It's been a ride wild enough to make job-hungry seniors and stockbrokers alike queasy.

From a spectacular high of 9337.97 in mid-July, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has zigzagged its way down some 1500 points, closing at 7795.50 last Friday--a net drop that rivals the 1987 Black Monday crash of 20 percent.

The fluctuations have prompted some prominent analysts to predict the run of the bull is turning into the year of the bear, and seniors are listening.

But an earthquake on Wall Street makes only a tremor on Mass. Ave., as corporations fall over each other to get on this fall's recruiting calendar.

Large investment banks and consulting firms view recent graduates as shortterm, low-risk hires, while companies whose business isn't the market aren't feeling a pinch in an otherwise stellar economy.

All the same, smaller companies and recent graduates looking for jobs say the unyielding optimism of a few months ago has given way to caution.

Bracing for the Fall?

Predictions about the market are as easy to find, and as diverse, as the imagination.

The chief economist of Deutsche Bank, a German investment bank, has said the Dow will bottom out around 6500, while Abby Cohen, a prominent analyst for Goldman Sachs, is predicting a return to the 9300 plateau by the end of the year.

But any confusion over the markets' recent spins, as well as troubles in Russia and Asia, have not been had much impact on the job market in America: Unemployment remains at nearly a 20-year low of 4.5 percent--1.8 percent for college graduates.

Seniors notice the paradox.

"The market's volatility is cause for concern," says Brooke Herlihy '99. "But the economy and job market are very strong."

The Office of Career Services (OCS) says it's been swamped as always by recruiters wanting to come on campus and attend the annual Career Forum.

"We've not been affected by this," says Judy Murray, OCS director of recruiting. "We actually have had to turn away [recruiters]."

The only decrease in interest from companies has been for students to work in Russia, she says.