Matt Thomas gets his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at the University of South Alabama in Mobile on May 10. He will pack his gear a few days later to move to Louisiana.

Matt Thomas

The 22-year-old Mobile native has a job lined up as a process engineer with Phillips 66 in the city of Belle Chasse, about 20 miles from New Orleans. He reports to work June 2.

Thousands of Alabama college graduates will enter the job market this spring, armed with degrees and hoping to start rewarding careers. With state and national employment numbers trending up, observers say this year’s graduates stand a better chance than their recent predecessors of finding employment, although not necessarily right away.

Alabama’s unemployment rate in March, the latest date available, stood at 6.7 percent, the same as the national average. In 2011, the state’s jobless rate was about 9 percent, according to the Alabama Department of Labor.

“Obviously we’re seeing an improving economy and a better labor market,” said Andreas Rauterkus, a finance professor in the Collat School of Business at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “The unemployment rate of people with college degrees is significantly lower than the overall unemployment rate,” he said.

Asking employers

According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers are looking to hire 8.6 percent more graduates from the class of 2014 than they hired from the class of 2013. The same survey notes 48.4 percent of respondents indicated they would be increasing their college hiring, while less than 30 percent said they plan to cut back.

More than half of hiring employers in the NACE survey reported an interest in students with accounting and various business degrees, along with engineering and computer science graduates.

Rauterkus said in Alabama, manufacturing has picked up, which could be good news for people seeking jobs in that field.

Ahmad Ijaz, an economist at the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama (UA), said hiring is strong in the state for people prepared to work in robotics, as well as those in healthcare fields, such as nursing.

College graduates often get their first nibbles from the job market through the campus career placement office. Most colleges in the state offer job fairs, invite in recruiters, and work with individual students to help them find the best career fit.

“We have two large career fairs each year that are open to all employers and all majors,” said Bevley Green, director of Career Services at the University of South Alabama. “We also have some niche career fairs, for allied health and nursing, accounting and education.” In April, the college also hosted a career fair for nonprofit and government agencies, Green said.

“The biggest contributor is initiative on the job seeker’s part,” says Mary Loyd Lowrey, director of career education at the University of Alabama. “Students who invest time in preparing strategically and networking professionally will have the most success.”

Homework pays off

Strategic preparation includes researching hiring trends and employers, and learning best practices for creating resumes, portfolios and LinkedIn profiles, she said. It also helps for college students to understand how to respond to different types of interview questions and to practice mock interviews in advance of the hiring process, she said.

Kelsey Baugh

Kelsey Baugh, a graduating electrical engineering student at UA, said she has done much of the interview preparatory work and has spent two summers interning with Volkert and Associates. Now as she prepares for graduation, she is also spending much of her time trying to find permanent employment.

“I’ve had interviews on campus and I try to send out three to four resumes or applications every week,” she said. “I regularly check the job announcement websites such as Indeed and Monster.” Baugh, a 24-year-old Birmingham native, has always enjoyed math and science. For that reason, she decided to major in engineering – and also because she likes standing out.

“I knew there could be times when I would be the only girl in the class or on a project, and I am OK with that,” she said. “I’ve gained good experience through my internships, and I am ready now to find a job,” Baugh said.

Rita Usher

Rita Usher, a graduating senior at Alabama State University in Montgomery, will be interning this summer with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a move she hopes will launch her career in public relations and governmental affairs. She wants to attend graduate school after working for a couple of years.

Usher established a relationship with AIPAC about three years ago and has assisted the organization in raising awareness among members of Congress on issues that affect Israel.

Usher, a 22-year-old from California, said her experience with AIPAC convinced her to follow her career path.

“If you set goals for yourself and maintain focus and positive outlook, you will find yourself in situations where you can say, ‘yes, this is where I want to be,’” Usher said.

— Sherrel Stewart