It doesn’t take an economist to connect the dots. As a result of the coronavirus, we are in a perfect storm to impede college graduates from landing meaningful jobs upon graduation. Three massive trends are colliding:
- Many colleges and universities are now closed during the critical months that seniors should be actively looking for jobs. Students no longer have access to college career placement centers or job assistance facilities.
- Companies are laying off or freezing open positions. They will favor existing employees to fill open positions.
- Due to layoffs and wholesale closures of business, massive numbers of candidates will flood the job market. Those in the gig economy will race back to company jobs; those let go will be seeking another position, and highly trained people will be accepting lower-level work to keep their jobs.
Overall, we are rapidly shifting from a strong job market (e.g., candidates having multiple open jobs to pursue) to a weak job market (more applicants than positions).
I project that college graduates will face a very challenging time in the months ahead to secure meaningful employment. They may need to accept jobs that pay far below the median for a college graduate or those outside their field of interest and study.
Some facts:
- The unemployment rate for recent college graduates with a bachelor degree was 12.9 percent in October 2018 (S. News and World Report).
- In November 2019, Forbes reported that “Recent College Graduates Have the Highest Unemployment Rate in Decades” (Forbes).
- This Federal Reserve Bank data breaks the dilemma down by major or discipline. However, recall that their data was pre-coronavirus (Federal Reserve Bank of New York).
- The same organization shares the following shocking information (Federal Reserve Bank of New York):
- Good jobs ($45K+) were as high as 55% in 1990 and declined to 43% in 2020.
- Low wage jobs (under $25K) went up for college graduates from 8.6% in 1990 to 13.8% in 2018.
Parents of college graduates and college graduates, believe it or not, this is not the time to hunker down and say, “let’s hold off on job searching” or “it’s not the right time to job search.” Just the opposite. Students, you need to dial up your job search efforts and prepare to compete to win a meaningful job. You have invested tremendous time and money in the hope that one, your college institution will prepare you to secure employment and, two, you can pay back your college degree investment.
Here are some fundamental reasons to dial your job search efforts way up:
- If you’re not in the job market, nothing will happen. Simple math.
- If you need a job by graduation, you need to be actively pursuing 10 posted positions at a time. Not one, three, or five. Ten.
- You need to do far more than submit résumés online. Don’t expect to hear back. Low response will lead to frustration.
- You need to learn the latest steps to take for a successful job search, including having a more persuasive résumé, robust LinkedIn profile, and networking skills, being maniacal about follow-up, and cultivating superb interview preparation, including interview role-play practice.
What is your best option? One that you can enroll in today.
Job Search Master Class® for College Graduates
What is inside:
- An online workshop where you will build your unique job search tools and do the full preparation to launch (or re-launch) your job search in a very competitive way.
- Video instruction, templates, worksheets, samples, scripts, and precise guidance for every step of the job search process. This is ideal for diverse styles of learning and for non-native English speakers.
- The full course is available 24×7 for graduates from any discipline located anywhere in the world. Naturally, young professionals and non-college students will benefit greatly from this.
- Completely internet-based, only requiring access to a computer and Microsoft Office.
- End-to-End: The instruction starts with career goal setting, resume building, and cover letter writing. It proceeds to networking, following up, and preparing for interviews.
Who is the instructor, and why is Job Search Master Class® the best solution?
For 30 years, I have been on the other side of the table as a hiring manager for Fortune 100 companies and a start-up, most recently with Microsoft Corporation. I left seven years ago to help thousands of job seekers, just like you, get better results. You’ll get better jobs, quicker, and at the best financial outcome. I leveraged technology to build Job Search Master Class® to enable access anywhere and at a very competitive investment level.
Hiring managers, recruiters, college career placement professionals, and other career experts have validated that this is the only complete end-to-end online workshop that dives deep on every aspect of the job search process.
The best value for a lifetime access
See the various packages here and, if you register now, you can fire up your job search in just five minutes. Make time to invest in you. Learn a new set of skills that will be with you for the rest of your career.
