Justin Voccola knows where he’ll be next year.

The Communications senior already has a job at a Wall Street investment bank. Voccola said he thinks his good fortune may be part of a larger economic trend — an upturn in the job market.

“Since prospects of the economy are getting brighter, there’s the expectation that investment banking and business in general is going to pick up,” Voccola said.

Though the United States’ economy has lost more than 2.3 million jobs since 2001, Northwestern career counselors have seen signs of a turnaround.

“There are some indicators of some improvement,” said Lonnie Dunlap, director of University Career Services.

Employer participation at on-campus job fairs last quarter was up compared to the same time the previous year, Dunlap said.

Employer response is also “very encouraging” for the two fairs scheduled for next week, the Martin Luther King Public Interest Job and Internship Fair 2004 and Winter Career Expo 2004.

Dunlap also said the number of “quick hires” — where employers contact the career services office seeking candidates to fill a position immediately — has moderately increased this year, and she expects a further increase in the spring.

Loraine Hasebe, director of Career Services for the Medill School of Journalism, said she also has seen positive signs for job seekers.

Her office has begun surveying last year’s graduates, and Hasebe said that from preliminary responses, it seems “people have gotten jobs.”

Since the beginning of the quarter, the office has received several job notices for full-time positions from alumni — notices which the office was not receiving last year, Hasebe said.

“It looks as though the market is starting to move,” Hasebe said.

Dunlap warns that any improvements are still in the early stages.

“There’s some indicators that that’s happening but not nearly to the degree that we need it,” Dunlap said.

In previous years an unusually high number of seniors elected to go to graduate school rather than enter the job market, Dunlap said, but some of those students may still have difficulty finding jobs.

“Some students who went directly to graduate school and didn’t have the opportunity to gain direct work experience may still be at a disadvantage,” Dunlap said.

The recent job slump has also had a lasting impact on what employers look for in candidates.

“One of the things that we’re finding is that employers are placing increased emphasis on internships,” Dunlap said.

Voccola has had several internships, including one at an investment bank last summer, and said that those experiences gave him a “competitive advantage.”

University Career Services is making an effort to communicate the importance of internships to underclassmen, Dunlap said.

Medill sophomore Cherise Lopez is already convinced. She is hoping to find a newspaper internship for the summer — whether it’s paid or unpaid.

“My main concern is getting this internship,” Lopez said. “If it’s unpaid, then I’ll settle for unpaid. My main concern is getting the experience.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.