On March 21, Fortune Magazine published an article stating the entry-level job market is worse now than it has been in the last 37 years.
According to The Associated Press, U.S. job openings rose to nearly 6.95 million in January; however, in February, employers cut 92,000 jobs.
Previously, 2025 was the weakest hiring year since 2002, with the job market adding fewer than 10,000 jobs a month. The AP attributes all of those problems to the lingering effects of high interest rates, uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump’s policies and the increasing use of artificial intelligence.
Craig Davis, an Ohio University journalism professor, said he is unsure of the claims mentioned in Fortune Magazine's article because he has not had many students face severe obstacles when it comes to finding a job.
“I haven't had students come up against the wall in terms of getting jobs,” Davis said. “I do know that it's dropped off and it's harder, but we don't have tangible evidence.”
Historically, when the job market is weak, graduate programs see an increase in applications, as many people seek to further their education in times of economic uncertainty, according to Candace Boeninger, the vice president for enrollment management at OU.
OU does not currently have its enrollment numbers for the graduate program next year. However, this academic year, there were 5,017 students pursuing graduate degrees at the Athens campus, an increase of 117, according to enrollment data.
“Overall, OHIO’s strategic enrollment plan calls for a gradual growth in the proportion of doctoral students and a slight decrease in master’s enrollment over time, with the total number of graduate students remaining relatively stable,” Boeninger said in an email.
Lauren Park, a senior studying political science and international studies, war and peace, plans to do a one-year graduate program at OU following graduation. She said she is doing this because it is easier than searching for a job in the current job market for her specialization.
Park believes the job market is heavily impacted by the field and the career someone is going into.
“I think if you're in an on-demand career like nursing or engineering … you have more of them (opportunities),” Park said. “Whereas, with political science and some of those social sciences, a lot of our jobs are very unsure.”
Some students are choosing to come back for their graduate program now. Thomas Krauss, a graduate student pursuing a doctorate in osteopathic medicine, took a gap year before pursuing his Ph.D.
Krauss majored in microbiology at Auburn University and tried to find a job in Birmingham, Alabama, after graduation.
“Birmingham just didn't have a lot of jobs in the field I was looking for, so I just couldn't really find much to do,” Krauss said.
Amari Thompson, a senior studying political science at OU, recently got a job at OU’s Dublin campus as an administrative assistant at their medical school after consistently applying for jobs.
“I applied to Dublin's campus in February and did not hear back until late March,” Thompson said. “It's just like a struggle of ‘What's your next plan? Where are you going?’ You get those questions a lot as a senior, so it was more of a stressful experience of what's going to happen next if I don't get a job.”
Students have many resources on campus to help them find jobs and internships. One example is the Career Services, located on the fifth floor of Baker University Center.
Amelia Criswell, a junior at OU studying studio art, works as a peer coach for Career Services. Criswell discussed the goal of Career Services.
“We're not necessarily promising that these people are going to be finding a job for sure,” Criswell said. “But we're more preparing them for that step of finding a job,”
Criswell said Career Services does that by having peer coaches look over students’ resumes, teach them LinkedIn and other networking social media and prepare and practice for interviews. In addition, Career Services offers the Career Closet, where students can get free professional clothes for interviews.
There are also networking and professional development organizations, such as the Ralph and Luci Schey Sales Centre. The center’s focus is to help students with a sales certificate or interest in the industry, and it has a 100% job placement post-graduation.
Greg Scott, the managing director of the Schey Sales Centre, discussed the best skills to have during the hiring process
“I almost think about it as a bunch of little mini games,” Scott said. “... As an example, it isn't just a ‘You need to have the best resume in the world, or you won't get the job.’ You need a good enough resume to get the interview, but after you get the interview, realistically, the resume is not that important.”
Scott said he believes interpersonal skills and communication will always be important when finding a job.
Davis takes time in and beyond his classes to help students find and prepare for jobs. Every semester, he reviews every one of his student’s resumes in front of the class so they can learn how to adjust and tweak their resume.
“For the job hiring process, you need to be resilient,” Davis said. “You need to network, and you need to keep at it all the time. Every person is asked to do that. They leverage their network, they send out resumes, they talk to people and get out there.”
