"Bleak" and "stagnant" are plastered on the front pages of newspapers to describe employment availability throughout the county, state and nation.

According to statistics compiled by the University's Career Development and Placement Services, the amount of on-campus interviews has dropped 22.4 percent this Fall Semester from Fall Semester 1990.

About 14,000 interviews were conducted in the fall of 1990 while only about 11,000 occurred last fall, said Jack Rayman, the service's director.

Although those numbers seem steep, they are not as drastic as figures from other Big Ten schools, where the drop might be as high as 35 to 40 percent, he added.

But employers are posting more job availabilities on campus.

"The number of vacancy listings sent to the University by various employers has risen 58 percent from last fall," Rayman said.

Although positive, the increase means more work for the prospective employee. He or she may have to seek an interview on the employer's premises rather than having the convenience of on-campus interviews, Rayman said.

"You have to keep in mind, and students have to interpret, that when an employer spends the time and money to come to campus, that the demand (to fill a position) is greater," he said.

Because of the economic downturn, more students are seeking individual career counseling sessions, Rayman said.

A University business analyst predicts that it will be difficult for graduates to get a job in the state for several months.

"Pennsylvania closed the books on perhaps the weakest year since the early 1980s with more sluggish results in December," said William D. Anderson, editor of a monthly survey by the Smeal College of Business Administration.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, the unemployment rate as of November 1990 was 6.5 percent, said Barb Cameron of the research and statistics division.

About 386,000 of the almost 6 million people in the state's civilian labor force are unemployed, Cameron said.

"As for the future, my best guess is for some signs of improvement nationally by mid-year," Anderson said. "This will be the major requirement for any substantial progress in Pennsylvania."

Graduates looking for jobs need to perform the conventional job-search strategies such as compiling resumes and seeking and following up interviews --but they must do it better during these tough economic times, Rayman said.

He offers some advice for those seeking jobs in a formidable market:

-- Conduct a serious self-examination of your abilities and of what you want to do, and follow that up with an organized job-search strategy.

-- Target specific employers who have positions to fill instead of sending resumes randomly.

-- Make compromises. Don't pass up a job because the salary is not what you expected or because you have to relocate.

-- Keep graduate school, the military or volunteer programs such as the Peace Corps in mind if the job search is consistently unsuccessful. These options will enhance and increase your skills, providing for increased marketability as an employee.