Graduates' Job Hunts: Majorly Frustrating

Recruiters painted a mixed picture.

KPMG's hiring has remained strong in the area but has not grown as much as years past, said Andrew Lewis, primary recruiter for KPMG's District and Tysons Corner offices. In 2006, there were 115 hires. That jumped to 148 last year, then increased to 157 this year. Next year, the firm expects to hire 150. In addition to those hires, the company is keeping many people from its internship class and has been able to retain many more current employees, Lewis said.

"Generally, we had seen our hiring increase between 5 and 10 percent a year over the past four to five years," he said. "This is a year in which we didn't see a step up, but we also didn't see it go down significantly."

Tim Namie, area manager for Manpower Professional, a hiring agency, said that jobs are available but that there are many more applicants to fill them. Ordinarily, when his recruiters post a job, they receive 100 or 150 résumés. Now they are getting more than 200.

"In a tight labor market like this, I would say employers are looking for the upper hand and trying to get more bang for their buck," he said. "They're looking for different things. They're looking for the internship. They're looking for someone who is more aggressive."

How does one stand out in a market like this?

Don't rely only on Monster.com and other Web sites that match employers with job candidates, said recruiters and career center officials. If you are in college now, get as much experience as you can in your field, through internships or part-time work, even if it is unpaid.

Start your job search early, at least a semester or even a year ahead of graduation. Network as much as you can. Reach out to alumni. Join professional associations. Even use connections you have through relatives and friends. "A lot of students have pride. They don't want to ask mom and dad for connections, but you need to tap into every network you have," said Gray of Howard University.

And be open to jobs you might not have considered before. Mark Kenyon, associate director of the career center at the University of Maryland at College Park, said many of the students he counseled were considering jobs in the federal government when in the past they would only have looked at higher-paying, private-sector jobs. "As recent graduates coming out of college, they need to be open to multiple types of career opportunities," he said, adding that most of his students were able to find jobs.

Rumeau said he is open to anything. For now, he is relying on his small salary at the career center and his wife's wages as a project manager at a language center. They have some savings but many expenses, what with a mortgage, a baby coming and $30,000 in student loans. If he doesn't get a career-advancing job soon, he said, he might have to work in customer service or retail to help pay the bills. "I didn't think I would have to do that," he said.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.