Students optimistic about job outlook at Mott Community College, - ABC 12 – WJRT – Flint, MI

(10/25/12) - Michigan's jobless rate is getting better. Two months in a row now the unemployment rate has improved across the state.

It was 10.3 percent back in July. It improved in August and again in September, taking it down to 8.2 percent.

And those numbers mean a better job outlook for everyone, especially students fresh out of college. Mott Community College held a college fair Thursday, and they're hopeful about their job outlook after graduation.

"It's always good to get a head start on what you're doing," said Shakira Hodge, a freshman at Flint Southwestern Academy.

Hodge is only a high school freshman, but she already knows she wants to be a pediatrician when she's older. Even though she's young, she knows it could be tough to find work.

"I don't want all the jobs to be gone when it's time for me to actually get a job," she said.

But the good news: unemployment numbers are down.

"With the job market improving, people are getting out there, able to get jobs, we want that," said Rachel Reeves, MCC admissions recruiter. "We also want them to have an education behind that, it makes them much more employable."

But not every student is worried. Some say they're doing exactly what they need to do to improve their chances by getting a college education.

"I think it'll be a growing field and I'm not really too worried about it," said Nathan Karinen, a graphics design major at MCC.

"When I grow up, I want to be a mortician," said Destiny Pitts, a sophomore at Flint Southwestern Academy. "I'm not worried about that, what I'm going into, people die every day so I'm there to help them."

There were more than 50 colleges and universities at the fair. Mott does this every year and they say it's very successful in getting students to the right college.