OCR Text |
Show Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012 Page 4 AggieLife Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com krvi l_‘ 44, Finding a foothold in an unsteady market BY CALE PATTERSON staff writer A college graduate typically hopes to be hired in a work environment relating to their field of study. These graduates set out into the world's job market and can end up in jobs unrelated to their chosen profession. "When I graduated, I had over 600 applications out," said Andrew Yerka, who majored in public relations and graduated last spring. "I've got a great GPA and I had a really great portfolio of all the work that I've done. I'd sit down in interviews and they'd tell me straight up, 'You're competing against 450 applicants for this entry-level position. Over half of them are unemployed industry professionals that have five to ten years of experience. So what are you bringing to the table guy?' You've got to be packing a powerplay." According to a Forbes Magazine article citing research done by job placement firm Adecco, 60 percent of college AFTER GRADUATION, JOB SEEKERS expect to find a job in their area of study. Often they end up in completey unrelated careers. SAMANTHA BEHL photo illusration graduates cannot find a full-time job in their chosen profession. The article said this is due to the competitive job market worldwide, and undergraduate studies in a specific area are no longer sufficient to set applicants apart. Yerka, a native of Minnesota, had goals to work for a large corporation and establish himself as an industry professional upon gradu- ating. He works at The Mattress Firm, a company based out of Houston, Texas. Yerka has several responsibilities within the company, but in large part works as a mattress salesman. "At the end of the day, it might not be glamorous what I do, but I work for the largest retailer in the United States, and I really do like my job," he said. Yerka said if he could go back, he would have studied a field that set him apart and gave him a more marketable skill set, possessed by fewer individuals. "Employers right now are in the mindset that they have to pay for you," Yerka said. "You need to be able justify your existence when you walk into an interview. You need to be able to demonstrate and prove to them that the reason they need to hire you is because you have something that they need, that nobody else has." Scott Bean, a native of Roy, Utah, graduated from USU in 2008 with a degree in theater stage management and a minor in business. Bean said he had envisioned a career as a professional stage manager and had been involved in stage management since junior high school. He works as a technician in the chemical and fiber preparation area at Proctor and Gamble in Box Elder County. The plant he works at makes Bounty and Charmin ►See CAREER, Page 5 Age factor affects mission field BY HAILEE HOUSLEY staff writer Missionary applications are piling on the desks of bishops after the recent announcement of a decrease in the minimum missionary age for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. "About 700 applications are typically started each week," said Church spokesperson Michael Purdy in a statement. "In the two weeks following the announcement, that number increased to approximately 4,000 per week." "I was watching Conference on on TV when I heard President Monson announce the age drop," said Strawsee Christiansen, a 19 yearold freshman majoring in pre-physical therapy. "I was flooded with relief and I just knew I needed to go on a mission. Christiansen said the idea of serving a mission always felt good to her, but she felt by the time she was 21, she would probably be in a program with her education that would be difficult to leave for 18 months and get back into. Christiansen said she is waiting for a missionary who will be home in less than a year. "If I go on a mission, it will be that much longer until I can be with him: she said. If the age was still 21 to serve a mission, I don't think I would get to serve." Christiansen said she joined a mission prep class shortly after General Conference. "The class started off CHANGES IN CHURCH POLICY allow members to serve missions at a younger age, impacting many students who previously expected a longer wait for their call. SAMANTHA BEHL photo illustration with three or four girls," she said. "After the announcement the class doubled, but only with girls." "Well, it sucks for me because that is a lot of the girls that I could be dating leaving, but I can see why girls would want to go after this change," said Kenny Jardine, a returned missionary and senior in business administration. "By the age of 21, they are already three years into school, almost graduating. Being 19 makes a mission fit easier into their life schedules." "This is the craziest thing that has ever happened to me in my whole entire life," said Riley Hunter, an 18-year-old undeclared freshman. "Everything that I ever had planned changed. I woke up to my phone being overloaded with text messages letting me know I can get my papers in." Hunter said before the age change, he would've had to wait until fourand-a-half months before his 19th birthday to put his papers in and would not be able to leave until after his birthday on June 29th. "I have wanted to get out on my mission as soon as possible," he said. Hunter said on the Sunday night when the announcement was made, he had an interview with his bishop and had his mission papers turned in three days later. He was familiar with what had to be done to get the papers in because he had been planning and preparing for his mission. Hunter said part of the plans he had before his mission ►See MISSION, Page 7 CACHE VALLEY COLD affects many Aggies unaccustomed to winter weather. DELAYNE LOCKE photo illustration Working with winter weather BY CARLI SORENSON staff writer Winter is coming. a junior studying communicative disorders, spent her childhood in Arizona. She came up to Utah State and said her first Cache Valley winter came as quite the shock. "It is way too cold up here," she said. Garvin said in Arizona, winter doesn't start until November and it is usually over by February. "Its like 90 degrees right now in Arizona, and its like 26 degrees here," she said. "I'm just not ready." Garvin said to always carry a jacket. "Sometimes I'll leave in the middle of the day and don't think I'll need a jacket, but by the time I get out of the Library, it's freezing — like I can't feel my ears," she said. "So you think you can survive, when actually you can't." Nikolay Hacking, an undeclared freshman, grew up in Russia. "Winter is nothing here," he said. "In Russia, you're going to get really, really cold." "This is warm to me," he said. "Cache Valley is closer to the equator and it is at a higher elevation. Russia is closer to the North Pole. It is more up north." Hacking said in Russia, people wear fur clothing to keep warm. His advice is to go inside and get warm and to always wear a scarf. Snow and ice aren't the only perils winter brings to Utah State. Flu season also peaks during the winter. "This year we have had early snow and so the weather has turned colder, so I would expect an earlier peak," said James Davis, a physician at the Student Health and Wellness Center. "Typically for us it peaks late November, early December for the community, but for the school community, we usually see it when everyone comes back in January," he said. Davis said washing hands well is one of the best things you can do to prevent the spread of the flu virus. "The flu is spread by respiratory droplets, and while we do breathe in respiratory droplets," he said. Davis said it's much more common for people to spread Jami Garvin, ►See SURVIVE, Page 6 |