PSU grads in high demand

It’s a tough job market out there for many Americans. But that’s not the case for Pittsburg State graduates.

Despite an economy that has lost 400,000 jobs since the beginning of the year, Pittsburg State grads are finding jobs readily available.

“I haven’t felt a decline in the interest for entry-level jobs,” said B.B. Stotts, PSU Career Services assistant director of employer relations. “The market is pretty good. The number of attendees at career fairs is up. The market for Pitt State graduates, both undergraduate and graduate, is strong.”

One interesting facet of the slowing economy is a gender gap. Men have lost 700,000 jobs from November to April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Women have actually gained 300,000 in that same time period.

While Stotts does not see an effect on the job market, she does see an impact at Pitt State.

“I have noticed that at Pitt State, there are more females than males, especially in the last few years,” Stotts said. “The demographics have changed a bit. But employers haven’t come to me looking for females over males.”

Part of the cause could be careers that are traditionally one gender or another.

Construction and manufacturing are two of the worst performing sectors, and those are two generally male-dominated sectors.

The female-concentrated sectors, like education and health care, are still growing. Health care especially so.

However, at Pitt State these gender splits don’t have an effect. In fact, teachers said it doesn’t matter what gender a student is — if they graduate, they’ll have a job.

Randy Timi, PSU construction professor, said Pitt State construction students study to become management. Timi said there is a “huge demand for management”, but the areas that are potentially losing jobs are likely the skilled laborers, such as masons, carpenters, etc. PSU is largely unaffected by the current economy.

“We’ve had 100 percent placement since I’ve been here,” Timi said. “They’ve all got jobs. At the beginning of this semester, we only had 10 students still looking for jobs. Most are ending up with positions and job offers before they come back for their senior year.”

That does not mean the economy does not have an effect on construction. While some sectors are in trouble, others are doing quite well.

“Five years ago, we had three to five students in residential construction per year. That’s almost completely evaporated,” Timi said. “As the economy rides its ups and downs, there are usually one or more sectors in relative strength. In the last 15 years, there have been no shortages in the demand for our students, though.”

Meanwhile, PSU nursing students are finding plenty of demand.

“It’s a fantastic market,” said Mary Carol Pomatto, PSU Department of Nursing chairwoman. “We have multiple job offers for every graduate. There’s a real nursing shortage. It’s very easy for students and graduates to find jobs at this time.”

In fact, the Department of Nursing has seen the health care boom as well. This year, there are 90 nursing students graduating from Pitt State, the largest class in PSU Department of Nursing history. The program has had to expand by 50 percent to fill the needs of incoming students.

There are clear causes for the demand for nurses.

“Baby Boomers are starting to retire,” Pomatto said. “As they age, they use health care systems more often. There are more kinds of opportunities not just in hospitals, but community-based opportunities as well. There are just more jobs out there. Technology has created huge demand. Nurses are also aging and retiring themselves. As they retire, we need the next generation.”

Stotts said sometimes she hears situations opposite what is described by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.

“In some occupations, where there are typically more females, they want males, like in teaching,” Stotts said. “You do hear situations where there are more men signing up, like in nursing. That’s a good thing, I think.”