Nickie DeMerritt graduated from Thomas College last month with a degree in criminal justice and psychology. She's 22 and living back at home with her parents in Biddeford. And she's looking for a real job.
DeMerritt has two summer jobs - working for a local staffing agency during the day and cleaning houses and offices at night. She's also meeting with her college career advisor to find a permanent job.
DeMerritt's advisor is Lisa Desautels-Poliquin, the Vice President for Student Affairs at Thomas College. She oversees what's called the Guaranteed Job Placement Program. The school actually promises students a job within six months after graduation. To enter the program, students need at least a 2.75 grade point average and they must do an internship.
"If by 6 months after their graduation date they have not found employment within their field then they can look to Thomas and Thomas would pay for the first year their subsidized federal loans, their monthly loans for them for up to a year or until they find employment, whichever comes first," Desautels-Poliquin says.
It's too soon to report on last month's graduates, but Desautels-Poliquin says that for the past decade, the placement rate has been above 90 percent. Last year it was at 96 percent.
Thomas College uses its connections with local businesses and alumni to help graduates find jobs. And if a graduate in the program finds employment but is unhappy, then the student may return to Thomas for up to two years to take more courses, tuition-free.
So far, the school hasn't had to pay any student's loans, and only a handful of students have returned to take courses. The school estimates the program has cost them less than $18,000 since its inception ten years ago.
Graduate Nickie DeMerritt already knows a thing or two about job hunting. While at Thomas, she worked in the career services office, advising other students.
DeMerritt says now that she's finally in the position of searching for a full-time job, she realizes just how hard it can be. "Writing a cover letter, you know we talked about it a lot working in there and I made brochures about it, I made bulletin boards about it, and I actually, I had no idea how to write one."
State economist Michael LeVert says that since fewer than a third of Maine residents have a college degree, recent graduates already have a leg up. He says the challenges for graduates such as DeMerritt aren't all that different than in past recessions.
His advice to them is that the basic requirements for finding a job remain the same: persistence, skills, education. "Have a long term outlook. I think that's really one of the big things. Think about success as where you'll be in 10 years, not 18 months."
According to the state Dept. of Labor, Maine's current unemployment rate is 7.9 percent, slightly below the national unemployment rate of 8.9 percent. But the National Association of Colleges and Employers' annual survey says employers will hire 22 percent fewer college graduates nationwide.
Graduate Nickie DeMerritt says the college's career services office has been working hard to advocate for her, but potential employers have high standards. "They're looking for people that have had experience. They want the bachelor's degree in, you know, a certain field or a related field but they also want you know two years of experience or whatever. So it's kind of difficult to get the job and get the experience without having prior experience."
DeMerritt says she's been posting her resume online and has received some response. For that reason, she doesn't think she'll have to take Thomas up on its promise of loan repayment or free courses. And if the job search doesn't work out, there's always graduate school.