Ready, set....now what?

As seniors near graduation, the statistics are looming, as various articles on Poynter explain. One article clarifies the dismal employment outlook...by clarifying it is even worse than it appears.

Rick Edmonds explains that "full-time professional news staffs fell by 2,400 last year, a drop of 4.4% to a total of 52,600." Edmonds also continues by explaining that the discrepancy cannot simply be explained by a movement to Web, saying "overall it does not appear, as I had speculated earlier, that newspaper organizations are making up for print side losses with growth in online-only jobs."

Colleen Eddy takes on the dismal employment outlook in her blog, but sheds new light on its depth.

"Grads and grads-to-be, your situation is not without precedent. When I graduated from college the unemployment rate was 5.6 percent. Today it is 5.1 percent. We heard the same discouraging words and somehow found work. Your future is more promising than it looks."

More promising that it looks, but it still could be better. For so many of us, finding a job after graduation meets walking a tightrope wavering between staying in the profession or falling out, finding work in another similar yet non-journalistic path or in something completely devoid of the need for a college degree, say food service.

Ethically, those both in the field and hoping to enter it are going to need to position themselves carefully. If employers continue to allow jobs to fall off and discourage those with promise from entering the workforce, there won't be much of a chance for a bright future for the business or its reputation. Conversely, if young professionals aren't willing to stick to their ideals, make wise choices or wait out the employment crunch with the right mindset, there won't be much of a chance for them to come in and positively impact the profession they were once so committed to entering.