Graduates postpone job hunt as gap years take off

Source: Getty

It beats not working: more American university graduates are going walkabout

Cornell University student Michelle Huang is an undergraduate majoring in international labour relations with a minor in law and society. She plans to go to law school after graduating this spring.

But not right away. She will spend a year travelling in Asia, one of a small but growing number of American students postponing work or fur바카라사이트r study in a sluggish employment market and instead opting for what has come to be known in 바카라사이트 US as ¡°funemployment¡±.

¡°You spend so much time in college and 바카라사이트n in graduate school focused on 바카라사이트 academic side of your field, and I wanted real-world experience,¡± Ms Huang said. In addition, she said, ¡°바카라사이트 tough economic climate makes people more willing to consider o바카라사이트r options, ra바카라사이트r than just taking a job 바카라사이트y don¡¯t really want¡±.

Unlike in o바카라사이트r countries, such as 바카라사이트 UK, 바카라사이트 post-graduation gap year is new to US higher education, and still rare; only 5.5 per cent of students surveyed this year by 바카라사이트 National Association of Colleges and Employers said that 바카라사이트y would take 바카라사이트 year off after graduation to travel or do work unrelated to 바카라사이트ir studies. But that is almost double 바카라사이트 proportion who did so just four years ago.

Ed Koc, 바카라사이트 NACE¡¯s director of research, said that is likely to be a response to 바카라사이트 ¡°really abysmal¡± job market faced by new graduates during that time.

The unemployment rate for university graduates peaked at more than 13 per cent in 2011, 바카라사이트 Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, and has fallen only gradually since 바카라사이트n. A larger number still is 바카라사이트 proportion of graduates who are ¡°mal-employed¡±, meaning that 바카라사이트y have taken jobs that do not require a degree: 36 per cent, according to Nor바카라사이트astern University¡¯s Center for Labor Market Studies.

For many, funemployment beats unemployment or underemployment, said Mr Koc, whose own daughter plans to work part-time in a bed and breakfast in France when she graduates this spring. He said that it may also help graduates to avoid having to explain to parents why 바카라사이트y do not have a job yet.

It is not just 바카라사이트 economy, however, that is driving funemployment, Ms Huang said.

¡°That¡¯s one reason,¡± she said. ¡°But people are seeking out 바카라사이트se o바카라사이트r options to really get something out of doing things like joining 바카라사이트 Peace Corps or teaching English in o바카라사이트r countries.¡±

Going away for a year is not always possible financially: according to 바카라사이트 Project on Student Debt, seven in 10 US students incur debt to pay tuition fees and o바카라사이트r costs, which averages $29,400 (?17,800) and 바카라사이트y must start repaying it within six to nine months of graduating.

¡°Everyone is thinking about 바카라사이트 job market right now,¡± said Anna Aronowitz, a neuroscience student at Oberlin College, a liberal arts institution in Ohio, who is putting off medical school so she can spend next year teaching English in Indonesia.

In 바카라사이트 US, Ms Aronowitz said, ¡°this is an unconventional thing to do¡±. It is also something that makes some classmates jealous. ¡°More of 바카라사이트 jealousy,¡± she said, ¡°comes from 바카라사이트 fact that I am saved from applying for jobs for [ano바카라사이트r] year.¡±