Agree^. His focus should start with sitting down with someone to review strengths, and to find out what he wants to do. The Career Services, at the universities, work with alumni all of the time.
He should have received a case number, when he met them for the resume review. That number is his"permanent" life number for career services (that’s what they offered me when I graduated).
My university updates our current resumes and they can set up the resume on their letterhead (for a “small” fee).
Career Services:
-provides “letters of introduction” to perspective alumni employers.
-hold practice dress rehearsal “mock interviews”.
-keep a file of all LOR’s from professors and college employers; if its been awhile, they have these on old microfiche or have transferred these to computer files.
-network with the professors who have leads on new jobs.
My dd2’s university also keeps all of her graduate testing scores: GRE, Aptitude test requirements, etc.
My DD1 has had all of the above as well including her national association fees were waived for her first year of employment.
There are jobs in data analysis, insurance management,… there. Many of them are temp agencies.
He may find the jobs that he does not meet the exact requirements but he should send resume. Temp agencies may call him back later for other jobs when they have his resume in the databse. A lot of times the posted requirements are just overstated.
In the meantime he may want to take some programming classes online like Java, Python to strengthen his resume although he may not use them on the job.
Does he have a LinkedIn profile? He should create one, and link to older/other students he knows, professors, anyone from jobs he has had previously, any of your friends he know or parents of friends who he knows, etc. Sometimes you have to get kids over the hump of the fact that they wouldn’t feel like they would “friend” these people on social media, so it feels uncomfortable to link with them. These are professional contacts – if the person knows you personally and you think they have a neutral or positive impression, send the invitation. I personally have about 125 FB friends, and over 300 LinkedIn contacts. Even if it doesn’t help him get his first job, it can help in the future.
I second that he should see if he can find some kind of temp data analysis position. Experience is the best way to get past his GPA issue. Sometimes companies want to hire their temps if they are good, too.
And agree that his college career office is a key resource. You paid all that tuition, and that is one of the services you get in return. Use it to the full extent possible.
And remember, college ending and having to find your first job is a very, very big life transition. It is not easy to go from being a student and navigating educational experiences to beginning a job search and navigating the world of employment.
Huge life transition. The better our kids learn how to make transitions in their lives the better they will be prepared for the next one. Huge learning curve but its great you are there to help him through it.
Considering less desirable geographic areas than Chicago might help a lot. Employers in uninteresting secondary cities know that they’re not going to get the best job applicants. He would be swimming in a less competitive pool. And when he gets a job, the cost of living would be lower.
Since he is a math major he should be quite marketable as they are generally quite analytical and can do many entry level jobs.
Is he sending out the same resume for every job? My daughter was not getting any bites when looking for internships several years back. I had to explain to her that you have to literally put key words from the job posting in your resume. All resumes are scanned so if you are missing key words you will be rejected. Yes it's a pain but it will help to create a different a resume for each job. It's just a matter of changing key words if he has a summary/profile section of his resume.
Since he has a math degree I strongly suggest he look for entry level actuary positions. They are always looking for math majors. He can start studying for the first exam before he even has a job. He probably knows enough to pass the first couple of exams with little to no studying.
My son graduated with honors from college and had difficulty finding a job. He had interviews, but could not seal the deal. He was a liberal arts major. He did an online coding boot camp and within 2 months found a great job. Actually he hasn't been there a year and just got an 8k raise last week.
As someone who gets to review applications (resumes) before moving them on, I will suggest a couple of things (which may already been touched on - I haven’t read the entire thread).
(and this is a biggie) - every resume submitted needs to be tailored to the position applying for. No cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all. In my opinion, there is never an ok time to submit the same resume twice. (if you looked in my personal computer documents you’d see I have at least 25 different resumes I’ve crafted for myself, all which have been tweaked at some point)
The cover letter. Also tailored to the specific position applying for. I want to know what this unknown person is bringing to the table, other than what their resume touts. Tell me about yourself, what floats your boat and why THIS position…specifically.
cover letters and resumes are often searched by bots for keywords, so make sure you have a few of the listing's keywords -- oops, I see that has been mentioned! And tell everyone, everyone, everyone he is looking. No time to be shy.
He has to get a Linkedin account, now. Like, today. You can apply for jobs straight from the site, but more importantly, headhunters can find you, interviewers can vet you. I think the lack of it may make him seem less serious. And yes, leave the gpa off.
get a p/t job in the meantime, doing anything at all. Show you know how to work, show up, take direction, etc. Plus, it's a good diversion from the wait.
Mine did not find their U’s career center the least bit helpful. Do make sure the resume has no misspellings, no grammar errors, and accurately but aggressively highlights him. Courses taken, other involvement, etc.
It is not unusual to hear nothing, it seems to be the norm, now. Search those job seeking sites every day, set up automated alerts, don’t cast too fine a net (Just Chicago? , after almost a year, it is time to broaden the search. There will be time to move back once you have that first job)
Neither of mine had spectacular grades but both had jobs before or right after graduating. And it does seem awful and miserable and then POW it all happens at once, You stay positive for him, keep him looking and assure him it will happen.
I highly second the recommendation of LinkedIn. He needs to create a professional profile and add contacts - at least some of his former classmates and college professors. That will open his network a bit. LinkedIn and Facebook were very helpful in my kid’s job search in the middle of federal hiring freeze (where most of the jobs in her field would have been).
Insurance is another field that uses math majors a lot. My nephew graduated with a math major and is now an entry-level underwriter at a NYC firm. I think insurance companies also have trainee programs for math majors.
I feel (well, felt) your pain. My S graduated last May and just started his first job a few weeks ago. (See “Low Ball Job Offer” thread.) Lots of good advice here. Tell your son not to hesitate to apply for jobs where his qualifications don’t exactly fit the stated requirements. My S had no experience/ no internship. The job he was hired for asked for 1-3 years. Even jobs that are called “entry level” will usually ask for a couple years experience. Tell him not to give up. Apply to MORE jobs–5 a day. Study common interview questions, do mock interviews. There is something out there for him.
“2. Since he has a math degree I strongly suggest he look for entry level actuary positions. They are always looking for math majors. He can start studying for the first exam before he even has a job. He probably knows enough to pass the first couple of exams with little to no studying.”
Nobody will hire an entry-level actuary without 1-2 passed exams (and internship) and couple of exams without studying is not going to happen. But it is a good idea to prepare and pass a couple of exams. It will show that he is smart. Fields adjacent to actuarial field also like people with exams even though they are not required.
Agree that he should take any work or internship. He can teach SAT prep, for example, and keep looking. What was his math GPA? If it was decent he can put that on his resume.
I am an Executive Recruiter and I will say that having a LinkedIn Profile is an ABSOLUTE!!! I am shocked that a “top 5” university’s career center didn’t tell him that! My son goes to a State University and he had to put together a LI profile in one of his freshman classes! If he applies for a job - 90% of the time the recruiter will go to LinkedIn to get more info - if he’s not there - the resume goes in the “no” pile.