I'm Michel Martin, and this is Tell Me More from NPR News. Now we're going to go Behind Closed Doors. That's the part of the program where we talk about topics that are hiding in plain sight, like unemployment. Last week's announcement that the jobless rate jumped to 7.2 percent was front page news, but today, we want to talk about a group of people who never expected to be unemployed. I'm talking about recent college graduates who've yet to find work in their fields or who have lost the entry-level jobs they had. They're part of a generation raised in times of economic prosperity and high expectations, so we wanted to ask how they're coping with the recession.

To talk about this, we've invited Mimi Wong, she's a recent New York University graduate; Kelsey Shwenk, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania; and Sarah Ahmad, who graduated from the University of Maryland. All three are unemployed, and they were kind enough to swallow their pride and come in and talk to us about their efforts to find steady, full-time work. Thank you all for joining us, ladies.

Ms. SARAH AHMAD (Graduate, University of Maryland): Thanks.

Ms. KELSEY SHWENK (Graduate, University of Pennsylvania): Thank you.

Ms. MIMI WONG (Graduate, New York University): Thank you, Michel.

MARTIN: Sarah, I want to start with you. You actually did have a job when you graduated from the University of Maryland in 2007 but you don't anymore. What happened to you?

Ms. AHMAD: I was employed until November of 2008, and going into the job market in my senior year of college, it was a pretty strong market, and I was hired the November of my senior year of college. That was 2006.

MARTIN: And what's your field?

Ms. AHMAD: Finance. So I chose to go into finance after college - into structured finance in particular, which is asset and mortgage-backed securities, which at the time was a great market. And going into that, I never expected that a year and a half later that I would lose my job once the market completely fell out, and we just - there was no deals, no deal flow. Nothing to do.

MARTIN: Did you see it coming?

Ms. AHMAD: By - I think about six months before I was laid off, the market had slowed down considerably. We still had other work, though. In general, because I was at a consulting firm, we thought that we'd be moved into a different field because that's what they do with consultants. But I guess things were so bad they just didn't have work all around, so...

MARTIN: It just didn't happen. Mimi, you graduated from NYU in 2007 also, and you currently live in New York. What's been your experience trying to find a job? Now, you're in film production, right?

Ms. WONG: Yes. I'm actually a production intern at NYC TV here in the city, but it is a part-time internship, and I'm still looking for a full-time job. I've been bouncing between internships and freelance positions since graduating in May 2007, and that's been going on for about a year and a half now.

MARTIN: So you've never really had a full-time job?

Ms. WONG: No. The closest was actually prior to working at NYC TV. I was the festival coordinator for the Asian-American International Film Festival here in New York. But that was also considered a freelance seasonal position, and once the festival finished in the summer, I was back on the job market.

MARTIN: And Kelsey, you graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006.

Ms. SHWENK: Yes.

MARTIN: And as I understand it, very recently unemployed. What's your story?

Ms. SHWENK: I actually got laid off last week. It was quite the New Year's present, if you will.

MARTIN: Ouch.

Ms. SHWENK: (Laughing) Yeah. But I just moved to New York from Chicago about six months ago to take my dream job here in New York working a for design consulting firm. And then I, you know, all of a sudden, I come back from the holiday vacation, and time to go. Pack your bags and leave.

MARTIN: I mean, literally just like that?

Ms. SHWENK: Literally...

MARTIN: How did it happen? Did somebody come to your office or...

Ms. SHWENK: My boss actually came and said, hey, you know, can you have a second? So I go into a room, and I see the director there as well as the HR person. And then, you know, your heart just kind of sinks. You know what's going to happen at that moment. And you know, it was like, I'm sorry, we have to terminate you, and pack your bags and nice knowing you.

MARTIN: You have to leave right then?

Ms. SHWENK: I had to. I had to go back to my desk, pack up my things, and I left that morning.

MARTIN: That must have been hard.

Ms. SHWENK: It was - it was a very emotional time.

MARTIN: Now Sarah had mentioned that she thought she was doing everything right. Now, each of you went to good universities, and she thought, look, I mean - she chose a field that she thought was a booming field. So Kelsey, I wanted to ask you, did you ever think that this would happen to you?

Ms. SHWENK: Oh, never. I - you know, you come out of an Ivy League university, you think that, you know, you got things set, and you may choose to leave your job and choose to do something different. But you know, in terms of being laid off, I mean, I had no warning, either, in my company, you know, before the break. All signs pointed to it might slow down a little bit, but things are still going to be OK, and then all of a sudden, it wasn't, so...

MARTIN: Mimi, you're in a field that I think a lot of people understand going into it isn't like your normal career trajectory, right?

Ms. WONG: Mm hmm.

MARTIN: So I assume you knew you'd have to knock around a little bit. But did you think it would be this hard to find steady work in your field?

Ms. WONG: Well, I thought there would definitely be a period of paying my dues, as they say, and you know, I've been interning for about four and a half months with NYC TV. And I think at the period where, you know, most people would have expected to get hired, it's - the process has been slowed down because of severe budget cuts that are happening within the department. I can hear all the talk around me, and I'm very aware that it's just not a good time to be hired. They actually went on a production hiatus recently and laid off a bunch of their freelancers at that point. So it's just been, you know, a lot of toeing around this in the office.

MARTIN: Now, can I ask each of you - and this could be a little tough - how your families are reacting to your situation? Are they supportive or is there - are anybody - people dropping helpful hints about Starbucks openings and things of that sort? Sarah, why don't you start?

Ms. AHMAD: Well, my parents have been pretty supportive when I, like, you know, first got laid off, they were quite supportive about it. And I live at home, so I mean, that's a help on the expense end. But they haven't, you know, work at Starbucks or anything yet, but they have been, you know, encouraging me to apply for jobs, and especially my father, who works for the government. So he's been encouraging me to apply to a government job because of the security.

MARTIN: Get that good government job...

Ms. AHMAD: Yeah (laughing).

MARTIN: But it wasn't my - how it was always described.

Ms. AHMAD: Exactly, so...

MARTIN: Were you planning to live at home at this point or is this part of the setback for you that you're still there?

Ms. AHMAD: No, I was already living at home. I mean, I was hoping to eventually, you know, move out, but I mean, I guess at this point it's probably a help more than a hindrance. But yeah, overall, they've been pretty good about it.

MARTIN: Kelsey, what about you?

Ms. SHWENK: My parents have been very supportive. They actually came to visit me this weekend. And my father has actually been encouraging me to apply for schools, but I'm not sure I'm ready to do that yet. I'm still, you know, excited about working and don't want to kind of go back and change my career yet. But...

MARTIN: He's actually encouraging you to change fields?

Ms. SHWENK: Or go back and take some time off and study some things to - you know, maybe weather the storm of the economic market right now. But I feel like a lot of students - a lot of people that have lost their jobs that I know are doing that as well, and so getting into school right now apparently is more difficult than normal.

MARTIN: And Mimi, what about you?

Ms. WONG: Well, actually, my parents live all the way back in California. And so I know my dad sort of wishes that I would go back, but for me, that would just be too big a move, and I feel like the opportunity, if it comes, is still here in the city, in New York. So I'm really trying to stay and just hoping that my parents will be understanding about that.

MARTIN: You're saying hoping. Does that mean that to this point they're not quite so on board with this whole situation?

Ms. WONG: My mom is actually very supportive, and you know, they've been able to help me out here and there because obviously, New York City is a very expensive city to be living in. So I definitely have had to ask them for help more than once.

MARTIN: And has that been hard for you to have to swallow and go to the bank of mom and dad one more time?

Ms. WONG: It's not something that you thought you would be doing for this long after graduation, and (unintelligible), I was very rebellious about wanting to be financially independent. But you just get to a point where you realize that's not possible or if I were to be financially independent, I might have to make some sacrifices, like you said, taking at job at Starbucks. But you know, my parents have said that they don't want me to take a job just for the money. They still want me to be able to pursue my goals and pursue the career path that I had envisioned for myself. So, I guess I'm still trying to be optimistic about that.

MARTIN: If you're just joining us, this is Tell Me More from NPR News. We're speaking with three college graduates about their experiences trying to find jobs in their respective careers during this recession.

And one of the reasons we wanted to speak with all of you is that it turns that the recession actually started the year that you all graduated, except for you, Kelsey, you graduated in 2006. But 2007, it now - economists now say it was actually the start of it, so you came out right when the economy was really slowing down.

And Sarah, what do you think about - when you think about what's next for you, how do you see it? Has this really changed your idea about the future? Has this kind of...

Ms. AHMAD: Definitely.

MARTIN: Yeah.

Ms. AHMAD: Yeah, I mean, when I graduated, I figured I'd definitely work in finance for two years, and then, maybe, you know, use my entry-level job to go on to another position in finance or go back to school or something. But now, they're just - there aren't any jobs in my field at all available, at the entry-level especially...

MARTIN: And not just that, but people are mad at you.

Ms. AHMAD: Yeah, exactly.

MARTIN: They're mad at people in mortgage finance...

Ms. AHMAD: Yeah.

MARTIN: And construction finance...

Ms. AHMAD: Exactly.

MARTIN: They kind of think it's your fault.

Ms. AHMAD: It's my fault, yeah, I've gotten that before.

Ms. AHMAD: So it's definitely changed - I mean, I could have never imagined that all these jobs would disappear, this whole market would disappear, that I'd be in the market that would disappear. So it's changed a lot of having to rethink, like, what I want to do. I doubled in government and politics, so now I'm even considering that, to go towards that route because there just isn't anything available anymore. So it definitely changed my expectations and the career path as a I had envisioned when I graduated.

MARTIN: Kelsey, what about you?

Ms. SHWENK: Well, it's fairly, fairly recent, and so, you know, I'm kind of still in the aftermath of figuring out what happened and what to do next. So, you know, my job that I got laid off from was my dream job. It's what I aimed for and aspired to after college, and it's exactly what I wanted to do, and everything seemed to be going perfectly well. And you know, I was commenting to my brother over the holidays that, you know, I can't ask for anything more. I have everything that I want in New York, in my job, in my life and my friends and my family. So it was - so I'm trying to make a list of all the other industries that may be hiring people or, you know, thinking about other different ways to take my job experience. But I haven't been able to figure anything out yet, so it's just been a long laundry list of ideas.

MARTIN: But is it a blow to your sense of self, in some way? I mean, from what I'm hearing, you say you feel like, you know, you're on top of the world here.

Ms. SHWENK: Yeah, I was.

MARTIN: And things had gone just as you'd hoped. You'd studied hard, worked hard.

Ms. SHWENK: Yeah. And then...

MARTIN: You know, and then things come crashing down. Obviously, you're still alive, you're healthy and all this, but does it sort of challenge your sense of the way the world is?

Ms. SHWENK: A little bit. A little bit. But again, it just kind of - I try to remain optimistic. I mean, these things are completely beyond my control. I don't blame my company at all. It was the right - I mean, it wasn't as if they, you know, wanted to let me go. It's that they had to. They didn't have a choice. There was no work. So, you know, keeping on people wasn't an option. So - and I know it wasn't because of my performance or anything that I did wrong in my job. It just happened to be that I was the youngest, newest person at the firm, so I was the first in and the first out.

So that's been kind of a silver lining in this, and everybody's been really supportive in helping me kind of figure out what I want to do and offering their networks and their letters of recommendation and things like that. So it hasn't been too much a blow on my self-esteem in that way. But still, figuring out what I want to do next is the biggest challenge that I have.

MARTIN: And Mimi, final thought from you. I mean, obviously, you're in a creative field. It is the business of know(ph). I mean, everybody who's successful in this field has a story about the hoops that they had to jump through to get to, you know, success and...

Ms. WONG: Mm hmm.

MARTIN: There are some crazy stories out there, which I'm sure you are aware of. But what about you? Does this change the way you see yourself or the world?

Ms. WONG: I think it's really easy to get overwhelmed with the situation. I mean, if you had just talked to me last week, I was probably in a bit of depression, wondering what would happen to me in the next couple of months. And you know, but I think part of our generation, what we're good at is just adapting and accepting the situation for what it is. So yeah, there's a bit of panic at the moment, but then you just get right back on the horse and you start sending out your resume again. You just start talking to people, and you accept that this is the situation. But you know, we are educated, smart young women, and we just feel like - we'll, you know, figure things out as it comes.

MARTIN: Let's hope so. Mimi Wong is an aspiring TV and film producer who lives in New York. Kelsey Shwenk recently lost her job at a graphic design firm in New York. They were both kind enough to join us from our New York bureau. And Sarah Ahmad studied finance until two months ago when she lost her job. She lives in Maryland, and she was kind enough to join us in our studios in Washington, D.C. I thank you all so much, and good luck to each of you and keep us posted.

Ms. AHMAD: Thank you so much.

Ms. SHWENK: Thank you.

Ms. WONG: All right. Thank you.