It’s called “commencement,” but for many college graduates this year, what commences on graduation day may not be a job but the beginning of unemployment.
That’s no surprise. An analysis at the end of 2025 by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that unemployment of college grads age 22 to 27 had crept up to 5.6 percent from 4.2 percent the previous year.
Okay, can’t find a job: what about going into business for yourself? Historically, those numbers also are small: only 4.7 percent of college graduates launch an enterprise, the Manchester Guardian has reported.
But for those who do create a new business, like Sierra Shambaugh of Bloomington, Indiana, the results can be rewarding.
Shambaugh grew up in Telluride, Colorado, “in a small box canyon surrounded by gracious mountains, rivers, and waterfalls,” she recalled in a talk to graduates at the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture & Design of Indiana University, Bloomington.
Shambaugh had had a passion for the sustainability she saw all around her Colorado homeland–“and for fashion design.”
“I would search for materials at thrift stores, imagining the potential in vintage prom dresses and other interesting garments to create something new.”
But she wasn’t a very good seamstress, so Shambaugh decided to find a college where she could learn the business side of fashion. That’s how she found the Eskenazi School at IU and, among other things, created a website and a retail store in downtown Bloomington: Tailored Thrifts, 1129 N. Washington Street.
The store is open Thursday to Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.
So, how’s it going? Shambaugh doesn’t share her financial report, but the number of transactions tells you something: “Three thousand items a year,” she said. “We’re doing very well.”
Most of the inventory walks in as consignments from Bloomington-area residents. But some comes from afar, including Shambaugh’s annual shopping trips for clothing and jewelry in London and Paris.
While many college students may aspire to self-employment after graduation, few actually become self-employed. A survey in 2022 pegs the number at 17 percent.
But some manage to convert an enterprise they created during college–at Loyola University, Chicago, that’s called “a side-hustle”– into a job. And Loyola puts them in a spotlight, selecting one marketing major for the “Side-Hustle Showcase.”
One recent recipient of the “Peer Choice Award” is Emily Narsolis, who as Loyola undergrad created SolisArt, a company to market her commercial art and graphic design on Pinterest and other social media.
“Loyola students’ side-hustles have ranged from a theatrical arts company and clothing brands to a digital magazine and home bakery,” Loyola recently reported about its student entrepreneurs. But it’s a tough job, especially in some fields.
According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the highest unemployment rates for college majors are:
Anthropology, 9.4 percent
Physics, 7.8 percent
Computer engineering, 7.5 percent
And for majors in commercial art and graphic design, like Emily Narsolis at Loyola: 7.2 percent. But Narsolis reported some good news:
“I’m excited to share that I started last week as a Marketing and Social Media Spring Intern at The World Music Foundation!”
That’s in Chicago, her hometown.
Crampton, a former reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times, lives in Bloomington, Indiana
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Grads face a hard hunt for jobs
Reporting by Norm Crampton, For the Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
