<p>For those of us who will be graduating in 2015, do you think it will be favorable to students? Or should students aim for graduate school/professional school in order to gain more knowledge and hope for a better market in 8 years?</p>
<p>To plan 4 years in advance to “go” to graduate school or professional school because the job market may possibly be “poor” is at best murky thinking.</p>
<p>Many recent graduates have successfully navigated the job market, receiving multiple offers.</p>
<p>Plan for success. Think carefully about your major. Take courses with your eventual career in mind. Stay focused. Proactively look for intern positions for every summer break, starting with the year prior to freshman year. Select the intern assignments with your career in mind. Put aside considerations of location, pay and work environment if the assignment will move you forward toward your career goals, or at least would help you figure out whether your ideas about a career are consistent with reality. Find “research” projects on campus, or possibly in the greater community, and dedicate 10-20 hours per week to these part-time jobs. If you do all this you’ll end up with a compelling resume when you graduate, and most likely one of those intern positions will turn into a full time job.</p>
<p>Four years is a pretty long time, a lot can happen.</p>
<p>So, basically, nobody on here really knows, although you might receive some posted prognostication written with great certitude. Including possibly a few posts which will tell you if you aren’t going to Harvard you will never find a job, that you should just become a plumber, or that you need to move to India.</p>
<p>I suggest you don’t worry too much right now. Try to find something you enjoy and are good at, then do your best in school and see what happens.</p>
<p>No one knows. And the job and career prospects in a given field may differ from those in the general economy.</p>
<p>It would not hurt to keep the door open to both seeking a post-graduation job and applying to graduate or professional school, by doing the usual things to prepare for both (e.g. summer or co-op jobs or internships, undergraduate research, taking a well rounded selection of rigorous courses outside of your major, etc.). If you major in something that has generally poor job and career prospects even in good times, be extra aggressive about seeking the summer or co-op jobs or internships, undergraduate research, and out of major course work that can help.</p>
<p>I have no idea, but the good news is that you probably want to do the same thing whether you’ll be looking for a job or aiming for graduate school. Work hard, take courses that interest you, get good grades, develop relationships with your professors, do undergraduate research if possible, get internships, become involved in activities, build a good resume, etc.</p>
<p>The job market will be rockin’ in four years. Now is a good time to be in school - just don’t build up a lot of debt.</p>