Be Better Guys

Congratulations! You just graduated from college during one of the worst employment markets in decades.  According to the Economic Policy Institute, the job market for your demographic (16-24 years old) has shrunk by 1.1 million jobs. Unemployment among recent college graduates will be around 9%, but this is better than the 9.7% rate of unemployment for the general population as of May 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Cold comfort, for sure.  I hope you enjoy that graduation trip your parents planned, Sunshine, because it might be the last traveling you do for some time.

But this isn’t about condemning the job market, it’s to praise opportunity. The unemployment rate is actually down nearly 2%. And over 400,000 new jobs were created last month according to BLS. New industries are coming online and old ones still need competent help. So, it’s not all bad. But it won’t be easy. Be Better Guys has some advice for the Class of 2010 on going out into the work world.

There is No Bad Time to Look for a Job: You hear people say all the time “Oh, summer’s a bad time,” or “No use contacting people during the Holidays.” Wrong. See, while you’re reading the tea leaves for the best moment to enter the job market, Stuart has gone on several interviews and finds himself on the verge of getting hired. If you don’t have a job, there is no bad time to start looking.

Keep Your Options Open: Keep in mind that you will have several career paths in your working life, so don’t get stuck on one right now. Explore your options. Let your interests as well as your studies guide you in looking for a job. Until you’ve worked in a field, you don’t really know how you’ll like it. “Really?” you ask. Forty thousand people will graduate with law degrees this year; about 60% of those who intern at firms will get job offers; 20% of them will be clinically depressed and dependent on some substance at a rate far above the average for the rest of the population. And many will just quit.

So before you say “Grad School” is the answer, know that graduate school is for people who know what they want to do career-wise, not for the undecided. Allow yourself the chance to get some experience before locking into a career path and the debt that may accompany it.

Do Something, Even if Free: Why work for cheap or free? Because, if you haven’t worked in a field or at all, then you will need all the experience you can get to get into the game. Fortunately, there are any numbers of organizations, groups, agencies or campaigns that can use the knowledge you just paid out of the nose for, if you’re willing to work part-time or as an unpaid member of a project. Not-for-profits are good because they need all of the assistance and skills other corporations do, but frequently have tighter budgets or are dependent upon a workforce strong in some categories, but weak in others. A recent finance major looking to get experience might do well with a small 501(c)3 that needs help setting up its giving protocols. Places like Idealist or NPO.net have listings, including volunteer opportunities that can flesh out your resume and possibly lead to employment opportunity. Use them to find positions in your field to give you the experience you need. Do a good job and get brought into the fold when things open up.

Network, Network, Network: Take advantage of your networks from school, from any job you’ve had, and from social organizations. You don’t have to be “connected” (Hollywood, Wall Street, Mafia) to use connections.  No, the dude who did the wicked keg stands at the Sig Ep parties probably doesn’t have a job for you, but him might know someone who may. Touching base with people on a semi-consistent basis allows collegial relations to be observed while you mine for opportunities. That means, you have to do more than ask them for a job, you have to cultivate a relationship. Maybe even go out to lunch. Interpersonal relationships are still the best way to make potential job connections.

Online networks like Linked In and Plaxo give you all the bells and whistles of social media sites, with a professional agenda. Here’s a list of some sites that provide resources for professional networking. Remember, these will only be as strong as the human connections you make with the people on the other side of the digital curtain.

Learn to Cook: There’s no dining plan out in the big, bad world and chances are your roommate won’t be a chef, caterer, or own a grocery store. Buy a cookbook and make like Julie and Julia. You won’t have a lot of money to spend on dinners out, so learning to make a good meal at home means you can make it to that other networking event or meet Chasity for drinks and advice. Can’t focus on an empty stomach.