Graduating college students face a mixed job market at best this year, and most will leave school without an offer in hand, despite an uptick in hiring by on-campus recruiters.
对于即将在今年毕业的美国大学生而言，他们面临的是一个充其量只能说是喜忧参半的就业市场。尽管进校园招聘的企业的招聘人数有所上升，大多数毕业生仍将无所斩获离开学校。
A survey of employers by the National Association of Colleges and Employers showed those that recruit on campuses plan to boost hiring of new grads by 10.2% from last year. However, on-campus recruiting is only a small slice of the pie -- the bulk of graduates find jobs on their own.
Associated Press全美高校与雇主协会(National Association of Colleges and Employers)对招聘企业展开的一项调查显示，参与校园招聘的企业今年的应届毕业生计划招聘人数比去年增加了10.2%。然而，校园招聘只占就业市场很小一部分，大多数毕业生还是得自己走出校园找工作。
In a study to be released Thursday, the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University found that recent graduates are taking awhile to find work. Only 49% of graduates from the classes of 2009 to 2011 had found a full-time job within a year of finishing school, compared with 73% for students who graduated in the three years prior.
罗格斯大学（Rutgers University）约翰?黑尔德里希人力发展中心（John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development）在上周发布的研究报告中指出，新近毕业的大学生要花不少时间才能找到工作。在2009年至2011年期间毕业的大学生中，只有49%的人在毕业一年内找到全职工作，2006至2008年期间毕业的大学生的这一比例为73%。
Overall, the unemployment rate among 20- to 24-year-olds with bachelor's degrees was 6.4% in April, compared with 8.1% for the overall population, according to the Labor Department.
根据美国劳工部（Labor Department）公布的数据，总体说来，4月份美国拥有学士学位的20岁至24岁年轻人的失业率为6.4%，而总人口的失业率为8.1%。
Experts say four broad issues will make it tougher for today's graduates to launch their careers and succeed over the long run.
就业问题专家称，当今的毕业生若要开启职业生涯并在未来获得成功更加艰难，他们将要面临四大挑战。
FIRST, the job market is still far from booming: March and April's disappointing job numbers -- employers added only 154,000 and 115,000 jobs, respectively, compared with an average gain of about 250,000 in the previous three months -- suggest the recovery remains fragile. The downbeat news echoes a pattern in the past two years, when much-heralded economic 'green shoots' early in the year failed to blossom into sustained improvement.
首先，就业市场还远远算不上繁荣。3月份和4月份的就业数据均令人失望，分别只增加了154,000个和115,000个工作岗位，而之前三个月平均每月约增加250,000个岗位，这表明经济复苏依然疲软。这个让人沮丧的消息与过去两年的模式颇为相似──年初大举宣扬的经济复苏苗头最终未能进一步发展为持续的改善。
On the positive side, Americans are quitting their jobs in higher numbers, leaving behind openings for which new graduates can apply. In February, the last month for which data are available, two million people gave notice, according to the Labor Department. While still historically low, it is the highest number of resignations since November 2008. That churn -- the natural turnover that occurs as workers quit or retire -- is a sign of slowly improving economic confidence and good news for new grads and all unemployed people.
积极的一面是，美国的辞职人数也有所增加，腾出的职位空缺可供新近毕业的大学生申请。据美国劳工部的数据显示，在2月份（有数据可查的最后一个月），美国有200万人提出了辞职申请。虽然该数据依旧处于历史低点，却是2008年11月以来的最高值。人员流失率（因员工辞职或退休出现的人员的自然流动）上升是经济信心逐步缓慢回升的一个迹象，对刚毕业的大学生以及所有失业者来说都是个好消息。
SECOND, the class of 2012 faces tougher competition thanks to what Carl Van Horn, director of the Heldrich Center, calls 'the recession hangover.' Young adults who graduated into the dire labor market of 2008 and 2009 and have been out of work or underemployed since are applying for the same jobs as new grads are. The same goes for earlier grads who were laid off during the recession. Those job candidates, many of whom likely have more experience than new grads, may have an edge, Mr. Van Horn says.
其次，受到约翰·黑尔德里希人力发展中心主任卡尔?范霍恩（Carl Van Horn）所称的“衰退后遗症”的影响，2012年毕业的学生面临着更加残酷的就业竞争。一方面，毕业于2008年和2009年、一直未就业或者未充分就业的年轻人会与今年的应届毕业生竞争相同岗位；另一方面，早前毕业但在经济衰退期被解雇的人也会加入竞争。范霍恩称，这些求职者可能比应届毕业生更有优势，因为他们当中许多人的工作经验更丰富。
In a better position might be those seniors who took advantage of on-campus recruitment programs. Lauren Martinez, 22 years old, will graduate from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., on Saturday with an entry-level consulting job in hand. Competition during recruiting season felt 'hard but not terrible,' says Ms. Martinez, who received two job offers. Her friends who are graduating without full-time jobs, she adds, have mostly lined up volunteer work, internships and temporary research positions while they continue to search for permanent work.
境遇好些的可能是那些通过校园招聘得偿所愿的毕业班学生。现年22岁的劳伦?马丁内兹（Lauren Martinez）上周六刚从明尼苏达州圣保罗的马卡莱斯特学院（Macalester College）毕业，她即将从事一份初级的咨询工作。她说求职季的竞争“艰难但并不可怕”，最终她获得了两个工作机会。她还说，那些毕业没找到全职工作的朋友大多数找到了志愿者工作、实习工作以及临时性的研究工作，同时他们也在继续寻找固定工作。
THIRD, a debt burden looms. Two-thirds of students from the class of 2010, the latest figures available, graduated with student loans, with an average tab of $25,250 -- up 5% from the previous year -- according to The Institute for College Access & Success, an independent group that promotes higher education affordability.
再次，债务负担也是一大隐患。据美国大学入学及成功协会(The Institute for College Access & Success)的数据显示，2010年（有最新数据可查的一年）毕业的学生中，有三分之二的人在毕业时背负着助学贷款，平均负债额为25,250美元，较上一年上升了5%。该协会是一家旨在提高高等教育可承受度的独立机构。
Tuition isn't getting any cheaper, so loan figures are expected to be even higher for the current crop of graduates. That means a greater share of any starting salaries they receive would go to repaying lenders, rather than to rent, furnishings or a down-payment fund for a house, delaying financial independence for many young adults.
如今的大学学费一点也不比以前便宜，因此当前这批毕业生的欠款额可能还会更高。这意味着他们初期获得的薪水将用于偿还贷款，而不是用来付房租、买家具或是支付房子的首付款，这使得许多年轻人财政独立的时间向后推迟。
LAST, even when new graduates do find jobs, their starting salaries tend to be lower than those for their counterparts who graduated a decade earlier, adjusted for inflation. With a lower base pay, research shows they may never catch up.
最后，即使新近毕业的学生找到了工作，他们的起薪经通胀因素调整后往往会比10年前的毕业生低。研究显示，由于基本工资更低，他们也许永远也赶不上以前毕业生的水平。
According to the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, entry-level, college-educated men age 23-29 earned an average $21.68 an hour in 2011, an inflation-adjust drop of 7.6% from 2000. For women, the corresponding figure fell 6%, to $18.80. Men and women both earn just a bit more than they did in 1989, when measured in 2011 dollars.
据美国左倾智库经济政策研究所（Economic Policy Institute）的数据显示，在2011年，受过大学教育、从事初级工作的23岁至29岁男性的平均时薪为21.68美元，经通胀因素调整后比2000年降低了7.6%；同样条件的女性的这一数据下降了6%至18.80美元。按照美元在2011年的购买力水平衡量，这些人的工资只比1989年高出些许。
Many students nonetheless express optimism, though perhaps that is simply the Lake Wobegon effect: They might believe they're all above-average after years of positive reinforcement from their parents. In the same vein, they may see themselves as exceptions to the rules of the job market.
许多学生还是表现出乐观态度，尽管这可能只是乌比冈湖效应（Lake Wobegon effect，注：指人们对于自身的性格和能力等抱有不切实际的乐观态度）的体现──他们可能是认为自己经过父母多年的积极培养后比普通人优秀。出于同样的道理，他们可能也认为自己能够免受就业市场规律的影响。