Cue the classic graduation march “Pomp and Circumstance.”

Graduating seniors, the bells of Iowa State ring for thee.

In the words of that great Australian band AC/DC, “For those about to rock: We salute you!”

Now that you have devoted six or seven years of your life to getting a piece of paper, the world is yours. Congrabulations, yee grajiated.

Big Deal. Take the two hundred address books and day planners everybody will give you and smile.

The truth is that there are fewer opportunities for college graduates these days than for previous generations, but there are some positive aspects out there as well.

Corporations have been downsizing and restructuring, leaving fewer openings for college graduates.

Add to this a three percent increase over last year of the total number of bachelor degrees given out at America’s diploma mills, according the U.S. Department of Ejukashun. This number has been steadily rising over the past few years.

So when you’re working as night shift manager at Burger King, think to yourself, “This is where it’s at, man.”

Why? Because someone told me (it was a little birdie sitting on the grapevine) that fast food occupations give people a chance to rise up quickly within the company.

That makes it sound like rising up quickly within a company is better than doing something you love to do. Unless managing burger broilers are your thing, I suppose people prefer to have a job doing something they like.

Some good news is that companies are beginning to recruit at the college level again. They want people who have the best blend of skills and can contribute new ideas to their companies immediately. A good blend of skills often involves a well-rounded liberal arts education.

This may explain why 70 percent of CEOs have a liberal arts background. To get ahead in your desired field, people need to know a little bit about everything.

Despite the downsizing, with companies recruiting the campuses, there are more job opportunities than the past few years, but the increase in graduates creates a lack of jobs. The Class of ’96 does have the advantage of entering an improving economy when compared to the economy the Class of ’90 faced.

OK, don’t fall asleep yet. Let’s start playing “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Metallica.

So what does it take to make it? Being the best at what you do helps, but it doesn’t mean a thing if you ain’t got that swing — be prepared.

Even the best do not get noticed if they haven’t gone through job hunts, portfolio building, and working on that dumb, ol’ resume.

The best advice graduating se¤ors and se¤oritas can give underclassmen like me is to tell us to get prepared for after college.

So was college worth it? Of course it was. If you believe in the value of higher education, like I do, it’s worth it, but it also helps to get higher salary jobs in a desired field, of course.

The bad news is that if your parents aren’t super rich, you end up deep in debt up to your David G. Mosby.

What field you’re in also determines your situation. For example, for rabbis, the demand nearly equals the supply, but for protestant ministers, the supply exceeds the demand—which is probably why many of them are touring college campuses preaching to students instead of church congregations.

Here are some of the good areas according to the Bureau of Labor, where demand exceeds supply: funeral directors, building inspectors, chiropractors, restaurant managers (like Burger King managers!), veterinarians, physicians, human service workers, computer scientists, Roman Catholic priests (I can’t imagine why, maybe it’s the celibacy thing), pharmacists and occupational therapists.

Here are the jobs where demand equals supply: elementary school teachers, meteorologists, nuclear engineers (and ISU is getting rid of that program), hotel managers, geologists, writers and editors (yay!), sociologists, landscape architects, chemists, social workers, civil engineers, agricultural scientists, accountants, industrial engineers and nutritionists.

Here are the fields with gluts—too many people, too few jobs: architects, surveyors, lawyers (not surprising, everyone wants to be a sneaky snake), librarians, public relations specialists, visual artists, photographers, reporters (oh no!), dentists, mathematicians, psychologists, radio and television announcers, foresters and administrative managers.

I think my future career will be alcoholic specialist. OK, good luck with your sorry life. Pass me a beer and change the music to “Machinehead” by Bush.

Enjoy the summer. 🙂

Tim Frerking is a junior in journalism mass communication from Pomeroy.