Bay Area college students face anxiety before graduation

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KGO) -- The economy may be booming in Silicon Valley, but with graduation quickly approaching college students in the Bay Area are fairly anxious.

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They might be asking themselves, 'How long will it take to get the right job' and 'Will it pay enough to live here?'

There were a lot of introductions, handshakes, and nervousness at Santa Clara University Wednesday night. Many students are about to receive their diplomas.

"I definitely feel the pressure of graduation coming," said graduating senior Austin Lolli.

Hundreds of students came to job hunt at an expo where all the recruiters are start-ups.

They're competing with larger, established companies for new talent.

"Students are especially more interested in early stage start-ups because the promise of potential is a lot higher," said Social DRV CEO Anil Merchant. "If we bring someone on there may be a good chunk of equity as they grow so the payout could be a lot larger with us."

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But the cost of living can be brutal. Affordable housing is hard to come by. A recent study by the Bay Area Council showed 46 percent of millennials are thinking of moving away from the Bay Area because of the cost of living.

"That's absolutely a factor, and that's something that's going to have to come up not in the first stage of the conversation," said Lolli. "In the interview stage, you have to talk about whether the salary is going to be able to compensate you enough to live in the area."

"We just opened an office in Seattle," said James Seely of eShares Product Marketing. "So we're actually doing some hiring in that office and people who are willing to move up to Seattle, so that's been one thing that is a bit of a competitive advantage."

Most students we spoke with were not as concerned about salary, as they were about making sure they land the right job, especially with graduation just months away.

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