Tough Times for New College Graduates

Graduates from this year’s graduating class are finding it much tougher to land a job immediately after graduation. The doom and gloom reports from the media confirm that this is one of the toughest year’s for new college graduates since 1983. Although this news can be frustrating and somewhat disheartening, there are things that new graduates can do to increase their chances of getting a job and to make valuable use of their time until the job market begins to recover.

I have spoken to a number of new graduates who plan on returning to their summer jobs after college. There are also quite a few new graduates who have either gotten or are still looking for internships in their field and hope that these experiences will increase their chances of getting hired once the job market begins to open up. Even unpaid internships are not a bad idea because they offer a chance to gain some relevant work experience as well as make some valuable networking connections that may prove helpful in their future job search.

According to Jane Evarian, Director of Career Development at Cal State Bakersfield, traditional methods of finding a job have only a 5% success rate. Given the recession we are currently experiencing, these times call for more creative measures like prospecting and networking through personal, academic, and professional contacts to increase the liklihood of getting a job. Using your favorite social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter can also be useful in the job search.

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