When we graduate, we will face stiff competition from more than just our peers.

According to a New York Times article, university graduates will also face competition from experienced professionals now willing to work for lower salaries. Because of the dramatic rise in the unemployment rate, overqualified individuals now fill many jobs that might traditionally be filled by recent college graduates.

Now lower-paid positions intended for those with undergraduate degrees could be filled by those who have earned master’s or doctorate degrees. They are willing to take lower salaries and less than ideal positions because they are desperate to find work.

I understand that these people have mortgages to pay and mouths to feed, but so do recent college graduates, though the only mouth might be their own. Like many people, I set a resolution this year to lose a few pounds, but the starvation diet was not exactly what I had in mind.

Not only are jobs far more difficult to come by, but now we have to compete with those with far more experience. And many of us have student loans to repay.

When I took out my first student loan, I worried I would find a job that would not pay enough for me to repay it quickly. Now, I wonder if I will be able to repay it at all.

According to the article, many companies have avoided hiring overqualified applicants in the past because these people have often left those positions quickly after being miserable in a position that could never challenge them.

Many of these people are currently happy with their new, easy jobs but that is because they have been given free rein in their respective positions. Some of these people have come to companies in order to help reorganize them. When they have completed the reorganization and the monotonous daily routine begins, it’s quite possible that the overqualified will vacate these positions.

It’s this fact that gives me hope. However, I wonder if they will abandon these jobs in time to salvage my credit score.

Kayla Mezzell is a junior geography and news-editorial journalism major from Mesquite.