DERRY TOWNSHIP — Mary Beshara capped off an especially rewarding accomplishment Sunday when she officially became the first person in her immediate family to graduate from college.

Next up for this Penn State Harrisburg grad? Figuring out how to find work in a competitive job market.

“I think all of us are trying to figure out what to do next,” Beshara, 24, a management major from York, said of her fellow classmates as she posed for pictures outside the Giant Center, which hosted the Penn State Harrisburg commencement ceremony. “We’re going to have to keep each other focused.”

That will certainly be a must, because recent research shows college graduates are finding it difficult to land the jobs they want.

For instance, 46 percent of recent graduates who are now employed reported in an Accenture survey they are underemployed and working in jobs that don’t require their college degrees. The survey queried 2,015 college students set to graduate this year and others who graduated in 2012 and 2013.

The trend has picked up steam among Penn State Harrisburg graduates, said Ray Gibney, an associate professor of management at the university.

Recent grads are also being pushed to dismiss thoughts of working in other states or away from home because of onerous student loan debts, Gibney said.

“I know students with student loan payments that are more than my mortgage,” Gibney said. “They can’t afford the $700 or $800 student loan payment and an $800 or $900 a month rent. So they’re being forced to look close to mom and dad’s house.”

Samantha Weiner, 22, said she sees a lot of truth in Gibney’s assessment. While she said she was fortunate to graduate from Penn State Harrisburg with minimal debt, she said she has friends who owe around $40,000 and are faced with costly monthly loan payments.

She said that will keep many of them close to home as they look for jobs. But Weiner also raised a good point: it’s very difficult to compete in the current job market without that expensive college degree.

“Ten years ago, if you graduated high school, you could go out and find a job somewhere with your high school diploma,” said Weiner, a management major who plans to continue work later this fall on a second bachelor’s degree in marketing. “Now you can’t get a job without going to school and getting a bachelor’s degree.”

Despite the sometimes dire outlook, there are signs the job market for recent college graduates is improving.

The Labor Department reported last month the unemployment rate for 2013 college graduates — defined as those ages 20 to 29 who earned a four-year or advanced degree — was 10.9 percent, according to a New York Times report. That was down from 13.3 percent in 2012 and was the lowest since 7.7 percent in 2007, the report said.

There also appears to be a sense of optimism among those set to receive their degrees this year.

Eighty-four percent of 2014 grads queried in the same Accenture survey said they expect to find jobs in their chosen fields.

“In the overall job market, there are a lot of open jobs,” said Gibney, the Penn State Harrisburg professor. “Overall, depending on your major, there are people coming out making much more than the national average.”