According to a 2014-15 survey by Western’s Career Services Center, 91 percent of participants with a bachelor's degree found employment within six months of graduation, and 61 percent were related to their field. The survey found Western graduates have a slightly higher chance of finding a job than the national average. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 89 percent of college graduates aged 20-24 found employment in 2015 across the country. Of the 225 recent graduates from the College of Business and Economics who responded to the survey, 71.1 percent found a job related to their field within six months. Humanities and social sciences had 498 respondents with 49.2 percent finding jobs within six months. Within the art major alone, 52 respondents out of 87 were able to get hired within their field. Reid Collum, a junior majoring in theatre, said the survey was reassuring.
“I think the whole point of being in college is having no idea what you’re going to do with your life,” Collum said. “For all I know, I could end up somewhere in Russia.” Collum grew up in Spain, but believes he has better odds of finding a job in the United States rather than across the Atlantic. Finding employment is a challenge for younger job-seekers in Spain, Collum said. “A few years ago, I believe the figures were 50 percent of unemployment for young people,” Collum said. Junior Seth Bixler, a management information systems major, chose to attend the fall career fair to look for ways to bolster his resume.
