The NEW Job Search

The Need to Invest in Carrer Planning Throughout Your College Years in Order to Land a Good First Job Post Graduation. 

October 2024 // by Pat Belotti

The headlines are scary. 

“Class of 2024, It’s Not in Your Head: The Job Market Is Tough”

“It Feels Like I Am Screaming Into the Void With Each Application”

 “You’re fighting AI with AI’: Bots Are Breaking the Hiring Process”

What all these articles are getting at is that there are some major shifts in how the job market works.  Some that are probably permanent and others that are a factor of the current economic climate.  In the article I will attempt to identify the current trends, articulate the implications of not getting a good first job out of college, and suggest ways in which current college students can best prepare to beat the odds.

The Job Hunt

The way people apply for jobs and the way companies look for candidates have changed since sites like LinkedIn and Indeed came online.  The good news is that applicants can see many openings they never would have seen before.  Also, the job descriptions are more robust, and in states like California they must list a pay range. 

While it might seem good that these jobs got easier to apply for, that is also the bad news.  Initially you had to apply for the position by filling in an online application and attaching a resume.  Then they created “Easy Apply” where you just load up a resume.  Then applicants started to use AI to write custom resumes that took wording from the job posting.  Now job seekers are deploying new automated bots to robo-apply for hundreds of jobs in just a few clicks. As you can imagine the number of applicants for these jobs exploded. 

So, what did companies do?  First, they used programs to search for key words that matched their opening. Then they shortened the time they accepted resumes to a day or two (even though the post may be up for weeks).  And now they are deploying bots of their own to sort through the oceans of applications. The result: a bot versus bot war that’s leaving both applicants and employers irritated and has made the chances of landing an interview, much less a job, even slimmer than before. 

The Job Market

The current job market for new college graduates is a tough one.  After a very frothy period coming out of Covid (late 2022-2023) the companies realized they had over-hired.  The economy was slowing, and high interest rates were making companies pause on investments.  As a result, people who had jobs stayed put and new openings decreased.  With experienced employees available, companies are cutting back on new college hires and that is triggering a reduction in internships, which were often an almost guaranteed way to get a good first job. 

What are the implications of not getting a good first job out of college?

The first job after graduation is critical. Graduates who start out in a college level job rarely slide into underemployment, as the vast majority of them (79 percent) remain in a college-level occupation five years after graduation. Of those employed in college-level occupation five years after graduating, 86 percent were still in a college level job 10 years out.

Conversely, fifty-two percent of college grads are underemployed a year after graduation, meaning they are working in jobs that don’t require the degrees they earned, according to a February report by the Burning Glass Institute, which analyzes the job market, and the Strada Institute for the Future of Work. Five years out from school, about 88 percent of those who are underemployed are “severely” underemployed, the report said.

So, what is a college student to do? 

First students must view the search for a good post-graduation job as a four-year project.  There are activities that the students must undertake each year. Suggested activities can be seen in this “Career Calendar” .  These activities fall into five main areas:

1.      What career to choose can be investigated by taking Strength Finder tests, attending lectures by industry practitioners, going to industry trade shows, conducting informational interviews, getting internships or jobs in the field.  While some super successful people may tell students to “follow their passion” it is important to recognize that “your passion” may not be in a field that has good opportunities or odds of success.  If you pursue these fields you need to be prepared for underemployment along the way or have a plan B.

2.      Having an up-to-date On-Line Profile and Resume is a must.  There are innumerable free courses on how to do this and your career center can also help.

3.      Building your Network is critical.  It is through these connections that you will be able to get your resume in front of hiring managers. 

4.      Getting internships/jobs in your field during school.  There are three important reasons for doing this.  First is to find out if you like the work. Second, to be able to have some applicable experience so the hiring company can be confident of your interest and can assume you have some related still already.  Finally, this is often the best way to get a post-graduation job.  They see how you work, and they like it, and they make you an offer.  If you can’t get an internship, a job in the field is good and even one outside of your field with some applicable skills will help.

5.      Applying for a great first job post-graduation. With time and effort invested in all the previous activities you will still have to work hard to land that job.  Going to Career Fairs, using your career center, reaching out to contacts, making sure your professors know what you are looking for.  Just applying online will not work.  You will need to get your resume to someone in your network so they can get it to the hiring manager.

You can do this.

While it takes a lot of work and a bit of luck to land a good first job out of college, you can do this.  Making this commitment during your college years will pay off well for the rest of your career.  Best of luck!

Sources:

“Class of 2024, It’s Not in Your Head: The Job Market Is Tough” April 2024 NYT

“It Feels Like I Am Screaming Into the Void With Each Application” May 2024 NYT

“Why Can’t College Grads Find Jobs? Here Are Some Theories — and Fixes” May NYT

 “You’re fighting AI with AI’: Bots Are Breaking the Hiring Process” May 2024 WSJ

“Longer Job Odds for Young Grads” July 2024 WSJ

“Talent Disrupted: College Graduates, Underemployment, and the Way Forward” https://www.burningglassinstitute.org/research/underemployment