MBA December 2009 graduate Matt Damiani feels as though graduating in December gives him a head start in looking for employment but overall does not feel that he has an advantage over May Graduates. “It gives me time to look for a job, while everyone else is in class still, but I would much rather prefer to graduate in May,” Damiani says.
Damiani feels as though employers, especially in the business field look more towards May graduations to hire new employees versus December graduates. “Companies looking at 2 year MBA students tend to hire more in June after May graduation versus in January after a December graduation, they are just more towards May graduates,” Damiani says.
According to Damiani the economy is showing some signs of improvement, but individuals graduating in either or December or May is going to have a hard time finding employment as the economy is not where it needs to be. Damiani does however, feel strongly about May being the ideal time to find a job, at least in business field.
Bette Scott, Director of Career Services does agree with how Damiani feels towards employers heavily hiring in the spring versus in the winter. Scott does not completely agree with employers hiring heavily in one part of the year. “Employers hire 365 days a year, they do not hire on an academic calendar,” Scott says.
According to Scott, companies that do hire new graduates have training programs that start in January as well as some that start in May for spring graduates. Scott feels that students that do graduate in December or not at a disadvantage, compared to May graduates.
“In some cases I would recommend that students graduate in December versus graduating in May as that will give them a head start in looking for employment,” Scott says. Another reason Scott says that graduating in December versus graduating in the spring is a good idea is because sometimes there are students that only have a few hours left remaining to graduate, and that could be time spent finding, and or working for a good employer and getting valuable experience.
Scott says that trying to squeeze too many hours into one semester to graduate early is where the spring graduation can be of good benefit to the student.
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Melanie Jennings, advertising senior and a December graduate as well, agrees with Scott in seeing December graduation as an advantage to be taken rather than a disadvantage in terms of finding gainful employment. “I think that it is an advantage because there are so many May graduates, and there are not that many people going into the job market in January versus in May or June,” Jennings says.
Jennings says that she is planning on going to graduate school, but feels as though the time between January and May will be give her time to look for a good job, and have and have a 5 month advantage over spring graduates.
Heather Spencer, a career counselor in the Gaylord College of Journalism says that she cannot speak for all of the other respective schools on OU’s campus or campus across the nation, but feels as though December graduates do have an advantage over Spring Graduates. “That is time that can be spent getting your foot in the door of a potentially good employment opportunity,” Spencer says.
According to Spencer there is nothing wrong with graduating in May, but if a student has the opportunity to graduate when there are not a large number of students graduating, then that is a leg up in terms of finding a job.
Spencer reiterated that she could not speak for all of the different colleges on the campus and the different respective majors, but agrees with Scott in that employers do hire year round. According to Spencer the most important thing is to be prepared when looking for employment no matter when you graduate.
Spencer says “The most important thing is to be prepared, that means having a resume and cover letter, having a portfolio, if they need that for their major, and to network, network, network.”
It may seem to some that much emphasis is not placed on December graduates, but it is evident that they have a competitive advantage.
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