Despite the 15 booths advertising employment opportunities and 12 booths representing departments in the University, SUB Ballroom B was mostly empty on Monday.
Five students walked around the room, bouncing from booth to booth with their résumés in hand, in search of a summer job.
Naomi Schmierer, job development officer for Student Financial Aid, said the flow of students had been steady Monday, but the number of attendees had decreased compared to last year's fair.
Schmierer said that students who missed the job fair can view available campus jobs at UnmJobs.unm.edu.
Student Sierra Cherniak said she attended the fair in hopes of securing a job on campus because she didn't have any luck finding employment in the off-campus job market. Many of the businesses in the UNM area don't seem to have room in their budget for another employee, she said.
"I've tried applying for some jobs off campus, and no one is really hiring at all, which makes it really difficult, especially in this area, because a lot of jobs are already taken up by students," she said. "So it's kind of tough."
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Matias Fontenla, assistant professor of economics, said the University environment is still the safest place to be during a recession.
Students who are worried there won't be jobs available for them when they graduate should continue honing their education so that they can take advantage of economic recovery when it happens, Fontenla said.
"The unemployment rate will continue to increase even after a recession ends, so you see a lot of people go back to school during recessions because they can't find jobs," he said.
A study published by the UNM Bureau of Business and Economic Research on April 23 reported an increase in Bernalillo County's unemployment rate from 10,653 in 2007 to 17,832 in 2009. The state unemployment rate increased from 34,391 in 2007 to 53,333 in 2009, according to the report.
Fontenla said economic recovery will be evident when retail sales improve, the housing problem is solved and credit is restored.
"Economists are thinking that we might see initial hints that we're recovering (and) that the economy is getting better hopefully within a year," Fontenla said. "Almost everybody agrees that within two years, we should be recovering very well. Although, again, unemployment is a different thing and it might take a little bit longer for employment to recover."
Cherniak said she is worried about the economic state of the country because she has plans to move in with friends next semester. Securing a job is a necessity to her because she will need to pay bills and rent, she said.
"I'm not going to be living on campus this coming year, and my parents aren't going to help me out, so I need a way to have some money on the side,"
Cherniak said.
Apply for on-campus jobs at UnmJobs.unm.edu
