Two Titans Make NBC Nightly News
Frosh Jesus Rivera and Career Maven Jim Case on Education Nation
10/21/10
NBC had a crew on campus Thursday, December 7 to interview freshman Jesus Herrera Rivera and Career Center Director Jim Case for a package on student unemployment in the Education Nation segment that aired on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams Friday, October 8.
View the Video | Read the Transcript:
Brian Williams: Time now for Education Nation, our ongoing coverage of education. Tonight—how it relates to jobs. Today's jobs numbers, which we talked about at the top of the broadcast, are not likely to bring great comfort to thousands of recent college graduates who still can't find work they're trained for or any work for that matter. NBC's Kristen Welker reports on what it means for our Education Nation.
Classroom Professor: Any questions before we get...
Kristen Welker: Like most college seniors, Kelsey Cook is consumed with finishing her degree. But the journalism major at the University of Colorado spends most of her free time searching for work in one of the toughest employment markets in almost three decades.
Kelsey Cook: It's stressful because I know that everyone's looking for a job right now.
Kristen: At her school's job fair, Cook networked and distributed an impressive resume. But even that might not be enough. The unemployment rate for adults twenty to twenty-four years old is nearly fifteen percent, and that's almost fifty percent higher than the national average, which means Cook is competing with her fellow seniors and...
Heidi Christianson: I'm Heidi. Nice to meet you.
Kristen: Alumni like Heidi Christianson who has been unemployed since she graduated last year.
Heidi: I'm finding that I feel like I'm submitting my resume into thin air.
Kristen: The pressure on students is spreading. Career counselors say now underclassmen, even freshmen, are getting a case of the job jitters. Jesus Rivera is a freshman at Cal State Fullerton and already thinking about life after graduation.
Jesus Rivera: Not being able to know that there's a job out there in the future for me made me realize that I have to already plan ahead in order to succeed.
Counselor: How did you come up with those majors?
Kristen: For many that plan includes an early visit to the career center.
CSUF Career Center Director Jim Case: In the summer we saw in orientation the majority of new freshmen had resumes already, which is in my experience unusual.
Kristen: Analysts say the outlook for job growth is improving. Still, counselors warn, students should be aggressive, get internships and realize their first job may not be exactly what they want.
Kelsey: I'm not in any position to turn down a job anywhere now.
Kristen: Young adults who have all the right stuff at a very difficult time. Kristen Welker, NBC News, Boulder, Colorado.
