May 4, 2009 College grads prepare for rough job market Play video

(Alison King, NECN) - This spring, thousands of college students in New England will receive their diplomas and go out searching for jobs. Many companies are cutting jobs, and college grads are facing the worst job market in almost half a century. But some students are being creative about their options, hoping that the economy will turn around soon, and they'll be poised to take full advantage.

22-year old Boston College senior Caitlin Pereira began an aggressive job search last fall.

She was confident she had the education and skills to find an entry level job in the field of finance, certainly by may graduation if not sooner.

Then the economy collapsed and so did most of her job prospects.

Caitlin Pereira/Boston College senior: I've been sending out a lot of resumes, networking, going to the career center at school, I've had interviews, I've gone to New York for a couple of interviews, second interviews.

For Pereira, the rejections have become predictable: either there's been a hiring freeze or they've found someone more experienced.

Caitlin is hardly alone.

Ingrid Osterholm: I've had friends who've applied basically to 20-jobs and just no one is hiring so I feel like people are either looking to further their education or different venues like volunteering and that kind of stuff.

Babson College senior Ingrid Osterholm would love to get a job in consulting but she's putting that off for now planning to teach

Khalid Daniels is looking at teaching since his sales and marketing search was going nowhere.

Khalid Daniels: I interned at the same place for the past three summers but they have a hiring freeze right now so no opportunity on that front.

For graduating seniors there are some upsides to this down job market. For some ambitious seniors, the absence of a conventional job track means greater license to be entrepreneurial.

Maria Stein/Northeastern University: We've been telling students that they may not get their dream job in this economy. But think about other industries where you can get similar kinds of skills so that when the economy turns around you're building the kind of skills that will then make you that much more marketable.