With the economy still recovering from recession, hard-working
UCLA science students seeking high-tech sector jobs are
encountering fierce competition for openings, although employment
opportunities are growing.
Beginning wages for the majority of science graduates also seem
to be experiencing an upward trend.
“I notice the same number of faces and companies at every
fair ““ even my TAs are here looking for jobs,” said
Justin Lui, a fourth-year electrical engineering student.
But all is not lost for the resume-toting computer science,
programming, physics and engineering students looking for jobs.
Twenty-five percent of companies interviewed by the UCLA Career
Center said they are hiring more this year, said Joyce Haraughty,
employer and corporate relations manager for the Career Center.
At the Engineering and Science Fair on Wednesday in Ackerman
Grand Ballroom, most employers said they are now coming back from
one to two years of hiring freezes.
“It has been so tough that my specific group has not been
able to hire anybody for three years,” said Mark Vela, class
of ’83, a software development manager for Xerox.
But prospects are looking up, as 75 job opportunities and almost
150 internships are being made available throughout the United
States for college students, Vela added.
The optimistic outlook of employers has definitely been evident
to business-attired students who regularly attend the fairs held by
the UCLA Career Center.
“I think (companies) are hiring more, because last year,
hardly anyone was hired. But last quarter, I’ve heard of
students getting jobs at these fairs,” said Chris Leung, a
fourth-year computer science and engineering student.
Companies are also upping the starting salary of college
graduates for the first time in three years.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers has predicted
a 12.7 percent jump in hiring, and increases in starting salaries
across all industries. The largest jump was for chemical engineers,
whose starting salary saw a 2.5 percent jump to $52,563.
But students still have the underlying fear that jobs are going
overseas to India or China.
Outsourcing, or the process of shipping jobs elsewhere, is a
definite worry for students studying computer programming.
Supposedly, in India, software can be developed twice as quickly
and three times as cheaply as in the United States, Leung said.
Even so, some companies such as Raytheon, Lockheed-Martin, and
Boeing are not outsourcing their work, largely because their
products are related to national defense, said Michael Mason, class
of ’01, currently a multi-discipline engineer for
Raytheon.
“We saw many good prospects today, but students must be
aware that a degree from UCLA will not guarantee a job here or
anywhere else,” Mason said. “Things such as GPA and
resumes do count.”
The competition for entry-level jobs was especially evident
when, after the fair ended, the long lines at different employer
booths persisted for more than 45 minutes.
“The competition is very tough and most employers just
refer us to their online application,” said Tiffany Lin, a
third-year chemical engineering student.
“And who knows if they even look at it?” she
added.