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Obama Calling on Senators to Confirm Sotomayor; College Graduates Having Difficulty Finding Jobs; Out of School, Out of Work
Aired May 30, 2009 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, news that's happening right now, GM's board members are delivering in the face of the troubled auto maker. It's expected that they will decide to file bankruptcy protection next week. The company has pulled together part of the order to restructure plan, but much of it won't be ready by Monday's deadline.
And President Obama is calling on senators to quickly confirm his Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. In his weekly radio and Internet address, the president said he is confident Sotomayor is the right choice for the high court and he insists he is equally confident any effort to distort her record will fail.
Pakistan says it has taken back a key town from Taliban militants in the northern Swat Valley. Military officials say about 1,200 Taliban forces have been killed in a month-long government offensive.
And we're focusing this hour on being out of school, but also out of work. The class of 2009 entering the real world in one of the toughest job markets in decades. All this hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, finding employment, making yourself marketable, job alternatives and dealing with debt. In the next hour, solutions for the class of 2009, educated, but unemployed.
All right. One new study shows only about 20 percent of 2009 graduates have actually been hired. That's compared to 26 percent last year and 51 percent just two years ago. Even for those finding work, the average job offer of $48,515 is down 2.2 percent from a year ago when it was more than $46,000. All right. The problem, too many graduates and not enough jobs.
Here's CNN's Allan Chernoff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The real world as college students call life beyond campus has rarely been less inviting for graduating seniors. 1.1 million are entering the labor force when jobs are scarce. So for companies that are hiring, it's an employer's market.
DAN BLACK, DIR. OF CAMPUS RECRUITING, ERNST & YOUNG: There a lot more applicants and a lot fewer jobs. Just doing the math as an accountant, it has been very difficult for students graduating this year. CHERNOFF: Ernst & Young, one of Fortune's Best 100 companies to work for has had their share of lay offs over the past year. But now the accounting and consulting firm is hiring 2,700 graduates worldwide. Competition is stiff. After recruiting on college campuses, Ernst & Young granted more than 6,000 interviews for the entry level slots.
Joe Mancari nailed his interview and is one of the company's new accounting hires. Joe landed job offers from all of the big four accounting firms before graduating from Villanova and yet accounting was not his first choice. He had planned to work on Wall Street but correctly anticipating trouble in finance, Joe decided to turn his plan b into plan a.
JOE MANCARI, 2009 GRADUATE: I knew that I needed a back up plan in case finance didn't work out.
CHERNOFF: Flexibility is critical for job hunters today. Recruiters say students need to expand their job search beyond their dream company or even dream industry. And they need to be proactive, meaning network as much as possible. Online networking is now part of the job hunting game. Ernst & Young attracts applicants on its Facebook page, but job hunters need to make sure their internet presence is professional.
More than one out of five companies will do a search online to see if you posted pictures of yourself drunk at a frat party beer bash. Upheaval in the economy is creating an opportunity. Even as the unemployment rates companies are hiring and it just takes more effort to find and land those jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The deck is being reshuffled and I think there are a lot of new players and all of whom are looking for talented people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Joe begins his job in September, but he is not planning a summer of pure relaxation, he'll be studying for the CPA exams. That's the type of extra effort you have to make in this economy and the type of dedication that companies expect these days. Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
WHITFIELD: All right. So Allan, just to underscore it. It doesn't seem to matter. Grade point average, geographic location or how many internships you've had. So let's try to help change things around for everybody.
Edwin Koch is the National Association of Colleges and Employers and our Josh Levs is taking your questions and comments as well. All right. Ed, this is pretty grim and pretty disappointing for a lot of college grads who thought, you know what, I'm doing all the right things, positioning myself to get that dream job and it's just not happening. So what's your best advice to college grads who just got their diplomas this month and they're still those who are still looking? EDWIN KOCH, NAT'L ASSN. OF COLLEGES & EMPLOYERS: Well, there are a couple of things. First of all, take advantage of everything that your college has to offer. One of the things that college students don't truly take full advantage of is the College Career Center. We found that those students who did take a good look at the College Career Centers, who did use it intensively did far better in terms of landing a job than the student who didn't use the College Career Centers. Their employment rates -
WHITFIELD: So even though you graduated, you should be going back to your college campus, maybe this summer, trying to take advantage of the resources there?
KOCH: Absolutely. They help you with preparing for an interview and that can be crucial in terms of landing a job.
WHITFIELD: But that are doesn't help the student who is already packed up from their dormitory, they've moved on and they returned to their home states or perhaps they live further away from their college campus. So do they have another option, can they even think about going to another college campus that they have an agreement with their alma matter?
KOCH: Well, not really. They can go back to their original college campus, but the other alternative is to, is to, you know, keep plugging away at the job market and looking for whatever is out there. Be flexible.
WHITFIELD: Yes, being flexible and another tough thing though for a lot of college grads is they are competing with people who have a lot more experience than they do for the very same jobs because there are too few jobs and too many people who are looking for them. So how do you stand out if you are a college grad who really doesn't have whole lot of practical experience under your belt?
KOCH: It's very difficult to stand out in this kind of an economy. There is a lot of competition out there. If you are going to stand out, it's going to be something unique about you. And that's something that you got to work on in terms of developing one in your resume and two in terms of developing your presentation. And that's why preparing for the interview is so crucial.
WHITFIELD: OK. So Josh Levs has been fielding a lot of e-mails and comments, questions from all over the country and from a recent college grad and those who were anticipating perhaps graduating over the summer and they want to know, you need to help them out. What kinds of questions do you have?
LEVS: Yes. It's interesting. You know, we are going to get to tell a lot of those (INAUDIBLE) throughout the hour and keep them coming. And let me tell you something that you got a lot of people have been writing us, including some people who are not that generation but we're getting so much of it. I got to toss - let's just zoom in.
I want to show you one example from Fred's Facebook page, Khoi writes it sounds like more crying, from a generation that never sees trophies for getting (INAUDIBLE) and the significance of the kind of things you follow. Is this a problem broadly for the entire economy when young people are having trouble getting jobs or is it young people will get a job eventually?
KOCH: They will get a job eventually but one thing to keep in mind, it's another indication of how poor the economy is right now. If young college graduates aren't being able to find employment, then that's a clear sign that the labor market in general is very, very difficult. This should be a really strong time for college students getting jobs because the demographics are so strong for them like -
LEVS: It's not playing out that way. In fact, we got another one right here from Thomas who wrote to us on the blog, it's CNN.com/newsroom. I'll just tell you quickly. He just graduated with a double major and he's likely to take a position as a door man in New York. Does that make sense to you? Should you just take any job you can get right now, at all, given how startling the statistics are?
KOCH: Well, it's better to be employed than not employed. If you are facing debt with your college loans, it's better to have money in place. If you can't find your absolute perfect job, look for something less. Accept something less. It's something that this generation of college students is going to have to learn. This is the first year. They have come into this kind of a difficult market.
WHITFIELD: Yes, there's something else that I want you to consider and we're going to ask you about this after the break. As you know, when young people are looking for this option and they may think about more internship even though it's not paying or maybe I want to volunteer because I can't find that paying job. I can't wait to hear whether you think that is advantageous as people do continue to look for real employment.
In the meantime, back to the employment issue, on average if, you know, people who have been laid off in their jobs can expect to sit out for about eight months before they finally land a job, is that about the average for say the college grad? Are we looking at these recent grads to be looking at - it may take you eight months to find a job or is the average a bit less?
KOCH: Well, the ones that have found jobs have been searching principally around six months. And I think that's generally the average. Six to nine months would be what you expect in terms of being out there in the job market and looking for a job.
WHITFIELD: OK. One more question from you, Josh.
LEVS: OK. I'll tell you quickly. Let' just go to this graphics. You want to join us in this hour, in a matter of seconds. Let's show one more time where they can weigh in - there you go. CNN.com/newsroom. You got our Facebook page Fredricka Whitefield CNN and those are our e-mail address next screen. You got mine and I'm following the whole hour all these stuff. You got facebook.com/joshlevscnn, twitter.com/joshlevscnn. I'm pretty much camped out here for the hour. So Fred, we're going to get in everything we can. We're inviting everyone to take part in this conversation. By the way, don't forget. As you pay attention to us, cnn.com/jobs, a great resource to find the jobs that actually are out there.
WHITFIELD: Perfect. All right. Josh, appreciate it. And you're going to be joining us again because we got more questions coming your way, particularly from a young lady who is going to be here with us in the studio. She just graduated from Auburn University and she is in the same boat. She is looking for a job. She's got questions. How do I land a gig?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. Out of school but out of work. Well, President Obama has been very busy this commencement season and he had pretty some pretty, I guess realistic words. Kind of a reality check for the students at the University of Notre Dame.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: Your class has come of age at a moment of great consequence for our nation and for the world. A rare inflection point in history where the size and scope of the challenges before us require that we make our world to renew its promise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. He and others have said it it's hard, but just hang in there.
Our next guest has her diploma but no job. However, she maintains her optimism and so she is taking an unpaid internship. That's what she is considering right now to help rebuild her resume. Kiara Pesante is a 2009 graduate of Auburn University and also with us again is Ed Koch. He is with the National Association of Colleges and Employers. For now, all right. let's talk about this.
Congratulations on graduation.
KIARA PESANTE, 2009 AUBURN UNIV. GRADUATE: Thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: I know your parents are very proud. A little anxiety, you're feeling though . You haven't been able to land that job as of yet. How hopeful are you that it's right around the corner?
PESANTE: Very, believe it or not. I, you know, it's strange to be in a position like this because I actually think I did work very hard to put myself in a good position right now.
WHITFIELD: Right. I understand you did seven internships which is far more, well above and beyond what most college, you know, grads will be able to say they have on their resume. But it wasn't enough to kind of give you that extra edge. Were they all in different fields? What are you supposed - PESANTE: OK. I actually have a journalism degree. So it is an interesting time for that industry specifically but yes I have experience in television, radio, PR and nonprofit. You know, I tried to -
WHITFIELD: But it's all in the same umbrella.
PESANTE: Right.
WHITFIELD: But unfortunately this industry is taking a big hit, too.
PESANTE: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Lots of lay offs in lots of different ways. So are you trying to (INAUDIBLE) kind of your plan - are you giving yourself kind of a new path based on what the industry employment scenario is?
PESANTE: Oh, most definitely. Most definitely. I - you know I've noticed the most important thing about this entire process is to keep an open mind. You know, my degree does say journalism, but what does that mean? Does that mean I can only write? Does that only mean that, you know, play with cameras? No. It's not what that means. I can do a lot of different things. And so what I've been doing is trying to kind of break down those different skills that I did acquire from my different experiences. And see how they can be more creatively applied even to other industries.
WHITFIELD: So in the immediate, you are thinking about relocating and going back to the Washington, D.C. area. Dad lives there and work for a nonprofit organization which really means doing yet another internship.
PESANTE: Right.
WHITFIELD: How are you going to make that different than the seven internships that you have already done to put you in a better position for employment? Or is that something that you're considering?
PESANTE: Well, I think the difference between this one and the past one has been the motivation. It's a little different now. Because OK, there is no more schools to go back to in the fall. Like, no you can't play. This is really, you know, as my friend Matt and I were in the car on the way over here, joking, saying and this time it's for the money. You know, that's the thing we say. So that's really what it is. I have a renewed focus and a renewed kind of passion. I've been really - contact with my boss there and we have just - I think she kind of knows that I'm really coming in there with focused. Look, whatever you need me to do, I don't care what it is, you, I will do it.
WHITFIELD: That might land a position whether it be for easily a nonprofit organization? Is that a possibility?
PESANTE: That or anything. I'm really open to it. WHITFIELD: All right. Let's ask Ed Koch. Because, you know, he has a pretty good idea about where the jobs are and is she positioning her herself well. She did seven internships, very impressive and now thinking yet about idea another, which truly does sound like another internship, do you think that's smart?
KOCH: I do. The internship is a great path to getting a full time job generally. She is in a very difficult field in terms of journalism. It's not hiring generally. But overall the internship provides an employer with a good picture of what the student is capable of doing, gives them great work experience and really sets them up well, when the job market is better?
WHITFIELD: So, Kiara, do you have a question for Ed? I mean, it seems like you were in a great position. You did all these internships, prepared yourself but also what comes with looking for a job means you're also going to start paying on those student loans -
PESANTE: Oh, yes.
WHITFIELD: First payment due. Your first payment due possibly in January or looking at upwards of $30,000. But you're in a situation where a lot of students are in. So what kind of questions do you have for Ed. How might Ed help you?
PESANTE: Well, one thing that I have had trouble with, when I decided to take the unpaid internship, was how am I going to survive otherwise? You know, luckily I'm in a great position that I do have very supportive parents who love me to pieces and willing to let me hang around for a little while longer. But for those who aren't in my position and they do take an unpaid internship, the part-time job thing, you know take out another loan, what do you think is best?
KOCH: I don't have a great answer for this. Clearly, what I would do if I needed money is to take any job I could find, whether it's that door man job or working in a Starbucks.
WHITFIELD: So it sounds like you recommend like even a part-time job along with what could be a very enriching experience working for the nonprofit for free, you're volunteering but you might want to find some kind of income in some way?
KOCH: You're going to need that income in order to survive if you don't have the parents who are going to help you. It's interesting, in our student survey, 40 percent of the student, the graduating seniors expected their parents to provide them some level of assistance in their first year after graduation.
WHITFIELD: And how about you?
PESANTE: I didn't. Actually, like I thought I was going to have a job and looks like mom and dad don't have to worry about anything. I'm going to be out of here. No. That's not what happened.
WHITFIELD: They really and they were willing to have you come back home, you know, bunk there for a while. But at the same time, you know, I guess that takes a little bit of a, I guess, a little bit of a discouraging thing to do because you go off to college, you say, oh great, I'm on my own and now I'm coming back home.
PESANTE: And definitely for me, because I actually lived alone all throughout college. I had a one-bedroom one bath, like apartment. So I don't like living with other people like my father, but yes, you know, we are in a position to not be very picky. We have to do what we have to do, you know, in order to be able to do what we want to do in the future.
WHITFIELD: OK.
PESANTE: But right now that's the way it has to be.
WHITFIELD: Kiara, you are not alone. You know, you're in good company and you're going to stick with us a bit more. We're talking about $30,000 debt that you're tackling. That's college tuition. Do you also have credit cards?
PESANTE: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. All right. Well the average credit card debt that a lot of graduates are leaving school with are between $2,000 and $4,000. So we've got some help for you, Kiara, as well as for you other grads. How in the world do you dig yourself out of debt, with no job?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: And welcome back to our special, out of work and also out of a job. Not only are students graduating without a job, but they are also racking up record credit card debt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINIE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 21-year-old Nick Phillio used to work full time as a sales representative at a gym.
NICK PHILLIO, COLLEGE STUDENT WITH DEBT: I was in sales for like two years.
QUIJANO: But last summer, the college sophomore lost his job and says now he is not in the best financial shape.
PHILLIO: I got about $10,500 worth of debt.
QUIJANO: Phillio says that debt crept up slowly at first and then snowballed on things like rent, food, and gas.
PHILLIO: My cash flow is gone and so I didn't want to spend all my savings so I put some things on my credit card. If I had to go shopping, I would just put it on there.
QUIJANO: Nationwide college students are using credit cards more and more as a financial crutch. According to student lending giant, Sally Mae. It's new report said students are carrying record high balances and an average of $3,173 for undergrads and for graduating seniors, an average of more than $4,100. College financial aid consultant Kalman Chany.
KALMAN CHANY, AUTHOR "PAYING FOR COLLEGE WITHOUT GOING BROKE": Part of that is due to the rise of the cost of college. There were some uncertainty about private loans. So many cases, students resort to the lender of last resort. That is their credit card to finance their college expenses for out of pocket costs.
QUIJANO: Some report also said that 60 percent of students were surprised at how high their balances were. And 40 percent had charged items even though they knew they didn't have the money to pay the bill. As for Nick Phillio, he blames part of his predicament on the recession. But his debt also included paying for two luxury cars and he acknowledges he hasn't always made the best financial decision.
PHILLIO: Yes, probably a victim of recession and probably a victim of a lavish lifestyle, is what you could say.
QUIJANO: Now, Phillio is working to turn things around. He stopped using his two credit cards and attending community college to save money and he is working part-time as a personal trainer. All steps he hopes will get him financially fit eventually.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So the Obama administration is trying to help, there are some new regulations that will be put in place to perhaps help grads of next year. 2010. Perhaps not be the same economic predicament as these grads of 2009. So let's take a look at some of the measures in place. Here are expectations. It will mean that perhaps for young people, 21 and under, you got to have a co-signer when you try to sign up for some credit card assistance.
And it also means that there are new restrictions on repaying that debt. There may be a cosigner that's involved in that. It's not going to be as easy as it once was. But by the way, those incoming freshmen come fall still might be approached by a lot of credit card companies because a lot of these new applications don't go into effect until January.
So we've got Nancy Trejos. She is a personal finance reporter for "The Washington Post" who is with us here. Kiara Pesante is back with us, 2009 grad of Auburn University. And Josh Levs is also here because he has been taking in a lot of questions and comments from people of all walks who want some assistance on this.
So Nancy, let me begin with you. We are talking about the average credit card debt for a lot of college grads, between $2,000 and $4,000. Might these new changes make a big dent for say, the grads of 2010 or beyond?
NANCY TREJOS, PERSONAL FINANCE REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Yes. It's going to help graduates after 2010. But you know, there is a lot of graduates who are in trouble right now. And they are going to have to deal with this.
WHITFIELD: How can they deal with this? What kind of options do they have? I mean, Kiara here is looking at some credit card debt as well as looking at her tuition. Her loan debt -
TREJOS: Right.
WHITFIELD: That she's got to repay but she doesn't have a job.
TREJOS: Right. Right.
WHITFIELD: So what kind of leverage does she have?
TREJOS: Well, you know, it's going to take a lot of work and I mean, first of all, you have to keep making your payments. You don't want to damage your credit history. Now what you can do is you can actually contact your credit card company and ask to speak to a supervisor and say that you are having a financial hardship and that you want to honor your obligation but you need help.
And make sure you do before you miss a payment. Because credit card companies don't want to negotiate with bad customers. So you have to keep your account in good standing. And often times they will be willing to decrease your interest or your minimum payment, but sometimes that won't work. So, in that case you might have to contact a credit counseling agency. But be careful because there many of those.
WHITFIELD: So Kiara, have you done any of those things? Have you reached out to your credit card?
PESANTE: They've reached out to me.
WHITFIELD: OK.
PESANTE: Several times a week. Yes, I talked to them and we kind of have made some arrangements where, you know, you can make x payment, you know, we can get rid of the late fees because I am behind on my credit card.
WHITFIELD: Right.
PESANTE: So, yes -
WHITFIELD: I imagine, Nancy, they are pretty empathetic about credit card companies. I mean, if they are going to be empathetic, why not be empathetic to the college grad who doesn't have a job and who can't really say anything bad, right?
TREJOS: Right. Right. Exactly. And you know what the credit card company have gotten a bad rap lately because of the things that they've been doing, you know, increasing interest rates on people. Congress had to step in. President Obama had to step in. So you know, they might want to try to show some leniency right now. WHITFIELD: What kind of questions do you have for Nancy?
PESANTE: If there's anything about student loans, you know, specifically, getting deferments, is that a good idea, you know, if you can foresee that, you know, you're not going to have something secured for the next few months.
WHITFIELD: What options does she have?
PESANTE: Right.
TREJOS: Exactly. If you are having trouble making your student loan payments and you have several options. Deferment is one option. You can defer for up to three years. But keep in mind, depending on the type of loan you have, your interest might accrue over that deferment period and it gets added to the balance of the loan. So you might end up paying more overtime.
Starting on July 1st, there is actually a new repayment program. It's called the income -based repayment program. And what that does is that it puts a cap on your monthly payment based on your income. Essentially, you won't have to spend more than 15 percent of your discretionary income on student loans. So that's an option that you could apply for. There is also other programs such as, you know, you can extend the life of the loan over 30 years and that will reduce your minimum payment.
TREJOS: OK. Well, Nancy, we are also getting a lot of questions coming in from folk who are viewing this and sending their e-mails and that's where Josh Levs comes in. So, Josh, what kind of e-mail questions or comments do you have for Nancy?
LEVS: Yes, we got a lot. Let me start off with one that I found really striking. It came to us from the NEWSROOM blog. It comes from Jay. Look at this. Served in the Air Force as a medic, has a B.A. in psychology and also graduate certificate in organization leadership and just completed the educational process, just months ago.
I look at something like this and I think that's a lot of education and there should be a lot of opportunities. In this market, is having more degrees and more education, is that a big plus? Is it something more youngsters want to do?
TREJOS: Well, I mean, having many programs, of course, or many degrees does make you marketable. I mean that looks good in your resume. Is that something that more should do? You know, should they go back to graduate school, you know, that's an individual decision. I mean, do you want to take on more student loans? That's really something that you need to consider. If you don't have a job, yes going back to school could help, but at the end of a few years, you might end up with a big bill.
LEVS: (INAUDIBLE) big picture. When you look at the big picture, people with more degrees, more opportunities, more certificates -- are they doing so much better that it really is a really good idea on a broader level? TREJOS: Right. Are they doing so much better? You know, in this economy, obviously, employment opportunities are very limited. So you know, people are kind of on the level playing field right now, you know, despite all the degrees they might have.
LEVS: So even with that, they're on a level playing field.
TREJOS: Right.
LEVS: That's interesting. We'll have more coming up for you later in the show.
WHITFIELD: All right, very good. Nancy, you've got some advice, too, for folks who -- yes, they've graduated, they're still looking for a job, but maybe you might consider starting your own business. Something you're thinking about?
PESANTE: Yes, actually. I trademarked...
WHITFIELD: Really?
(LAUGHTER)
PESANTE: ... a brand name. Yes.
WHITFIELD: OK, well, maybe that's a good first step. We'll talk about some of the other steps of starting your own business if you've just graduated from college. You're going to make your own opportunity.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, we'll get back to "Out of School, Out of Work" in a moment, but here's what's happening right now. Journalist Roxana Saberi is back in her home state of North Dakota for the first time since being released from an Iranian prison. There was a welcome home celebration at the Fargo airport just a little bit ago.
And no formal announcement yet, but General Motors is expected to file for bankruptcy protection on Monday. Earlier today, GM reached a deal that will shield its European Opel unit from the bankruptcy. A Russian bank and a Canadian auto parts maker will each get partial ownership.
All right, now back to our special hour, "Out of School, Out of Work."
In this tough job market, not everyone is waiting to get hired, but some are actually venturing out, starting their own businesses. Jim Acosta found one college student who is doing just that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He looks like an intern pitching the latest product from corporate America.
BEN LEWIS, ENTREPRENEUR: I'm Ben. Nice to meet you.
ACOSTA: But Ben Lewis is selling his own brand of bottled water. It doesn't come in different flavors, it comes in different causes.
LEWIS: Our whole selling point is it's not about the water, it's about a movement.
ACOSTA: A dime from each bottle of Give goes to charity. Orange helps the fight against muscular disorders. Pink is for breast cancer research. Green goes to the environment. Blue, children with AIDS. Did we mention Ben is still a sophomore in college, at Penn?
(on camera): How did that happen?
LEWIS: We started making deliveries out of the back of my car with a few good friends of mine and it really just expanded.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Now he's got a bottling plant supplying 10 retail chains, including Whole Foods. And he's raised $75,000 for his charities, which you could say are drinking it up.
DANA RICHARDSON HERON, SUSAN G. KOMEN FOUNDATION: If you have a choice to buy water that's going to benefit a corporation versus water that's going to benefit an organization such as Susan G. Komen for the Cure, I think you'll choose Ben's water.
LEWIS: I think it's a great time for an entrepreneur to start a business. I think if you have a good idea and a passion and a unique concept, and really, the energy behind it -- it's -- you know, if the economy doesn't...
ACOSTA (on camera): You can make it happen.
LEWIS: You can make it happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: OK, so how do you make it happen for you? How do you start your own gig, start your own business? How do you do all this in these tough economic times?
Nancy Trejos is a personal finance reporter for "The Washington Post." She's back with us. And Josh Levs has been fielding all sorts of e-mail questions and comments about, How do I get started?
So Nancy, first to you. You know, this administration said very early on that it was kind of reshaping the Small Business Administration, creating new opportunities so that more people could be entrepreneurial. How might this help the recent college grad?
TREJOS: Well, you know, some of the most well-known businesses actually started during a recession. Think about Disney and Microsoft. So there are a lot of opportunities out there. And you're right, the Small Business Administration has some financing opportunities. I mean, the first thing you really need to do, though, is come up with a good idea, a good recession-proof businesses. There are certain things that people just won't give up or can't give up, even during a recession. So you really have to, you know, think about that. You know, people can't give up food, but they'll give up a luxury purse. So I wouldn't go out and start a business selling luxury purses.
WHITFIELD: OK. So you need a good idea, but we also know that you often need capital in order to get started.
TREJOS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: So if you're saddled with some college debt, tuition debt or credit card debt, where are you going to get your money from to start this business?
TREJOS: Right. And that's the big question. Investors are really squeamish right now. They're holding onto their money more tightly. That said, you know, there are some banks who are still lending to people with good credit, which means that, you know, you really have to make sure you're paying those student loans on time. You really have to make sure you're paying those credit cards on time. You have to make yourself look as credit-worthy as possible.
And you also have to come up with a really good business plan. You have to show these lenders that not only do you have a good idea, but you can execute it. So that means, you know, figuring out exactly how much you need, how you're going to spend the money, how...
WHITFIELD: Who your audience would be.
TREJOS: Exactly.
WHITFIELD: What kind of (INAUDIBLE)
TREJOS: How you're going to market it, who your competition is...
WHITFIELD: OK. So Josh has some questions from people who want to get started on their own.
LEVS: Yes, and some ideas that I want to bounce off Nancy. In fact, let's take a look at this iReport we received.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS FLANNAGAN, SYRACUSE, NY: I guess what I would recommend to people who are in college right now is that you need a technical skill beyond just what you're learning if you want to get a good job. And that could come from either graduating and getting an entry-level job and learning the skill there, or if you start right now, teaching yourself this job. Then by the time you get out of school, you'll have a degree and something technical that you can do.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEVS: So Nancy, Chris is a new grad who managed to get a job, who says these days, a college degree just isn't enough. You need a technical skill. Do you agree with that? Is that true?
TREJOS: Yes. I mean, you have to get as many skills as possible. You know, in any profession, I mean, even in mine, in journalism, you know, you have to suddenly become a multi-media person. I mean...
(LAUGHTER)
LEVS: OK, make me look bad here! (INAUDIBLE) I know what you mean, though. This is what they're saying, that once upon a time, you had a college degree. If you graduated, you felt like you could get a job out of it. But now, you need to have a specific skill that's technical. Often something like this, using a computer.
TREJOS: Right. Exactly.
WHITFIELD: OK. What other kind of questions do we have?
LEVS: Yes, we're getting a lot of stuff here at the blog. Let's zoom right in here. This is interesting. This comes to us from MHWallace (ph), who says, "I highly recommend kids who are entering college forego those useless BA degrees in social silliness. Instead, take a BS in chemistry, physics and engineering." Which brings us back to what we were talking about last hour, Fred, engineering grads doing better than basically every one else.
Nancy, big picture here. Is that making a lot of sense? Should people be moving more away from the liberal arts stuff, more towards specific talents and specific focuses like science and engineering?
TREJOS: Well, I mean, I think -- I still think there's a place for a liberal arts degree, especially, you know, if you get a lot of internships and you get experience in that way. That said, you do have to be strategic in how you go about your education. So it might be a good thing to really focus on a particular skill.
WHITFIELD: Nancy Trejos, "Washington Post," thanks so much. Appreciate it.
TREJOS: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: And Josh, for bringing those e-mails. We've got more e-mail coming our way, as well. And we've also got other options, other resources to find a job.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Welcome back as we focus on "Out of Work, Out of Work." Take a look at this. It's a sign of the times, graduation ceremonies everywhere, on the mortarboard, the hat right there, "Hire me." The only thing missing there is "Pretty please." We're seeing that scene at universities and colleges all across the country.
Josh Levs is with me here now, and he's been fielding all kinds of e-mails...
LEVS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: ... from people. And we're trying to offer some solutions, some options, but I have to feel sorry for a lot of the graduates, don't you? I mean, usually the signs used to say just, "Hi, Mom" or "Hi, Dad" so that family members...
LEVS: That's smart.
WHITFIELD: ... could find them in the crowd. Now they're saying "Help," "Hire me."
LEVS: That was really smart, you know?
WHITFIELD: Very clever.
LEVS: (INAUDIBLE) out of that. He might get a job (INAUDIBLE) We've done stories here about grown people, I mean, people who are in their 40s and 50s, carrying around signs, right, in New York and other cities...
WHITFIELD: Right. That's right.
LEVS: ... saying, "Hire me."
WHITFIELD: Sandwich boards.
LEVS: Yes. Now we're focusing on solutions. This is interesting, a new group -- let's zoom in for a sec -- 80million.org. They say they're representing millenials, young people born since 1980, and they're focusing on pushing Congress to provide funds for jobs that will provide -- for jobs for young people.
Now, I spoke with the co-chair of it, and I asked him, first of all, about what a lot of people are writing us today, that they think -- a lot of people think it's been irresponsible spending by young people that's gotten them into all this debt. Let's take a look at what he said about that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW SEGAL, 80MILLIONSTRONG.ORG: For one, young people even prior to college are targeted by credit card companies to basically put everything on credit. And this is not a matter of irresponsible spending. I mean, if you look at the $2,000 in credit card debt that young people average by the age 24, a great deal of that is for things like textbooks, for room and board for college. Heck, even groceries are a large cost of the debt. So these are not superfluous shopping sprees that young people are spending irresponsibly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: Interesting. And we also spoke about what this group wants Congress can do. They're saying that the way the special (ph) stimulus funds have come out, they're for a lot of shovel-ready projects, but not really for a lot of projects that might help young people. So here's an example of what they want Congress to do.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEGAL: Freeing the flow of credit for young entrepreneurs, providing tax breaks, and lower interest rates on the loans they take out to start young companies. I mean, ultimately, if we're going to pull ourselves out of this recession, we need to invest in young companies and young ideas, and we need to have a legislative environment that's receptive to freeing credit and giving young people some incentives to innovate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: And Fred, since that group went up, since they've started to exist, they've already gotten endorsements from some celebrities. They've had meetings on Capitol Hill. They're having a hearing scheduled.
WHITFIELD: Interesting.
LEVS: A lot's going to happen -- 80millionstrong.org. It's an interesting organization to keep an eye on as we talk about jobs for the young people.
WHITFIELD: Yes, and he really just kind of underscored a point that Nancy Trejos...
LEVS: Right.
WHITFIELD: ... with "The Washington Post" was saying in terms of, you know, starting your own business. But you got to start with a pretty good idea. You got to be persistent on that. And there really are some options, perhaps some financial assistance to help you see it through.
LEVS: Get that capital.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LEVS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right, Josh. We're going to see you again. So we talked about those mortarboards, those hats that said "Hire me" on it. So what are the companies that are actually noticing those hats, those individuals wearing those hats? What are the companies that actually have jobs ready for you, the grad?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It starts with a single balloon, then grows and grows and grows until eventually, it looks like this. These balloon sculptures are described as surreal sea creatures or whimsical toys, but their meaning is in the eye of the beholder. And they all come from the creative mind of artist Jason Hackenwerth.
JASON HACKENWERTH, ARTIST: My job is to make interesting and fun things happen. My life is, you know, about doing that. It's the most wonderful experience.
TUCHMAN: He started five years ago in the New York City subway.
HACKENWERTH: When people would come around the corner and see that, they would just light up. It was so obvious I was onto something really beautiful.
TUCHMAN: And he's been doing it ever since, even when it meant sacrifice.
HACKENWERTH: Right after New Year's Eve, I was out in Times Square trying to earn $60 for some grocery and laundry money, for sure. Times are tough.
TUCHMAN: That are didn't stop him from taking simple balloons and turning them into something we've never seen before. Hackenwerth's art has been shown in galleries and museums all over the world.
HACKENWERTH: I would love to inspire young people to believe that anything is possible. You know, ultimately, you have to attempt the absurd to achieve the impossible. And I think that's part of what's happening here.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, we're wrapping up our hour, "Out of School, Out of Work." All right, don't feel too bummed out, our 2009 grads. There is hope. You still might land something. We hope that you've learned a lot this hour from our experts on how to land that job, how to repurpose some of your skills, maybe even be inventive and start your own business.
Here are certain qualities that Nace.org (ph) says that you really need to focus on. Communications skills, verbal and written; you need to have a strong work ethic; and you also need to be able to work with people, have those teamwork skills; take the initiative; and also exercise some analytical skills.
And our Josh Levs has also -- has some great parting advice, as well.
LEVS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: And we're going to be asking our Kiara Pesante, too, before we let her go, what she may be reconsidering after hearing from so many experts throughout this hour. What did she learn? How is she now going to forge straight ahead to try and find that job? So Josh, you first.
LEVS: All right, me first. Then we'll give (INAUDIBLE) on that. You know what? Here's the good news. This is good. There are two places on line that show lists that might be incredibly helpful to you, jobs potentially for new college graduates.
Let's take a look at this first graphic. This one comes to us from Collegegrad.com. And what I like about this is it shows all sorts of places that do entry-level hiring. And what you'll able to -- do you have -- there you -- no, not the (INAUDIBLE) See if we can take the graphic. It shows you entry-level hiring, so you got a bunch of companies listed -- there you go.
Now, this doesn't necessarily mean it'll be the latest people who just graduated, but these are entry-level jobs just this year. Look at that -- Verizon 13,000 jobs. And you can see the list. All those include thousands.
Now, let's go to the next screen because with this one I like, Careerbuilder.com -- Careerbuilder.com specifically went and asked people -- not this one -- specifically went and asked people, Are you planning to hire 2009 college graduates? And you know what they said?
WHITFIELD: What?
LEVS: Yes. They...
WHITFIELD: Oh, good.
LEVS: This is a whole bunch of companies that are planning to...
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
LEVS: ... here and there. That's Careerbuilder.com. And these are some examples. Allstate plans to hire 800 this year, college graduates from 2009. Kaplan, you can see there, 250. Kroger 800. Look, big picture, these numbers aren't enough to revolutionize what we're talking about for young people in America, but Fred, these are good news that there are companies...
WHITFIELD: Yes!
LEVS: ... hiring entry-level jobs and recent grads. So take a look at those. Plus, I'm put links at yours and my Facebook pages right after this. Everyone will be able to check out those listings.
WHITFIELD: Excellent. All right, let's ask Kiara Pesante -- this is your last chance. So did you learn anything? Did that help you feel a little bit more optimistic about the prospects for you?
PESANTE: Definitely. I think the main thing that I've learned from listening to all of this is, Don't give up. You know, you have to stay positive. You have to stay in it. You know, leave no stone unturned, you know, whatever it is. You know, all of these Web sites are great. You know, talk to your friends. Talk to your professors. Rebuild those relationships if you've broken some of them because you never know who knows who and who can call who, you know, or whatever, who can offer you some good advice, whatever...
WHITFIELD: So this might even mean that you might retract (ph) to some of these seven internships that you did...
PESANTE: Yes.
WHITFIELD: ... call them and say, Let's, you know...
PESANTE: Yes.
WHITFIELD: ... talk some more.
PESANTE: And just -- and it's always a good idea to stay in touch with these people, you know, because even though maybe the budget wasn't there then, it may be now or it may be in three months or maybe in six months. You know, so it's always a good idea to...
WHITFIELD: Yes. You got to stay optimistic. But when you first entered college at Auburn University, what did you think graduation day was going to feel like? What did you think, you know, after your time spent on the university campus, was going to be like, you felt, like, I'm going to have a job?
PESANTE: Yes. Like, I -- like, if you -- if then, in 2005, you know, (INAUDIBLE) you had told me I wasn't going to have a job when I graduated, I probably would have, like, laughed at you. Like, (INAUDIBLE) You're not speaking English. I don't know what you're saying. So yes.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: You felt that confident you would nail something.
PESANTE: I really did. And I started my job searches then. You know, I knew from then relationships are very important. You have to talk to people. You have to put yourself in a position to be hirable.
WHITFIELD: Well, we wish you all the best.
PESANTE: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: We think that you're going to be fine. You're very motivated, excited, personable. And now it's just a matter of an opportunity coming your way...
PESANTE: Right.
WHITFIELD: ... or you finding that opportunity, or making that opportunity, right?
PESANTE: Exactly. Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right, Kiara Pesante, thanks so much. Ed Koc was with us earlier with Nace.org, and Tracy Trejos also with us from "The Washington Post." And of course, Josh Levs, thanks so much for bringing us all those e-mails and responses and questions from people.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks so much for joining us in this hour. We hope it was helpful for you, especially you grads of 2009. Congrats. Don't feel bad. You're going to line up something. It'll happen.
Meantime, the next hour of the CNN Newsroom. New developments on GM's road to bankruptcy. Don Lemon has that and the rest of the day's headlines. Have a great evening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
