Many college students look forward to their senior year, where they make everlasting memories, frantically try to figure out what’s next, celebrate their accomplishments and embark on their future endeavors.
With the pandemic shifting classes into an online format and causing an economic downturn, the possibility for the senior year the Class of 2021 hoped for came to a close and instead brought many new challenges in their transition to the real world.
“This job market is the worst it’s been in a really long time,” senior finance major Jackson Dietz said. “So I mean you just look at it, you take a deep breath and you realize everything is going to work out.”
Seniors said they have reflected on their vocation, adjusted to virtual job interviews and worried about job security during the pandemic. Despite the obstacles seniors encountered this year, they said they are still excited for what’s ahead.
How the pandemic and remote learning impacted seniors
For Dietz, a remote year impacted his opportunity to have a summer internship in 2020. Dietz said he applied to a few but the pandemic amplified his stress and with his mother being immunocompromised, he decided not to do one.
“An internship would’ve definitely propelled me further than where I am now,” Dietz said. “It wouldn’t have to make me fight for myself in interviews as much.”
Senior psychology major Allie Libman said being thrust into an online format made her think critically about her future and made it clear she wanted to pursue school psychology in graduate school.
“I think it definitely expedited my choice,” Libman said. “Initially, I was thinking that maybe I had more time, or when I was in my classes sometimes they introduce different fields to you, and when we got sent home I was like ‘OK, now I got to think of my next steps past Pepperdine.’”
Online learning for senior communication major Jacob Fleck was a valuable experience he said he wouldn’t change.
“It taught me to be more adaptable to the situation,” Fleck said. “Where I would’ve been saying, ‘No, I’m not going to do this, I’m going to wait till things go back to normal,’ but just rolling with the punches has made me stronger.”
The economy in shambles
In April 2020, the unemployment rate reached its peak at roughly 15%, which exceeded the Great Recession peak of roughly 11%, Rakesh Kochhar wrote in a June 2020 Pew Research Center article.
Due to COVID-19, workers under the age of 25 and many close-contact industries like entertainment, restaurants and tourism have been hit the hardest, Chas Alamo wrote in a December 2020 California Legislative Analyst’s Office article.
“It’s challenging because you look at the work world and you look at the landscape and you go ‘Where is there going to be a spot for me in this madness?’” senior finance major Jared Maguire said.
Although the unemployment rate declined to roughly 6% in February, the employment rate may not go back to where it was before until the pandemic is alleviated, Elizabeth Weber Handwerker wrote in a December 2020 Monthly Labor Review article.
On the hunt
Finding a job is always anxiety-inducing for seniors and the pandemic heightened this for the Class of 2021. One challenge is the difficulty students have connecting with potential future employers through remote interviews.
“I personally feed well off facial tones and verbal tones, as well,” Dietz said. “And in an in-person interview I’m a lot more comfortable cause I’m able to just actually meet the person and connect and laugh and bounce off each other.”
Dietz applied to about 50 jobs and all of his interviews have been over the phone, which he said made the process more difficult.
Maguire said the current state of the economy made him consider opportunities that weren’t on his radar before the pandemic.
“[I] kind of have to be looser on my requirements these days because there aren’t quite as many positions,” Maguire said. “And companies aren’t always willing to take a risk on a fresh graduate if they can fill the position with someone who is out of work but has a couple more years of experience.”
Marla Pontrelli, director of Career Education and Coaching, said students should take advantage of all the resources Pepperdine offers such as Handshake, VMock, PeppConnect, and Career Center workshops and counselor meetings.
“Students will need to really rely on the things that they always have but maybe to the Nth degree,” Pontrelli said.
Industry Specialist Nancy Shatzer said she acknowledges the difficulty of finding employment in a virtual setting but is hopeful it will serve students in the long run.
“The good news is that because of being a student they have become engaged virtually now for over a year,” Shatzer said. “And I think that that preparation will hold them well in how to engage in a virtual platform.”
Seniors’ fears and hopes
With a struggling job market, seniors said they are worried about whether or not they will find a job, let alone the job of their dreams.
“My biggest fear is that other people, and myself, will end up being trapped in a career that they don’t really like or something that they don’t really aspire to do because it was safe at the time,” Maguire said.
Senior journalism major Brianna Willis said COVID-19 job safety is a priority during the pandemic.
“I think that’s one of the questions that now my class has to ask in a job interview,” Willis said.” “One of the questions is, ‘What are the COVID-19 protocols and guidelines?’ ‘Will I be able to go into the studio?’ ‘Will I be able to have that hands-on training?’ like what does the job force look like when you’re reporting in the midst of a pandemic?”
Libman said the decision to go to graduate school calmed her worries about entering the real world in the pandemic.
“I am a little worried, but for my graduate school it’s going to be three years,” Libman said. “So I’m hoping by then the vaccine and time will help things move at least to a hybrid, and hopefully in three years in-person.”
Amanda Cornish, senior liberal arts major, is able to student teach in-person at an elementary school this semester and she said it’s preparing her further for her future as a teacher.
“Being in person is, oh my goodness, it’s so much better than being online,” Cornish said. “I have to remember that I am one of the few to have this experience of being in-person for an internship equivalent for their final semester of senior year.”
Willis said she’s ready for what awaits her after graduation because she took advantage of her time on campus.
“I don’t think I wasted any time on campus,” Willis said. “I think I learned as much as I possibly could’ve throughout the past three years that I did have on campus, and even this year I’m pushing myself to do other things and more things to continue to learn so that that doesn’t stop.”
Juan Barajas, senior political science major, said he wants to pursue a career in ministry and isn’t nervous about entering the work world.
“Of course, my real world job experience is going to be different than some people,” Barajas said. “That’s where COVID impacts ministry the most, it’s like, ‘Oh, you can’t meet people.’ But with some things looking up, looking brighter, I’m excited to take advantage of that.”
Brandon Gille, a senior theatre music contract major, said online learning equipped him for entering the industry as a performer, despite the pandemic closing theaters and negatively impacting the entertainment industry.
“As comfortable [as I am] with online, online communication with others and online auditions,” Gille said. “I feel like I’m more confident that when I go out into the world I’m equipped and ready to meet people online, meet other casting directors, get to show my craft, show what I can do in the real world.”
Excitement for what lies ahead
Although seniors have many concerns, they said they are thrilled to see what’s next.
“I’m really just excited to get my hands dirty,” Willis said. “I think in the past year because we haven’t been on campus to kind of get my hands on a camera and really go out the way I’ve been able to go out the past three years, I think that’s what I’m most excited for, is to — if I land a reporting job — get my hands dirty and to start talking to the community.”
Pontrelli said the possibilities for job opportunities the pandemic opened up is exciting.
“A lot of people didn’t even explore this frontier of virtual work for either internships or any type of work because they just didn’t think it was going to be positive, it would lead to less productivity and a lot of things of that nature,” Pontrelli said. “I think we’ve proven a lot of those things wrong.”
Shatzer offered her wisdom to the Class of 2021.
“I think to really pursue a job that they’re passionate about, I would certainly encourage our students to do that,” Shatzer said. “I think it’s so important for them to realize what they’ve chosen to study, what they like to be able to engage in as a professional is still the most important.”
Yamillah Hurtado completed the reporting for this story in Jour 241 in Fall 2021 under the supervision of Dr. Christina Littlefield and Dr. Theresa de los Santos. Dr. Littlefield supervised the web version of the story.
