<p>Has anyone’s child had trouble finding work after they graduated?</p>
<p>How do you handle it?</p>
<p>There is an ocean of unemployed and underemployed adults with bachelor’s degrees. (not to mention even more unemployed with no college). The U.S.A. is at historic highs for adults out of the employment force.</p>
<p>Many handle it by staying in school, others by taking jobs for which their degree is not a requirement. Tens of thousands move back in with mom & dad to keep the rent low.</p>
<p>Neither of my kids had trouble, as it happens, but I picked up some ideas from their job searches anyway:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It can be enormously helpful to use your college’s career center and to take advantage of the job listings provided through its on-campus recruiting system. </p></li>
<li><p>Start looking early. One of my kids started checking the listings in the on-campus recruiting system during the summer before her senior year. Jobs that she was qualified for started appearing in late August, and she started submitting resumes and other information then.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Some of her friends started even earlier – they got internships between their junior and senior years in college that led to offers for permanent jobs after graduation. They applied for those internships during the winter of their junior years.</p>
<ol>
<li>It helps to be flexible. Try not to limit yourself any more than necessary in terms of specific types of jobs or geography. Both of my daughter’s roommates ended up with exactly the types of jobs they wanted, with top companies in their respective career fields, but they both had to move to distant and unfamiliar parts of the country to do it.</li>
</ol>
<p>We’ll see what happens with my younger son. He took the State Department exam in the fall, he’s applied for a couple of language programs that will pay his way, he’s gone to job fairs organized by his university (and complained that they are full of lawyer and finance jobs, neither of which interest him). I don’t think he’s done enough yet, but I do see that he’s gotten started which is good! He’s also lined up a summer job, which is a promotion to the next level up of last summer’s job, so he figures he’s got that as a cushion.</p>
<p>I totally agree with Marian’s post. Students need to plan ahead to get jobs upon graduation. To start senior year is too late.</p>
<p>S1 had his plan in place in h.s. He went to college on a NROTC scholarship and commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy the day he graduated from college. </p>
<p>S2 started out with a plan but decided by end of senior year that he didn’t want to pursue a job related to his major. His current job has nothing to do with his major and doesn’t require a college degree. However, it pays better than a job in his degree field would have paid and has benefits provided at no cost to him. He got the job through contacts…heard from someone that this company was hiring, got in touch with the (small )company owner and got an interview. The downside is that the job requires a LOT of travel but it’s a good start for a new grad.</p>
<p>Agree that Career Services can be a tremendous help in finding internships or summer jobs before graduation, and permanent jobs afterwards. For some reason though, many kids are reluctant to show up there and say, “Help me.” I’ve seen this with a lot of kids - they feel as if they should already know what they’re doing, or they want to bury their heads in the sand until the last possible minute. I had to prod two of my kids to use the Career Center, though each of them found it helpful when they did show up.</p>
<p>One way to get your kid over there is to tell them that Career Services can help them write and format their resumes. This is something that even freshmen can benefit from.</p>
<p>Many if not most schools maintain job listings for graduates as well as undergrads.</p>
<p>Great advice from Marian.</p>
<p>Agree with Marian about the early start but sometimes the students change their minds about graduate/professional school almost at the last minute. S1 changed his mind around Christmas of his Sr. year and only started to look for a job in January. He found 2 places to apply to with companies that recruit at his University through Career Services. One clicked and he started working 3 weeks after graduation.</p>
<p>I think employers allow students to change their mind, as long as they have been productive and have some work experience.</p>
<p>You can never start too early. </p>
<p>Probably a good idea (and it pains me to say this) to start professional networking in junior or senior year of high school.
[ExpatSon really impressed me when, early as a high school junior, he reached out to a teacher
from a previous school for a summer job reference .]</p>
<p>J’adoube – great screen name.</p>
<p>It still doesn’t do any good for the vast majority of students whose grades are not that great and who have general majors. I know many who toed the line, did it all and early and are still unemployed, or more often under employed.</p>
<p>When my kids were in high school, I encouraged them to spend some time with our friends in various professions. D1 thought she wanted to be an architect. She lost interest when she found out what she had to start out doing and how much money they made. She was also interested in fashion design. Now after working in finance for few years, she is wondering if she wants to get into hotel management, more specifically real estate management for hospitality.</p>
<p>It’s a tough job market out there, especially for new grads. We know many recent college grads that are unemployed or underemployed. Long term their college educations will be worthwhile. but for now it is frustrating to them and their parents.</p>
<p>DD was able to leverage her college career center resources. We feel fortunate she has a decent job, even if it is not exactly what she had in mind.</p>
<p>I posted this in a new thread a few days ago, but it is also relevant here:</p>
<p>[Are</a> Recent College Graduates Finding Good Jobs?](<a href=“http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/current_issues/ci20-1.pdf]Are”>http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/current_issues/ci20-1.pdf)</p>
<p>It IS a tough market out there. Much may depend on your major and job market demands for that major), and much depends on your internship experience.</p>
<p>My D had no trouble finding a job (had multiple offers) but she’s in accounting. Her job search was essentially complete by the time she finished her internship, the summer before senior year.</p>
<p>I think networking and haunting your career office should start before/during junior year in college, if possible…</p>
<p>True that the market for some fields is particularly tough. I think that leads not only to unemployment, but also, under-employment. We have one with a new journalism degree who has worked part time at a major paper for several years (including paid internships). Still there part-time, no benefits, though it allows for remaining in the preferred field. Can’t go on forever… Many say that even to be in this position is very fortunate, given the paucity of positions.</p>
<p>Wait tables and/or bar tend until the economy improves. That’s what I and all my friends did after college (well except the few who were in the medical field).</p>
<p>Sorry to disappoint you, but I would not advise anyone to wait until the economy improves this is the new normal.</p>
<p>I think the best advice is to ignore the standard “college is to improve your mind, major in something you like, etc., etc.” line that is pretty standard here on CC. College students need to understand that (particularly for people who do are not at the most selective colleges in the country and/or don’t have great grades) the number one advantage in the job market will be marketable skills. They need to start working on getting those skills day one in their freshman year, if possible.</p>
<p>Oldest daughter looked for a permanent teaching position for three years until she found one. She survived by subbing, working part time for Wallyworld and then the YMCA, and help from us. Younger daughter went into a medical profession and had two offers prior to graduation.</p>