The year is 2019.  College seniors are eager to graduate and start their careers. Fortunately for this year’s graduates, they’re entering one of the healthiest job markets in decades.

But, the blazing job market is going to cool off eventually, and when it does, graduates need to be prepared to weather the storm.

The class of 2019 has grown up in one of longest periods of economic expansion in history. At the height of the financial crisis in 2008, the unemployment rate was close to 10%, according to Bureau of Labor statistics. As of March 2019, the unemployment rate was 3.8%.

College graduates will be able to find jobs relatively easily this year. That won’t always be the case.

When the next economic downturn begins, it’s going to look very different from the last. During the 2008 recession, the global economy experienced a significant shock to the financial system. Banks and other financial institutions were repackaging and selling bad loans, and when they defaulted, it sent waves through the global economy.

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Lara Rhame, the chief U.S. economist at FS Investments, said the economy and financial system looks much different today than it did in 2008. It’s likely the next economic slowdown will be much more gradual as opposed to the financial paralysis that hit in 2008, Rhame said.

“The next seven years are not going to look as the prior seven years,” she said. “It’s unlikely we’re going to be able to maintain this level of job growth.”

Despite the inevitability of a recession, there are still steps college graduates can take to protect themselves in a slower job market in the future. Rhame said graduates need to think about being flexible in what jobs they take down the road and where those jobs are located.

“If you do find yourself without a job and your priority is to get a new job, looking across the country can really give you an advantage,” she said.

When the job market is slower, it’s also helpful to recognize how skills can be transferred across industries, Rhame said.

Michael LaMarche, SU’s Director of Career Services, Assessment and Student Success, suggested students invest heavily in their network and engage with their college alumni community. He also said he would encourage students to stick it out with jobs they might not enjoy to build what he calls “professional equity” because it could lead to more desirable jobs in the future.

“When anyone starts their career right out of college, they really have to be focused on their career and performing extremely well,” LaMarche said. “When you do well, that’s when other opportunities become available.”

It’s important for graduates to remember that their first job isn’t their last job. Even if a recent graduate is stuck in a role they don’t like, it won’t be that way forever. By sticking it out in a job and learning as much as possible, it will pay off in the future.

Steve Kovach, a technology editor for CNBC.com, graduated from Syracuse University at the peak of the financial crisis in 2008, when jobs were extremely hard to come by. Kovach ended up taking a job he really didn’t want while looked for a role in his desired field.

For seniors starting their first jobs in a couple of months, Kovach recommends working hard to putting in extra hours and asking questions.

“Those are the kind of people employers keep around — the invaluable people, the people who they know they can rely on and literally can’t live without,” he said.

Daniel Strauss is a senior finance major and public communications minor. His column appears bi-weekly. He can be reached at dstrauss@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @_danielstrauss.

Published on May 7, 2019 at 11:46 am