Graduation is only a few short months away for many NMU students, and while the prospects of life after college might seem daunting, NMU’s graduate survey report should give students a glimmer of hope.

The NMU graduate survey is conducted every year by the Career Services office.

The survey provides students with an idea of how successful NMU graduates are in getting jobs and continuing their education.

For the 2010-2011 year, of all the graduates who responded, 48.2 percent reported that they were employed full-time.

This number includes graduates who may not be currently working the position in question, but have that job secured for after graduation.

Of the 48.2 percent who reported having full-time employment, 47.8 percent indicated that their job was directly related to their major, according to the survey report.

According to the director of the Academic and Career Advisement Center at NMU, Jim Gadzinski, graduates sometimes find full-time employment elsewhere while waiting for job opportunities in their field.

“Health fields are still running pretty high and strong,” Gadzinski said.

Business majors are also doing well, but the college of business hopes for better placement.

Job placement for liberal arts graduates has remained the same as of yet, according to Gadzinski.

Along with giving numbers on employment, the survey reported that 28.3 percent of all graduates would be continuing their education.

The survey gives information about graduates in general and also individual data for each of the different colleges of study on campus: business, arts and science and professional studies.

It also gives data on whether graduates are staying in-state or pursuing their careers and schooling somewhere else.

The survey is conducted from a few weeks before graduation up to a few months after.

About 33 percent of graduates for the 2010-2011 academic year responded to the survey, a number that Gadzinski would like to see go up.

“It will be really helpful for us in the future,” Gadzinski said. “Sooner or later, the government is going to want to keep track.”

Students who are looking for some assistance preparing for their life after graduation can find the help that they may need in the Career Services office.

Gadzinski advises students to start preparing early in college by building a résumé filled with involvement that is relative to the career field they wish to pursue.

“Having a résumé is only part of it,” Steven LaFond, director of Career Services said. “The résumé gets them the interview, but the interview gets them the job.”

According to LaFond, seniors who are graduating in May should currently be doing research on job markets, preparing application materials and beginning the interview process with potential employers.

Career Services provides students and alumni with the assistance they may need in order to compete effectively in the job market and to link them with employers and jobs.

They hold workshops covering résumé building and job interviewing skills as well as bringing job fairs to campus, according to LaFond.

The upcoming Fall Job Fair will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 10 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Great Lakes Room of the University Center.

For more information about the job fair or the other services provided by Career Services, please visit www.nmu.edu/careerservices/.