more completely through the senior year calendar.

And, because the firms are hiring fewer numbers and are actually smaller entities, they don’t run “training programs” or “rotations” for their new hires. When I graduated, it was not atypical for many a graduate to travel around the Proctor and Gamble campuses or traverse the General Electric training system for the first years of their employ. No more.

Now, employers expect the new graduates to have more of the skills for which they used to provide training. (Guess what, Mr. Employer- they don’t.) So, the employers seem even more selective than before.

All this means that the potential candidate has a harder time finding a position that will excite her (or him). And, even if they find the company with a culture they love- they have no clear cut path for their career with the firm. Which also may explain why there are so many job transitions nowadays.

It’s a brave, new world out there.

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