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CNN Live Sunday

Interview With Chet Rispoli

Aired May 18, 2003 - 16:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY: Today marks the culmination of many years of determination and hard work, many years of sleep deprivation, takeouts, doing your own laundry, circling the campus for a parking spot. Congratulations to all of you. Now it's time to get a job and pay those parking tickets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Might be easier said than done. College graduates this spring may pay their parking tickets, but may not find getting jobs quite so easy.

It is the toughest job market in 20 years. And the employment outlook is grim for the kids who grew up in the boom times of the '90s. The Bureau of Labor statistics reports unemployment for 20 to 24-year-olds is now 10.1 percent; that is up from last year's 9.9 percent, and 3 percent higher than unemployment in 2000 when the Internet bubble burst.

Joining us from New York now is Chet Rispoli. He directs the career development services at Temple University. Chet, thanks for being here.

CHET RISPOLI, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: Thanks for having me here.

COLLINS: What do students say when they come into your office? What are their concerns?

RISPOLI: Well, what's interesting is we get many students coming in asking us what's hot, where are the jobs, what pays the best. And it's obviously a very challenging job market. I'll underscore what you said earlier, in over 25 years in this field I've never seen it as volatile.

But that being said, young people need to understand that there are always going to be challenging times and the best jobs are going to be competitive. And irrespective of the current economy, they need to make choices that are going to be in their personal best interest, that match their skills, their interest, their values, et cetera. So yes, it is a challenging time for them, but there are people out there that are hiring. They just have to be prepared for that kind of competition.

COLLINS: And speaking of that, what are these employers that recruit on your campus, what are they telling you about the situation?

RISPOLI: Well, what's interesting is recruiters in many cases will schedule interviews as much as six months to a year in advance. We can't get them to tell us in many cases what they are going to be doing next month.

COLLINS: So they are not saying much?

RISPOLI: No, no, unfortunately. One of the things that is interesting about that is that more and more employers are looking for young, bright people with certain skill sets, irrespective of what their degree is in. Strictly having a bachelor's degree with certain skills, such as critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, interpersonal communication skills, those are all some of the things that are going to have universal appeal to almost any employer.

COLLINS: All right, so that would mean then that you have some kids going on to graduate school. What about the Peace Corps and other sort of organizations like that?

RISPOLI: Well, the statistics were just out recently saying, I believe, as much as half of the government work force is going to be of retirement age over the next several years, so the government is making great efforts now to kind of change the image on college campuses, to interest young, bright people in public service. So that's one of the areas that we are going to see some considerable growth over the next couple of years, and I think young people, in fact, should consider it.

COLLINS: Obviously, a lot of students and their parents are very concerned about the situation as graduation time right now. They're looking for jobs. What about some advice that you might have for them?

RISPOLI: Well, there's some research out there that says you can look at all of the ways you create a job interview, going into career fares, answering ads, getting on the Internet, et cetera. And all of that combined doesn't add up to the effectiveness of networking, and just to underscore that...

COLLINS: Tapping in, you call it, right?

RISPOLI: Yes. Well, there is actually two ways you can network. There is two basic themes. There's lots of variations off of those, but basically, making a list of your personal contacts. People you know who are working.

The deceptive thing about that is most people limit that list to people who can help them directly. It is typically somebody on that list that refers you to someone else.

The second way is to tap into what's called a hidden job market by doing a targeted search. Because so many employers are not advertising, and again, 50 percent is probably a conservative estimate, they need to tap into that by being very proactive in this process. And that means identify organizations that have people with the positions you're interested in, and go after them. You'll be amazed what you might find out.

COLLINS: All right, Chet, pardon me for one moment. We're going to break into our interview with you and come back here in just a moment.

(INTERRUPTED FOR COVERAGE OF LIVE EVENT)

COLLINS: All right, we want to get back to our guest just for some final thoughts. We have Chet Rispoli, who is the director of career development services at Temple University. And Chet, if you had just one quick piece of advice for graduates to walk away with today, what would it be?

RISPOLI: To be persistent. To stay with us, irrespective, again, of the economy, you have to pay some dues, and maybe it is going to take you a little longer to get where you want to go, but hold on to those career aspirations. Just be prepared to pay some dues to get to where you need to go.

COLLINS: All right, Chet Rispoli, thanks so much for being patient with us today. We certainly appreciate your time and your advice as well.

RISPOLI: My pleasure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired May 18, 2003 - 16:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY: Today marks the culmination of many years of determination and hard work, many years of sleep deprivation, takeouts, doing your own laundry, circling the campus for a parking spot. Congratulations to all of you. Now it's time to get a job and pay those parking tickets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Might be easier said than done. College graduates this spring may pay their parking tickets, but may not find getting jobs quite so easy.

It is the toughest job market in 20 years. And the employment outlook is grim for the kids who grew up in the boom times of the '90s. The Bureau of Labor statistics reports unemployment for 20 to 24-year-olds is now 10.1 percent; that is up from last year's 9.9 percent, and 3 percent higher than unemployment in 2000 when the Internet bubble burst.

Joining us from New York now is Chet Rispoli. He directs the career development services at Temple University. Chet, thanks for being here.

CHET RISPOLI, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: Thanks for having me here.

COLLINS: What do students say when they come into your office? What are their concerns?

RISPOLI: Well, what's interesting is we get many students coming in asking us what's hot, where are the jobs, what pays the best. And it's obviously a very challenging job market. I'll underscore what you said earlier, in over 25 years in this field I've never seen it as volatile.

But that being said, young people need to understand that there are always going to be challenging times and the best jobs are going to be competitive. And irrespective of the current economy, they need to make choices that are going to be in their personal best interest, that match their skills, their interest, their values, et cetera. So yes, it is a challenging time for them, but there are people out there that are hiring. They just have to be prepared for that kind of competition.

COLLINS: And speaking of that, what are these employers that recruit on your campus, what are they telling you about the situation?

RISPOLI: Well, what's interesting is recruiters in many cases will schedule interviews as much as six months to a year in advance. We can't get them to tell us in many cases what they are going to be doing next month.

COLLINS: So they are not saying much?

RISPOLI: No, no, unfortunately. One of the things that is interesting about that is that more and more employers are looking for young, bright people with certain skill sets, irrespective of what their degree is in. Strictly having a bachelor's degree with certain skills, such as critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, interpersonal communication skills, those are all some of the things that are going to have universal appeal to almost any employer.

COLLINS: All right, so that would mean then that you have some kids going on to graduate school. What about the Peace Corps and other sort of organizations like that?

RISPOLI: Well, the statistics were just out recently saying, I believe, as much as half of the government work force is going to be of retirement age over the next several years, so the government is making great efforts now to kind of change the image on college campuses, to interest young, bright people in public service. So that's one of the areas that we are going to see some considerable growth over the next couple of years, and I think young people, in fact, should consider it.

COLLINS: Obviously, a lot of students and their parents are very concerned about the situation as graduation time right now. They're looking for jobs. What about some advice that you might have for them?

RISPOLI: Well, there's some research out there that says you can look at all of the ways you create a job interview, going into career fares, answering ads, getting on the Internet, et cetera. And all of that combined doesn't add up to the effectiveness of networking, and just to underscore that...

COLLINS: Tapping in, you call it, right?

RISPOLI: Yes. Well, there is actually two ways you can network. There is two basic themes. There's lots of variations off of those, but basically, making a list of your personal contacts. People you know who are working.

The deceptive thing about that is most people limit that list to people who can help them directly. It is typically somebody on that list that refers you to someone else.

The second way is to tap into what's called a hidden job market by doing a targeted search. Because so many employers are not advertising, and again, 50 percent is probably a conservative estimate, they need to tap into that by being very proactive in this process. And that means identify organizations that have people with the positions you're interested in, and go after them. You'll be amazed what you might find out.

COLLINS: All right, Chet, pardon me for one moment. We're going to break into our interview with you and come back here in just a moment.

(INTERRUPTED FOR COVERAGE OF LIVE EVENT)

COLLINS: All right, we want to get back to our guest just for some final thoughts. We have Chet Rispoli, who is the director of career development services at Temple University. And Chet, if you had just one quick piece of advice for graduates to walk away with today, what would it be?

RISPOLI: To be persistent. To stay with us, irrespective, again, of the economy, you have to pay some dues, and maybe it is going to take you a little longer to get where you want to go, but hold on to those career aspirations. Just be prepared to pay some dues to get to where you need to go.

COLLINS: All right, Chet Rispoli, thanks so much for being patient with us today. We certainly appreciate your time and your advice as well.

RISPOLI: My pleasure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com