Waiting Out the Recession in Your Parents' Basement

Eric Ross, a recent University of Kansas graduate, is living with his family in Northbrook while he works part time. The political science major is considering going to graduate school, but said living at home during a recession does have some advantages.

"I get some nice home-cooked food," he said. "I think after a while, it might get annoying, but at the same time, it is a motivating factor to move forward."

He's not alone. One particular subset of Northbrook residents feeling the harsh blow of the downturn is recent college graduates, and many new grads find themselves moving back home to save money while they compete for the few available jobs.

Christine Dennison, of Dennison Career Services in Lincolnshire, said in the last year, more of her clients have been calling to ask about their children who are recent graduates. Dennison, who mainly works with high-level executives and professionals, said that when job searching, today's grads often fall into the "black hole" of the Internet.

"Most people think, 'I am supposed to go online and see what is listed and wait,' " she said. "Less than 5 percent of new jobs are filled through online applications."

Rather than relying solely on the Internet, Dennison advises job searchers to put more effort into networking, a tool people often ignore.

Jeff Hasmonek, a 2010 University of Iowa graduate who grew up in Northbrook, found a job as a management consulting analyst for Accenture in Arlington, VA. He drew upon a wide array of networks to land his position with the global consulting, technology and outsourcing company.

"You don't need to network in a room, but can through e-mail," he said. "You are not limited to your friends and network in Northbrook and college."

The business administration in finance graduate said that before he got hired in March, the job search was extremely frustrating because many of his targeted  firms announced hiring freezes. Even though he wasn't able to get interviews, he kept sending his resume to potential employers.

When he got the offer from Accenture in March, after three phone interviews and an in-person interview in Washington, D.C., Hasmonek welcomed the idea of moving.

"It was a new opportunity to create a different network other than my network in Northbrook," he said. "I would recommend people look outside of just Chicago."

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the unemployment rate in Illinois has been steadily decreasing since March. However, the state's 10.3 percent jobless rate in July is still higher than the national average of 9.5 percent.

Other recent graduates in Northbrook have no or limited cash reserves and don't have the finances to move away from home.

Ross Karlins, who graduated from Indiana University in May, would like a full-time position teaching special education. But for now, he is living with his parents while he works as a teaching assistant.

With funding cuts hitting schools across the country, and especially in Illinois, Karlins thought that coming into the field right out of college might have benefited him because employers could pay him less than more experienced teachers.

"I didn't know if millions of people already applied," he said. "You never know what specifically attracts people to your resume."

For now, Karlins remains in Northbrook, although his sights are set on Chicago.

"It seems like there is nothing to do here," Karlins said. "Hopefully, I will only have to live here for one year to pay off school loans and be able to move to the city soon."