Productive job search strategies for new grads

Career Opportunities & Internships
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Starting a new thread. I know there is significant parental anxiety over a kid who has just graduated and doesn’t yet have a job. So instead of a “spray and pray” strategy (spend the week applying to job posts on Indeed or Linkedin) I figured we’d use the collective hive to help with a productive search.

I’ll go first. The ink on your degree isn’t even dry yet. That means becoming a thorn in the side of Career Services at your college. If you haven’t done a mock Zoom interview yet– now’s the time. Students are unaware that they are playing with their hair or saying “Like, I really love Biotech. Like, it really speaks to me”. If you haven’t had one of the professionals review your resume, now’s the time. There are time-worn strategies for presenting your background in the best possible light (without lying- that’s a no-no in any economy). There are workarounds and tips and even if your resume is entirely crafted by AI (another no-no) a human being can help make it better. Etc.

Time to reach out to professors, grad students who were TA’s and knew you, even the administrative assistant to the department chair (unless you have a relationship with that person, in which case, skip the admin route). A short email with your resume attached. “Hi Professor Collins, your remarks at our department ceremony really resonated with me and reminded me why your class on the History of the Supreme Court was one of my favorites. I have graduated and am now looking for a fulltime job. I’m hoping that my dual major of poli sci and statistics will be my entry point into a paid role with a political campaign, polling organization, think tank or similar. I am open geographically. If you know of anyone looking to hire– I promise to follow up on any leads! Thank you so much- Ronald McDonald”.

Time to join professional organizations in your desired field. Most have a student rate and as a new grad, kids will still qualify. Many of these have “closed” job boards, so instead of getting a thousand resumes per opening, they’ll get 12 or 14. The only way to view the listings is to be a member of the organization so get cracking! Most of these organizations have “lunch and learn” meetings, regional conferences, etc. which is a terrific way to learn about cutting edge issues in the field, AND to meet the people who hire for their organizations.

Anyone else? And just for the sake of terminology- if your kid applied- blind- to a post on Linkedin or similar and got no response, he or she has not been “ghosted”. Ghosting means there was an actual interview set up and nobody showed up in the Zoom room. Or your kid went three rounds and still doesn’t know if they are a viable candidate.

Sending a resume into the vast black hole of the internet and not getting an interview is not ghosting. It is the way of the world right now- get used to it. That’s why I think “spraying and praying” is such a disheartening and unproductive job search strategy. Your favorite poli sci professor may or may not have any professional contacts that are hiring right now, but you are not likely to be ignored by someone you last saw a week ago at a departmental reception for new grads!!!

Linking this related thread with good suggestions. https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/t/job-prospects-for-24-25-grads-and-beyond/

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In addition to everything Blossom shared, I’d add working your personal network as well. Make sure everyone in your circle knows your kid is looking for a job. You never know when cousin Jimmy’s best friend’s neighbor has an opening that would be a fit for your child.

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Had an interesting conversation with my neighbor who is a senior manager at a health care company. She told me that they are really only hiring through their network these days (referrals, people they know through the industry etc). I don’t know if that is true everywhere but it was interesting.

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This suggestion may not be perfect, but I don’t want this thread with terrific advice to get pushed down too far that people might not see it. So…do something with your time. Maybe you volunteer (kind of like an unpaid internship) for an organization where you can build or show experience with various skills, and that volunteering may end up leading to a paid position later on with that organization (or lets employers know that you are dedicated, show up on time, have experience, etc.). Of course, I would only do a volunteering position from a place where you have free rent, so likely living with family. I would not go into debt in order to volunteer my time somewhere.

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In addition to these great suggestions, please remind your upcoming grad that the time to start networking is yesterday. Make those connections and follow back up with them. Students do not, or should I say should not, wait until deep into their senior year of college to start this process.

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Yes, the golden rule is to build your network well before you need to tap into it.

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A related thought on being early is to try and get internships from the freshman summer. I have seen kids claim they have sophomore standing when they have carried over AP credit and claim this, and benefit from being considered as a sophomore for the freshman summer — where they implicitly or explicitly claim intent to graduate in 3 years.

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I’ve probably mentioned this before, but the company (small, public, in healthcare) where my S did his last internship only hires interns via internal connections. An HR person told my S they don’t have the time to sort through resumes, figure out which apps are from real people, etc., so they rely on employees to forward resumes and/or make connections for various internships. They do have rules about family not working for family and such.

Definitely. Networking also includes contacting people you know…parents of friends, friends/colleagues of one’s parents, neighbors, profs, church members, etc. Starting with people one knows often helps increase confidence as one practices their pitch. IMO there are no extra pride points for getting one’s job via a cold LinkedIn contact, start with whom you know and build from there.

I wish more school career centers would have networking seminars/programming. Overall, I have been deeply unimpressed with college career centers, even at ‘fancy’ schools.

Note that FLSA prevents for-profit companies from accepting volunteer labor. So, this volunteer strategy could be an option at non-profits, but that is relatively limiting.

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Tapping into parents’ networks.

Some people used to scoff at the idea of parents leveraging their professional networks to help their children find job opportunities. But opening a door isn’t the same as guaranteeing success. Parents may help their children get an interview or make a connection, but from that point on, it’s up to the individual.

The hardest part is getting considered and making it through the initial screening process.

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Re: screening applications: Maybe it’s AI vs other traditional applicant tracking systems?? Here an article. Q&A | Algorithmic Monoculture in Hiring - Stanford Digital Economy Lab

And another:

Job Prospects for ‘24, ‘25 Grads and beyond?
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Maybe…sometimes I do think it’s semantics, as many/maybe most ATS programs use AI. Actions like extracting data, parsing and/or matching key words and phrases is AI.

Here’s another article:

Here is Greenhouse, a leading ATS, and how they use AI:

Job Prospects for ‘24, ‘25 Grads and beyond?
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I agree…connections help. My DHs company hired interns only with internal connections…but they tried to hire all children of employees who wanted a summer experience. It usually was possible.

WRT jobs, I can only speak to the engineering jobs at various companies DH worked for. A successful intern at least got an interview. There were repeat interns who were offered jobs before their senior year of college began. They already knew some of the culture of the company, and this was important.

In my field (speech language pathology), relevant experience/related experience AND required licensure and certifications were a must have. LORs were very strongly considered and contacted.

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Piggybacking on the “start early” theme. It’s great for kids to work in high school and at least in the summers during college, but a job during college is good too. RA positions are very competitive and hiring folks know this. Campus tour guide? Only the “good” kids get it.

It also gives kids a ton of experience working with different personalities, responsibility, time management, contacts, etc.

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Teaching Assistant - You can work closely with professors whose classes you enjoy. It can also lead to strong recommendation letters for graduate school or future job opportunities.

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There is a lot of valuable information on an existing thread. It’s long, but worth a skim if you have a job seeker:

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It’s hard to fathom why some people seem to be embarrassed to admit they use connections to help themselves and/or their kids/friends get opportunities. As is frequently said, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. If a connection helps someone get their resume looked at, thats great! We have a friend whose D was finishing up at GT. My h was able to get her resume looked at for a summer internship at the company he worked for at the time. He sent her resume to HR and they took it from there. I figure they trusted that he would not have forwarded her resume if he didn’t think she was qualified, so he sort of acted like the initial screener.

He previously worked for a fortune 100 company and was able to direct friends/friends kids to contacts there. If the person isn’t qualified it will go no further, but if they are, they may get a further look. This is a great way to connect and pursue opportunities. Nothing wrong with it and nothing to be embarrassed about of one connects their kid to someone at their current or previous employer to pursue an internship or job.

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I will use my own kids’ experiences (both in their 20’s) as a frame of reference. Both seem to be on genuine career paths and both have successfully navigated the job market in terms of being offered numerous jobs.

Bottom line: D wants job satisfaction and to collaborate with others. S wants money from his career. I will talk about him first, because I do think a lot of people who come to this site are interested in either making a lot of money themselves, or want to help their kids get on that path.

Son:

  • A very friendly, confident person who knows how to put people at ease.
  • His resume had one summer internship and several years of a traditional summer job. He had two sessions with a career coach to polish his resume and Linked in profile, as well as discussing interviewing techniques. (I recommend that if you can afford it.)
  • Clueless about what kind of job to get after graduation. He randomly applied to anything and everything, probably well over 100 jobs. He got lots of interviews, where he quickly picked up great interviewing skills. He had a number of second and final interviews.
  • During one zoom interview, he noticed something distinctive on the shelf behind the interviewer. He knew what it was and commented on it to the interviewer, which led to a great interview. He landed the job.
  • As a recruiter specializing in finance, he picked up and learned all the lingo used in the finance world. He began to educate himself in everything to do with trading, hedge funds, etc…
  • He picked up the phone and cold-called many people.
  • In his job, he spent hours poring over potential candidates’ LinkedIn profiles, matching peoples’ skills to the jobs he was trying to fill. This was invaluable, because it helped him understand what finance companies were looking for.
  • He saw an interesting job that he felt was the perfect for him. He began researching everything about that company, along with every term used and all the skills required for that job.
  • After 5+ rounds of interviews, with no actual experience, he started work at the new company with a much better salary in an area he was interested in getting into.
  • He is currently a digital nomad. Take that for what you will, but I won’t elaborate.

Daughter: (I will be vague.)

  • Used career center, landed a highly paid job in a manufacturing management training program. Covid changed her priorities. She pivoted to something she was more interested in, earning a lot less money. She did that for 18 months and then completed a masters. She applied to many jobs but was fairly picky. Eventually she landed a job in government.
  • After doing that for 2+ years, she will soon start a completely different job with much more responsibility, better working conditions (for her) and slightly lower pay. However, this job is considered very competitive and is much more relevant to her long term plans. So overall a fairly traditional route. There were various other offers along the way.
  • What she did right: Only took jobs she felt might help with her long term goals. Researched the heck out of every job she ever interviewed for. Researched everything she could find out about that company and its interviewing style. Practiced interviewing with whoever would help her. Waited out the process.
  • Most importantly, she made sure her cover letters were relevant and that every aspect of her resume was sparkling. She was very prepared.
  • She asked the right questions in interviews.

What they both did right: Research, research, research. Talking to people and asking questions. Ensuring that they wrote relevant cover letters and updating their resumes to tailor to whatever job they were applying to.

I mentioned this before, but both were offered jobs in fields they weren’t particularly interested in. Sometimes you have to consider where a job you might not love can lead you in the long run, which seems to be working out for my son. For my daughter, the manufacturing job she was offered made it clear to her that she wasn’t interested in that path. Both have been persistent.

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Great post.

Nothing beats research. Don’t wait for the interviewer to ask “Have you done any work modeling volatility?” when the job you are interviewing for is to work in Risk Management at an airline. Lead with “I am collaborating with two of my professors on a model which will be applicable to petroleum, agricultural commodities, and currencies”. Which relies on the student having already done the research on “why does an airline need people in risk management and exactly what “risks” are they managing?”

You’d be surprised how many candidates show up at their interview assuming it’s the job of the interviewer to explain “This is what our company does. This is why we are vertically integrated. This is why tariffs hurt our bottom line. This is why the price of semi-conductors is relevant to our business model. This is why we moved our off-shore production facility to Kentucky last year. This is why we built a delivery fleet which is carbon neutral”.

ALL of these topics are typically covered by the WSJ, Economist, FT, any Bloomberg publication. And a three second Google search will yield dozens of recent articles explaining- in great detail, why or why not these things are important.

Linda- best of luck to your kids!!!

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Nearly forgot something very important to both of my kids.

Expanding on @blossom 's point, both my kids used actual research papers in their job searches. As in, they wanted very indepth information about their respective fields of interest.

My daughter was involved in research herself in college and after, so it was easy for her to figure out what she needed to do to get more insight from researchers. I was amazed though when my son told me he contacted a lot of scholars (not just professors, but grad students, journalists, experts) and asked specific questions about their research. I am 100% sure he didn’t do that when he was actually in college!

People were delighted to share their knowledge. He says he thinks they were flattered that someone read their seemingly obscure paper. The upshot is that both were well informed about the jobs they sought and they worked hard to get those jobs.

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Research is great and I highly recommend it. But sometimes, it’s not even necessarily research but just keeping abreast of current events. I remember being at a teaching job fair back in the early aughts and an interviewer asked me what “NCLB” meant. Apparently I was the only applicant that day who knew that it meant No Child Left Behind (and yes, I was offered the job). So although it wasn’t in-depth research, just being aware of major headlines (rather than the pragmatics of the job…like pedagogy) is also helpful.

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