It’s cap-and-gown time again, and for college grads, that means it’s time to face the job market. (Cue eerie music.)

But is it as bad as they say? That depends on who you’re listening to.

Here’s how the Economic Policy Institute –a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank — sees it:

College grads are confronting a more inhospitable job market than their predecessors faced in 2001, the beginning of the last recession.

With persistent job losses and rising unemployment expected, there is little evidence to suggest that the job market will improve for recent college graduates in the near future.

Talk about doom and gloom. The U.S. Labor Department has been the bearer of negative news as well, announcing that April was the fourth straight month that non-farm employment was down from a year earlier.

But there’s another side to this story. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers Job Outlook 2008 Spring Update survey, employers plan to hire 8 percent more new college graduates from the class of 2008 than they hired from the class of 2007. OK, that’s some good news.

Here’s more: according to a recent survey by Experience Inc., a company that provides software and services for job recruiting to colleges and universities, 31 percent of college seniors graduating this spring have already received job offers, compared with 22 percent a year ago.

It’s hard to say who’s got it right and who’s got it wrong, but here’s a bit of free advice: ignore the national job market statistics (especially the depressing ones). Instead, focus on what you need to do to get a job.

Along those lines, Alexandra Levit, author of “How’d You Score That Gig,” made some interesting quotes in a recent issue of The Wall Street Journal:

“College graduates today have very high expectations of their first job,” she explains. But in a sour economy, “you might have to settle for a situation that’s not 100% ideal.”

Broaden your search to lesser-known firms and less glamorous roles. “Just because you’re not going to fall in love with a job doesn’t mean you can’t learn something and make some money, too,” Ms. Levit says.

I have mixed feelings about Ms. Levit’s comments on lowering our employment expectations. While it’s true that we need to be pragmatic sometimes so the bills get paid and our bellies get full, I also think it’s a mistake to settle for too much less than the life we were hoping for. Your job may not be “100% ideal,” but it shouldn’t be something you hate, either. Nothing is worth that kind of misery.
It may be hard to ignore the bleak job market stats and doom-and-gloom commentary out there, but try. After all, you don’t need an entire market full of jobs. You just need one.

-Robyn Tellefsen