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Young Adult Employment In N.H. Booming, But How Good Are The Jobs?

Official jobs and unemployment numbers aren’t the only way to trace the recession and the recovery
Kandy Jaxx
/
Flickr
Official jobs and unemployment numbers aren’t the only way to trace the recession and the recovery

Seventy-two percent of young adults age 20 to 24 in the Granite State had a job last year.  That’s according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Youth and Work report

The new data came out Monday.

New Hampshire’s numbers are above the national average of 61-percent. Only Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska and North Dakota had a higher rate.

The state also ranks near the top in employment among teenagers, with a rate of 35 percent.

The report finds that nationally young adult employment is at its lowest point since World War II.

But Alan Blake with the New Hampshire Institute of Technology says the quality of jobs graduates are finding has gone down in recent years.

“There’s definitely a trend towards people hiring more part-time people and maybe seeing if they work out before they make that commitment to full time with benefits and so forth.”

Blake says that’s true across the board, though some students in particular programs, such as health care, IT, and engineering, have been more successful finding jobs. But Blake says those who study education and fields in the public sector have had more trouble.  

Much of the advice Blake has for young adults seeking jobs is based on tried and true methods: dress appropriately, be well spoken, make eye contact. But there are other things young job seekers having to consider in the digital age.

“We actually have somebody that comes on campus every year and gives presentations about how easy it is to access your social media content and how that can be damaging if potential employers saw that.”

NHTI has a job posting website that allows any employer to post availability of a job from anywhere in the country. The school tries to make that an easy way to connect students and potential employers.

Michael serves as NHPR's Program Director. Michael came to NHPR in 2012, working as the station's newscast producer/reporter. In 2015, he took on the role of Morning Edition producer. Michael worked for eight years at The Telegraph of Nashua, covering education and working as the metro editor.
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