College graduates who received bachelor degrees in journalism and mass communication in 2011 experienced a small improvement in the job market, according to the PEW Research Center.
In the University of Georgia’s Annual Survey of Journalism and Mass Communication Graduates, 62.2 percent of 2011 graduates with bachelor degrees in journalism or mass communication found full-time jobs within six to eight months of graduation.
In 2010, 58.2 percent of the mass communication graduates found full-time jobs within the same timespan and 55.5 percent of graduates in 2009.
According to the PEW Research Center website, the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research at the University of Georgia conducted the survey.
“In a period of some economic recovery nationally, our field has shown that same general pattern,” Cox Center Director Lee Becker told PEW.
But Becker said the study’s positive findings may not be as inspiring as they seem.
“It’s hard to be optimistic when you use as a reference point the pre-2008 data,” he said.
In 2007, before the national economic recession, results of the survey set the employment rate for new graduates at 70.2 percent.
Andrea Miller, associate dean for Undergraduate Studies at the Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU, said the results show an improving job market but mainly for recent graduates.
“We hear about many people with jobs in journalism are getting laid off, and those are the things that parents of students read and worry about,” she said,
“But at the same time there are many people hiring new graduates.”
Mass Communication Professor Craig Freeman agreed that these survey results are good news for this generation of college students but bad news for older generations.
“Employers in journalism want people with advanced, electronic media experience,” he said. “This crop of emerging students has these technical skills.”
According to Miller, experience is key to job security as a mass communication major.
“In our field, employers are looking for practical experience,” Miller said.
Lisa Lundy, Associate Professor of Mass Communication, said the market has always been this way.
“Students that don’t come out of college with an internship or some kind of experience struggle with finding jobs,” Lundy said.
Miller said students graduating in mass communication are often qualified for jobs outside of their concentrations.
“The No. 1 thing that employees are looking for are communication skills,” she said. “You may have the best knowledge of any field, but if you can’t communicate them, you have nothing.”
Manship School Dean Jerry Ceppos said he finds the national numbers encouraging.
“Mass communication is unusual because students are trained to write clearly and think analytically,” Ceppos said. “So it’s not just journalism jobs but a wide array of jobs.”
