With the economy on the decline, many college graduates have reason to be concerned about their plans after college, although job availability is not as scarce as they may assume, according to University of Dayton Career Services representatives.

"I would say that I'm cautiously optimistic in that employers still tell us they're hiring," Career Services Director Jason Eckert said.

Eckert said his cautious optimism is in-part due to the turnout at the fall 2008 Career Fair. This year, 201 companies attended to meet upcoming graduates for hire. The number was larger than in previous years.

However, students who had on-campus interviews through Career Services still found it hard to finalize the employment process.

"My friend interviewed with six to seven interviewers on campus and only got one office interview," said fifth-year Tommy Brackmann, an accounting major who landed a job for after graduation nearly three years ago with an internship. "He has great grades so I think they're definitely hiring less."

In August, 146 employers estimated they would hire 6.1 perent more graduates in 2009 than they had hired in 2008, according to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. That number declined in a more recent survey of the same employers, who said they were now planning to hire only 1.3 percent more graduates in 2009 than they had in 2008.

It's a sharp decrease but UD Career Services' most recent survey of the class of 2007 - which includes those who graduated in December 2006, May 2007 and August 2007 - shows that a large portion of graduates are not unemployed. Of the 311 students who responded to the survey, 78.5 percent of the respondents had either found employment, were in the military or were in an official post-graduation program. About 18.2 percent were attending graduate school and the remaining 3.3 percent were unemployed.

"I don't think that anyone needs to panic because over the past five years the hiring market has gotten stronger and stronger," Eckert said. "The increase [of companies hiring college graduates] won't be as large as we first thought, but it's still an increase."

Although the college graduates struggling to find employment can place some blame on the country's current economy, the Wall Street Journal wrote the millennial generation (those born from approximately 1985 to 2004) is at fault for the lack of jobs available to them.

"If there is one overriding perception of the millennial generation, it's that these young people have great - and sometimes outlandish - expectations," The Wall Street Journal said. "Employers realize the millennials are their future work force, but they are concerned about this generation's desire to shape their jobs to fit their lives rather than adapt their lives to the workplace."

Eckert said he does not see UD students as a part of this trend and that most are looking for jobs that challenge them but provide an enjoyable atmosphere.

"I can name many more students who have been hardworking and prepared as opposed to the latter with unrealistic expectations," Eckert said.

Brackmann agrees, saying his friends are not being selfish when job searching but just happy when they find one, though they usually try to search with an idea of what they want.

"If they graduated from college, they should expect to have a job in the field that they want to go into," Brackmann said.

Senior entrepreneurship major Aley Hall doesn't expect to have her dream job right away, though.

"I'm not concerned, just realistic," Hall said. "I probably won't find exactly what I'm looking for right away, but I'll find something to get me started."

Although the economic crisis and certain statistics may be frightening for upcoming graduates, Eckert's advice for any college senior is to start searching for jobs far in advance to graduation.

Fifth-year accounting major Greg Wetzel has found benefits to his internships, which he found through UD.

"Try to do more than one so you can try out different options and actually know what you are talking about when interviews ask you about the position you are interviewing for," Wetzel said.