Metro

Unemployment woes weigh on New York City’s college seniors

These college kids are brilliant and motivated — but the job market under President Obama isn’t.

New York students preparing to graduate told The Post they’re terrified they won’t land their dream job — or any full-time work at all — with their degrees.

And their high anxiety comes while the job market has been taking center stage in the presidential campaign.

“We’ve had enough of [Obama]. Four years hasn’t helped. There are more women out of work than before,” said Baruch College psychology major Alina Shateno, who is in the process of changing careers.

“It’s got to be better [with Mitt Romney]. It can’t get any worse,” she said, adding she’s “going to be in school forever.”

“Now, it’s not so easy to land an entry-level gig. If you have a bachelor of arts degree, it’s like, ‘So what?’ It’s like being a high-school dropout,” she said.

The Post interviewed a broad swath of students — from NYU to CUNY to Columbia — with degrees from both technical and liberal-arts fields, and many harbor the same fears.

The Class of 2013 has cause for concern, with new studies revealing the employment struggles of recent graduates.

A survey by Rutgers University’s Center for Workforce Development found that recent college grads hired during or after the recession — from 2009 to 2011 — made $2,000 less a year than pre-recession grads.

The unemployment rate for new college graduates dropped to 6.3 percent last month, from 8.3 percent in September 2011 and 9.4 percent in September 2010, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

That’s still higher than five years ago — before the recession hit — when the unemployment rate for new grads was 5.7 percent

And the data also show the percentage of graduates in the workforce was virtually unchanged from a year ago — 81.9 percent last month compared to 81.8 percent in September 2011.

But some college officials disputed the gloom and doom, citing a drop in unemployment.

“The students don’t seem to be anxious. It’s the parents. We see more parent anxiety than student anxiety,” said Trudy Steinfeld, executive director of NYU’s Wasserman Center for Career Development.

“At NYU, we’ve definitely seen encouraging signs.

“There are more jobs for college graduates than there were several years ago.”

Sam Wu, 21

New York University

Senior Sam Wu, a finance major, said his field is still recovering from the Wall Street meltdown, which makes him worried about landing a job come summer.

“I’m freaked out! With this current economic turmoil, who knows what will happen?” the Staten Island resident said.

“I’d like to get a job in banking, but it’s really difficult now. The prospects are definitely difficult.”

Like many other students, Wu said he needs to land a job quickly that so he can begin paying off his student loans.

That’s especially important, Wu said, because, in the long term, he wants to go on to earn a graduate degree to strengthen his job credentials.

Omar Ahmad, 19

NYU

He’s on the cutting edge of science and technology and in one of his industry’s most desired fields.

But that doesn’t mean that brainy senior Omar Ahmad, a chemical- and bimolecular-engineering major, will land on his feet after he graduates.

Ahmad, who lives in Brooklyn, says he wants to stay in the area after school — but the lack of jobs is discouraging him.

“I want to be a prosthetics designer. But my job prospects are slim in engineering in the tristate area,” he explained.

“I really want to bring engineering back to New York City because I feel like I owe it to the city.

“They really need to bring engineering jobs back.”

But he doubts that will happen in time for him.

“Even with the major I have, to find a position with a great starting salary and benefits is hard in this area,” he lamented.

“I’d probably have to move far away.”

Amarita Andhu, 19

Baruch College

If Amarita Andhu can’t find a job coming out of college, she has a costly plan B: staying in school as long as possible and racking up more tuition bills.

Andhu, a journalism major, said she’s “going to stay in school for as long as I can” because of the tight media job market.

She regrets switching her major to journalism from a business focus — calling it an “unstable decision.”

“I’m definitely worried!” said the junior from Floral Park, LI, already jittery about her prospects after her senior year.

Her biggest fear, she said, is landing a job for which she is “overqualified and underpaid.”

Jessica Cawthon, 21

Hunter College

Opportunities for liberal-arts majors are so scarce, this college senior is thinking of fleeing the country.

English major Jessica Cawthon, from Canarsie, Brooklyn, has applied for the city’s Teaching Fellowship program to work in a high-need school.

But with tight budgets, the hiring spigot for new teachers has slowed in recent years.

“If I don’t get that job, I’m going to Europe and work with a touring company,” Cawthon said.

In fact, the market for recent graduates has stagnated to the point where she might not want to try to make a living in her field of study.

“All of my friends, we all still live at home. We all joke that when we graduate, we aren’t going to get a job anyway,” she said.

“So, what’s the point of having ambition?”

Nicky Clark, 21

NYU

Making it big in New York’s competitive arts scene has always been difficult — and this economy isn’t helping.

Senior studio art and East Asian studies major Nicky Clark, a transplant from London, said he shudders when he thinks about his chances of breaking into the industry.

“It’s terrifying! It’s a terrifying prospect transitioning into the workforce. It’s scary,” Clark said.

“After I graduate, I’d like to work in a gallery. But it’s a hard industry to get into without an internship. Interns are essential. I’m lucky to have done a few.”

Still, he said, landing his dream job — or any job in his chosen field — has gotten even tougher with the stagnant market.

“I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do if I don’t get a job,” he said. “I’m worried about getting one.”

The rising costs of a good education are also burdening him.

“The fact that we’re paying so much for going to a place like NYU makes it more pressurized because you have so much debt hanging over your shoulders,” he said.

Justyna Kosianka, 21

Columbia University

Staten Island senior Justyna Kosianka says she knows whom to blame for the sluggish job market — and how to fix it.

“I’m pro-Romney!” the civil- engineering major said, explaining she’ll vote for the GOP presidential candidate in a bid to improve the nation’s employment outlook.

“I think the job prospects for recent college grads under Obama have gotten worse in my field since he came into office,” she said.

She has put off applying to a graduate program — she has spent $300 to register — and has postponed taking her exam repeatedly because she’s terrified about her financial outlook.

“I put off taking the GRE three times already. I feel awful! I’m so nervous about my future,” she said.

Although she has an internship at an engineering firm, she’s not sure that will be enough to land a job, saying:

“Eventually, I want to have my own architectural firm.”

Kosianka, who is from a low-income family, is relieved she didn’t choose her first passion:

“I had planned to go to an arts school, but it’s so much money — and would be a waste.”