They may not receive as much attention as those who graduate amid the pageantry and down-the-hill walking in May each year, but a number of KU students do graduate in December (Jeff Withey, the men’s basketball team’s fearsome shot-blocker, among them this year).

We won’t know exactly how many students finished things up this semester until mid-January, and we’ll let you know then.

But for now, I was curious: Are the job prospects likely any different for those students than they’d be if they graduated six months from now, or six months ago?

The answer, from University Career Center director David Gaston, is probably not.

“It’s not a huge differentiator,” Gaston said.

Some years, December grads might have an advantage because they beat the spring crowd in the race to fill open positions; but other years, employers wait until spring to hire, anyway.

One variable this year could make things interesting, though, Gaston theorized: the “fiscal cliff.” It is possible, he said, that some employers could be holding off committing to any more ongoing costs, such as new employees, until they know more about what their tax situation will be in 2013 and beyond.

So, if you’re now finished at KU and haven’t yet found out what that next step will be, the negotiations going on in Washington might be of even more interest to you than for most.

Overall, Gaston says, the job outlook for college grads is better than it has been in recent years, though it’s certainly not up to where it was before the economic downturn.

And by the way, if you just graduated, the Career Center can help you out until six months after you finished. Call ’em up at 785-864-3624. And feel free to let me know how your search has turned out: Send a note to merickson@ljworld.com, along with all your KU news tips.