Recent UTEP grads facing challenges looking for jobs during pandemic

EL PASO, Texas -- Thousands of college seniors just crossed a major milestone: graduating college. Now, those grads are applying for jobs, a task made more challenging during the pandemic.

Maria Angeles just graduated from UTEP with her Bachelor's degree in English and American Literature and a minor in Communication Studies.

Angeles wants to be a teacher, but knows it may be tough to find a job since so many school campuses are closed due to the pandemic.

"I have to make a transition and I don't really know where to look or if companies are even hiring right now," said Angeles.

So many other recent grads are facing the same fears.

Denisse Arrieta, the business services manager at Workforce Solutions, told ABC-7 that some employers are actually hiring right now.

"There's jobs that are coming in, there's businesses that are opening up in phases, so in the next couple weeks I think we are going to see more of that come in." Arrieta added, "I think currently we have about 4,000 openings that were through the pandemic times and I know that's going to go up more."

Arrieta added that the job hiring process is virtual now and many interviews will be held virtually.

Workforce solutions says grads wanting to apply for jobs should do so as soon as possible.

"Beat the rush, don't wait to look for that job, fine tune your resume," said Arrieta.

College grads also can get help through WorkForce Solutions.

Also, UTEP just launched a Virtual Career Center that gives interview tips, links to job postings and virtual videos.