Tristen Cortez EDINBURG – When it comes to increasing competition in the labor force, the proof is in the postings – or lack thereof.
A study from hiring website Indeed on the job outlook for 2024 showed a 30 to 50% year-to-year decline for job postings in major sectors – from marketing to scientific research and development.
For students such as Kristine Rodriguez, an Environmental Science junior at UTRGV, that makes entering the workforce more challenging.
Rodriguez currently works a part-time job that she said she got thanks to previous volunteer work; but she said she also received over 20 rejections before landing that job.
“I got just emails, but like, rejections because I didn’t have [job] experience before,” Rodriguez said. “They said what they wanted, but it was kind of weird because they want people with no experience, but they prefer people with experience.”
In response to greater insecurity among students entering the workforce, UTRGV has pointed students to the UTRGV Career Center, a resource that helps prepare undergraduates, graduates, and alumni.
Gidalti Cardenas, a career advisor at the UTRGV Career Center, said she was in the same boat as many students when she was in college before getting a job.
Cardenas added that the center goes beyond informing students by instilling confidence and tailoring an image that makes them appealing to employers.
“I can have a student come in with the resume and say, ‘you just need to tweak the formatting.’ Well okay, that may be part of it, but also, how are you presenting yourself right,” Cardenas said. “It’s not just to get you to that point where you’re walking that stage at graduation, but more specifically for after.”
The UTRGV Career Center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday in Brownsville and Edinburg.
