The following is a guest post by Ken Sundheim.
Unemployed after college graduation? You’re not alone. An alarmingly high percentage of recent graduates are going right from the diploma line to the unemployment pool. What’s more, this number doesn’t show much of a decrease over the past few years.
The economy is definitely a factor in unemployment among these recent college graduates. But that economy can also serve as a poor excuse to give up the search. Gainful employment can still be obtained regardless of school, major, or even GPA. However, beating the odds takes discipline and self-confidence. Even more daunting, it requires change in one’s thought process and behavior.
How do recruiters suggest recent grads go about cutting short the prospect of extended unemployment after college graduation? Below are just five places to start:
1. Recent grads need to stop being intimidated by “unknown” competition. Many recent college graduates waste time and mental energy fretting about the talents of the other job applicants applying for the same positions. Instead, energy might be much better focused on improving strengths. Despite being counterproductive and psychologically wearing, fixating on the unknown opponent is a common recent-grad misstep.
Moreover, some recent graduates grossly overestimate the abilities of the interviewing competition, leading them down a path of hopelessness that is very difficult for people of any age, but especially for those just starting out in the real world.
2. Recent graduates need flexibility in the jobs they’re willing to apply to. A significant number of recent college graduates eagerly want a job in entertainment or pubic relations, not quite understanding that these jobs tend to underpay and quickly lose allure.
Hard to believe, but recruiters have seen job postings for admin positions at SONY Entertainment with nearly 1,000 applications sent in by grads all over the country. In life, the most successful keep an open mind; the least successful stay stuck in their ways regardless of how unsuccessful the results may be.
3. Recent graduates seem to suffer from widespread failure to write easy-to-read resumes tailored to each job description. For many recent college graduates, frustration begins to set in with rejections, or with lack of any feedback at all. That frustration triggers the behavior of applying to mass amounts of jobs without doing the necessary research prior to applying. For each job a grad applies to, they should have some slight alteration on their resume or cover letter, according to the job description laid forth by the employer.
4. Recent grads also need to branch out and find different ways of locating open jobs. Simply relying on one source such as LinkedIn is not going to cut it in an economy where there are many more unemployed than there are open jobs. Recent graduates are most successful when they go many different routes and diversify their search.
5. Grads need to stop listening to others about their career and begin to do what they feel is right. Part of being successful in life is becoming aware one oneself and not allowing others’ beliefs to dictate our actions. While in their early twenties, many recent graduates look to their friends for approval too much, and thus are afraid to stand out and follow their own ambitions.
The above five tips are just the basic steps any recent college graduate might take to better his or her odds of landing a promising job relatively quickly after graduation. While they may be hard to implement, and harder to stick to, these five ideas rely on positive thinking, open-mindedness, and a sense of self that will serve grads not only in their job search, but in their overall careers. Worth the work? We think so.
About the Author:
Ken Sundheim is the CEO of KAS Placement, a sales and marketing recruiting firm.
