These days kids are graduating from college with more than just a massive hangover. They’ve also got to
tackle a mountain of debt that can balloon up to $97,000. According to Collegeboard.com, the average annual cost of tuition at a private four-year institution has risen 6.3 percent to almost $24,000.
Given these considerable numbers, students are under more pressure to find better jobs quickly. Luckily, they do not need to rely solely upon thinly-staffed campus career centers.
Several job boards and Web sites geared specifically towards college grads offer career advice, networking opportunities, and job postings to get them amped and ready for their search.
Steven Rothberg, founder of job site CollegeRecruiter.com, said there are several things students can do to distinguish themselves from their peers.
“Most students still job hunt with a shotgun rather than a rifle,” he said. “In other words, they apply to dozens and sometimes even hundreds of employers so they aren’t able to learn and market themselves well to their target organizations.”
Instead, Rothberg advises students to focus their efforts on one or two industries and a handful of organizations within those markets. If a student has their eye on a large corporation, he said to narrow the search down to one or two departments within the company.
Rothberg also suggests using professional networking site LinkedIn to unearth contacts inside an organization, and also to post a resume on one or two local job boards, a college board like CollegeRecruiter.com, and a couple of the general job sites like CareerBuilder or Monster.
Other sites like AfterCollege.com are using familiar faces and organizations to give grads a
leg-up during their search. They have partnered with over 2,300 universities and colleges and 19,000 faculty members to give students in the network career advice and access to job opportunities.
Susan Fobes, Vice President of Sales for AfterCollege, said that in reality, only 15 percent of college students actually find a job through their campus career centers. AfterCollege was designed to supplement those resources for the almost 3 million students in their network.
“We have a much more targeted reach since we do partner directly with the faculty and professors at the academic department and student group level,” Fobes said. “We actually power the Job Resource Centers at the department and student associations. A student utilizing their department Web site can go to the Job Resource Center, and a link will take them to relevant jobs for their major.”
Other job sites for college grads keep access to their content buttoned up by limiting memberships.
Mareza Larizadeh, co-founder of Doostang.com, says his online community for college grads “puts the best minds together under one roof.” Graduates interested in networking with companies like Google, Goldman Sachs, or Summit Partners must be invited to become a member.
“The differentiating factor [between this job site and its competitors] is the quality of candidates,” Larizadeh said. “We cater to the best and the brightest 20 to 30-year-olds.”
Above all, Rothberg reiterates, the most important thing a college grad can for their job search is network. “Remember that networking is all about what you can do for others, not what you want them to do for you.”
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August 19th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
One system we shouldn’t forget about when focusing on the campus side of the house is the NACElink system, which is actually used by the college and university Career Centers, to help connect students with internships, interviews, jobs, career pathing and much more. The College and/or University will bring companies on campus for interviewing sessions with the students providing much better candidate targeting; especially for specialized opportunities.
The NACElink system is used as the actual School system by school Career Center staffers. These staffers are the college placement elite and will provide extremely insightful research to any company looking to better understand the student population or shall I say your next possible employees…
The NACElink system currently has 800+ schools in their network.
(http://www.nacelink.com/nl_schools_list_c.php)
What if the institute of academia I want to target doesn’t use NACElink? Well it might be a little harder but I personally know many of the Career Center Directors in these universities and would challenge anyone to find a better avenue of approach for a student seeking career advice or a company seeking new interns/employees then through the actual Campus Career Center.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
In my opinion students should be required to attend job search sessions as part of their graduation requirements. Their college/university has provided them a knowledge base to become a “Subject Matter Expert” and now they need to learn to market their potential to likely buyers (employers), I call it “Developing a Job Acquisition Strategy.” In my group programs I like to mix unemployed or under-employed experienced professionals in with recent grads so that intergenerational learning can be shared. It becomes a microcosm of what the workplace is really like. The recent grads rave about what they experience and the experienced workers also gain the more up-to-date aspects of social networking and values are shared by both. This hybridization produces workers who can hit the ground running with a better understanding of their role as a new employee and be immediately productive.
Colleges and universities need to work closely with employers to learn their needs and create a curriculum to teach students how to prepare a Job Acquisition Strategy. Unfortunately the Career Centers are sorely understaffed and are forced to rely on computerized systems. (I’m speaking generally here) If computers were the answer, why would we need professors or even colleges/universities? My university taught me to think and reason around a curriculum of basic knowledge of the helping professions, the rest was learned by passion through reading content topic and diverse reading in my profession and those things that impact my profession. These experiences married to the experience I gained in my stepping stone jobs, allows me to self-proclaim expert status and I have been working in my “occupassion” for the past 21 years and I thank God daily for the gift He has given me. I cash “psychic income” checks daily sent in the form of thank you letters from people I have helped. Just my 2 cents.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Steve, great insight. The one thing that I agree is missing from required curriculum is a “real world” class that would provide students with insight on finances, real estate, and jobs, to name a few. I know so many talented individuals who have traded in their skills for an apron and a wine key because they couldn’t land a job dealing with their major.
In the long run, dissecting Greek Mythology can provide great fodder for papers, but it won’t earn your next paycheck.
August 21st, 2008 at 11:42 am
The system between student to entry level job is broken. Jobs with big brands come to students in two ways, either they have close to a 4.0 or they know wealthy people who can give them jobs. Most just settle and justify two years of working at a dull job as a “good learning experience” or “I had fun with friends outside of work.” Sure, there are always going to be the over achieving 4.0 type from Stanford who goes to work for JP Morgan then GE. But I would argue that most original thinkers and change agents are often in the 3.0-3.7 GPA range and don’t always come from the high profile schools.
I would also argue that the value of talent has never been higher. What recent graduates lack in experience they more that make up for in new ideas, enthusiasm, passion, and execution. Bottom line: they are valuable. But because the system is broken, most entry level jobs are designed for the lowest common denominator. Too niche, no responsibility, no decision making. It is no wonder that this generation is expected to switch jobs at a feverish pace.
We must remember, most students have no clue as to what they want to do with their lives. It is not that they are dumb or unmotivated. They simply do not know. They wonder – what would life be like as an ibanker? franchise owner? lawyer? advertiser? project manager? hr recruiter?
There is no easy way around this. Fundamentals have to change. Increased message targeting won’t work, more exclusivity won’t work, more awkward networking events won’t work, a better vertical job search engine won’t work. These are temporary solutions that only effect small subsets (although some may achieve small levels of success). Let’s be honest, collegerecruiter.com is not the future.
So what will work? Increased dialogue between companies and students. Why can’t students work with a broker on designing a retirement plan? Franchise owner or local market research? Lawyer on case preparation? Advertiser on a new print campaign? Project manager on launching a new facebook widget? HR recruiting on interview strategies? The benefits to the student, company, and educator are remarkable. Sure, it takes more time and effort, but if you value people – it is worth it.
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I work as a recruiter for a Boston staffing agency, Hollister Staffing and just wanted to say that the websites you mentioned are all great resources for recent college grads who are trying to find a job.