This article in the Harvard Gazette today emphasizes the importance of mentorship as a component of the job search in today’s tough market:
Each year, graduates of colleges and trade programs enter the job market with new credentials and high hopes. But many discover that positions matching their qualifications are few and far between.
Faced with disappointing offers, they hesitate to settle, turn down low-level jobs, and keep searching. But are they expecting too much?
…job seekers can check their perceptions by speaking directly with workers a few steps ahead in the field… mentorship programs can dramatically improve career outcomes for job seekers, not only by supplying networking connections, but by helping people recalibrate their expectations.
…
Building realistic expectations
The impact of the mentor program was significant. For one thing, graduates were more likely to take entry-level positions in hopes of later using them as stepping stones to more fulfilling careers. And mentored students revised their overly optimistic salary expectations about their immediate post-graduation prospects, which, on average, had been nearly six times higher than their actual earnings. In addition, compared to students who weren’t mentored, mentees were:
25% less likely to reject job offers, leading them to secure employment more quickly.
27% less likely to exit the labor force.
Earning 18% more than their unmentored peers within a year.
I think this is major specific. Our son graduating this May worked every summer and winter break at my company since the summer after his senior year of high school. That position had him operating independently in a company vehicle, all over our territory, to execute marketing programs with our retailers. It has nothing to do with his major. Last semester he applied to one major specific internship for this semester and got it. Two weeks ago he applied for 2 major specific internships for this spring and both accepted him within 24 hours.
Yes. You’re probably correct. I just did a quick search on LinkedIn for summer internships.
There are tons of postings from big, well known companies with hundreds/thousands? of applicants. And yet they repost the position. Im not sure why - get more resumes into their database? Does it automatically repost after a certain time period and remain open for several months?
Kids may be applying to a hundred jobs with no chance at all.
My daughter had good luck working on her campus after her freshman year. Definitely not an engineering job but she worked within the college of engineering and gained some really valuable soft skills. Many of her friends did the same or worked in labs, and I’m still hearing that’s popular for the current cohort of college students.
For the record, she earned peanuts that summer but the university paid for all her meals and provided highly subsidized housing.
That’s what my C23 who’s graduating in 26 ended up doing—major-related internships simply weren’t happening last summer, and so a campus job it was! (And one that involves learning new skills, at that, and a chance to move up the student payscale ladder upon being reliable and doing a good job.)
There are strengths to learn and demonstrate in every job one gets. There’s also confidence building.
The kid working - or doing something of substance - is typically going to be better off. Someone will see them as a hustler.
None of these interviewers know anyone - but when a parent says, my kid has a 3.8, they should be good. Well, someone else may have a 3.1 but a resume that isn’t fluff - they will likely be better off.
It’s just how it is - even if that resume, on paper, isn’t directly related. Working in the dining hall, at the football ticket office or whatever - it shows you are a grinder vs. just spending mom and dad’s money, etc.
The interviewer doesn’t necessarily know or see the truth. They don’t know if you are on financial aid or taking a 45 minute bus so you can save $300 on rent or driving an hour home for the same or taking 21 credits or what you are doing - that doesn’t allow you time to do more outside. They know you from a piece of paper and may already have a thought about you before you even sit across the table from them, if you’re even lucky enough to get put into that position.
So absolutely - doing anything is going to be better than doing nothing - even if you are doing little/nothing for things beyond your control or the hand you are dealt…because those things aren’t showing up in a resume - that i commute two hours into NYC everyday and then home.
No human action is required to repost a job. But human action IS required to take the posting down. Reposting is the default option if you have a corporate Linkedin account. And it isn’t that a kid has “no chance” once the job is reposted. Not every internship starts in June and ends on August 8th…. a kid who can’t work until June doesn’t help the company that wants an intern cohort on January 8th.
It’s important to note that these numbers are from a study among students in Uganda. There are numerous differences between the Uganda labor market and the US labor market. For example, the study mentions that 94% of Ugandan students overestimated their wages – expecting to get a $130/month income if employed, but actually receiving a median of ~$20/month if employed in a positive wage position. I expect this degree of discrepancy between expectations and reality makes having an advisor or mentor particularly helpful, for students in Uganda. However, I would not assume identical numbers would occur for students in US.
Note that whom you know matters beyond direct connections into being considered for a specific job over other applicants.
If you know someone in or familiar with an unobvious type of job, you may be able to get into it because few other people even know to apply for it. For example, if a video gamer has an air traffic controller relative, the relative may let the gamer know that air traffic control is a job where video gaming skills can be relevant to the job. But probably most video gamers do not know that.
Additionally, if you know someone in the particular type of job, that person can help you become more familiar with the preparation for and selection process of the job (analogous to the elite private school college counselor being more informative than the overworked counselor at the local public school with respect to elite college admissions) as well as what the actual job is like (so they are less likely to have an unrealistically positive or negative view of the job to be surprised later). For such reasons, it is not that surprising that people in the same type of job as their parents is more common than random chance – not every kid wants to follow in their parent’s footsteps, but those who do have an advantage in preparation for it.
I know this is just an example, but I actually thought this was common knowledge - there was a fair bit of publicity about it some years back. Still, it is a good example of the kind of “sideways info” that can be useful.
Yep, they played that interview with head ATC guy who said if you are good at video games you can be a good ATC. But you have to speak fast as well….I remember thinking how would southerners fare???
This might not be the place to ask, but what do you all think about the value of honors college on a resume compared to a minor that more closely correlates to major? (Not questioning benefit of honors college w/in school, instead for employment after graduation) Honors minor is interdisciplinary, but at a recent college fair two employers mentioned a minor supporting the major would be better. thoughts?
I know at my son’s school a lot of kids dropped out of Honors College because it really didn’t mean much and the classes could be grueling. There were some nice perks but the reduction in GPA would have a much greater negative impact than a positive impact the words “honor college” as not all of them are alike. If you have to pick one or the other, put the minor on the resume IMHO.
I don’t notice or care about Honors College when reviewing resumes.
My colleagues and I care very much about ‘honors” designation, especially if it meant writing an honors thesis, senior project, etc. Being able to discuss something meaty like that (whether relevant to a particular job or not) is a positive during an interview.
Minors are hit or miss. Kids sometimes think a minor is going to move the needle- honestly, taking three substantive econ classes is “just as good” as minoring in econ, especially if the minor means a less rigorous track in order to achieve the right number of credits. Minoring in a language is nowhere near as important as being fluent in that language (and the two don’t always go hand-in-hand). And some combinations just slice the bologna too thin. If you’re majoring in Cog Sci, you don’t need a minor in Bio (the overlap is likely huge anyway, so just take the courses you are interested in) and you don’t need a minor in “Health and Society”. And an applied math major doesn’t need a minor in finance. Just take two finance courses and call it a day!
Here’s what I think - both my kids were Honors and one was in a sub group of Honors.
When you fill in the online job apps, there’s no where to enter it.
I think you do Honors for you - for the experience, the housing, the early registration. Whatever. It was on my son’s resume but not put in the job app and he dropped it second semester senior year - and all they asked for was a transcript.
He said not a single person asked about it. One company he turned down asked about his minor - and that was it.
So I think both are for the student - do if it’s right for you. I do think a minor obviously gives you another skillset or piece of knowledge that is demonstrated. I also think you do both for you - if it gives you a positive experience.
Now, once you’re in an interview, that’s different….these are things to talk about, highlight and discuss.
But I don’t think either gets you in the door - just my opinion.
My daughter was able to do both. She graduated with her honors medallion, a minor in her field, and a business/leadership certification. All of it is on her resume and her LinkedIn page. Being in honors college and her certification are what got her the coop as a freshman, which ended up being her full time job after graduation. My daughter found that many companies would only talk to freshman if they were in honors college but I expect that is school specific. Having early work experience also helped her land her other internships. The courses for her minor are what helps her day to day at her present job. It will be totally useless if she changes industries though.
I suspect this is very industry specific. Fwiw - Berkeley EECS has an honors program but the benefits of the program are very related to research opportunities rather than career outcome. On the other hand, if you are in the top 10% of class you could get into the HKN EECS honor society which definitely has a pull with highly sought out employers (quant, big tech etc.)
Generally honors programs don’t make a huge difference particularly in CS fields unless it’s something like the Turing program at UT.