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Tag: new graduates

  • 2025 Graduates Are Facing the Toughest Job Market in Decades

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    The entire job market is in turmoil, we know, but a new report highlights that it’s worse for this year’s graduating class than for people starting their working lives. Most job seekers say the entire process of finding and then applying for work took much more effort. If your company is looking for fresh, young talent, this news could inspire you to change your own recruiting efforts.

    The new study, from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) and Texas-based recruitment service Indeed, found that on average Class of 2025 graduates sent out 10 job applications for every six that the Class of 2024 sent, HRDive reports. They were also sending out applications earlier, beginning around 6.5 months before graduating, compared to an average of 6 months in 2024. This might suggest they’re conscious of the worsening state of the employment market, but NACE said it thinks the opposite is true.

    In a press release accompanying the report, the group noted that the mean number of job offers this year’s graduates received after sending out applications was 0.78, a significantly low figure, and lower than last year’s 0.83 and seriously down from the average 1.13 and 1.14 offers the Classes of 2023 and 2022 landed during the same phase of their life. But compared to last year, graduates were keener to accept these offers: 86.7 percent of seniors who received an offer accepted it, compared to 81.2 percent last year and 85.1 percent in 2023. The differences here are more subtle, but still point to a graduating year that’s slightly keener to secure a job sooner rather than later.

    Graduates were, compared to earlier classes, “more likely to say they were unsure about their plans, and more were planning to enter the military, suggesting they were unsure about private-sector employment,” NACE noted. Meanwhile many of this year’s graduating class understand the value of experiential education, and 84 percent of the cohort took part in an “internship, co-op, or other experiential learning program” the report said, also noting that students “overwhelmingly” said internships were the top way to develop their skills. 

    Curiously, despite other reports suggesting that AI use during the job application process is soaring to the point that recruiters are overwhelmed, fewer than one in three students in the NACE survey said they’d used the controversial tech during the application process, and the report says only 22 percent of employers used the tech themselves during recruiting. 

    The big lesson for your company here is that the changes in the job market affecting new graduates may impact the business of finding and recruiting new talent. The pool of available candidates may be bigger than expected, and the number of applications you receive for open posts may be up compared to what your HR team has seen in recent years — affecting the time and effort they need to put in to downselect to the final choice. 

    Meanwhile, a separate report again highlights that the kind of perks you may have to offer to attract Gen-Z workers may be different from those that appealed to older generations of worker. Professional services company KMPG’s new U.S. CEO Timothy Walsh is trying to lure Gen-Z workers to the firm by offering up a new office suite that’s “outfitted with moody lounges and a barista bar,” according to a report at Fortune. Having joined the firm as an intern over 30 years ago, Walsh has seen many aspects of the business change—including the new push for entry-level workers to manage entire teams of AI agents. Refurbished headquarters are an effort to try to attract workers to work in the office more per week, as opposed to strict RTO mandates like those from companies like Amazon and JPMorgan, but they also are designed to facilitate hybrid work setups, since these remain popular. 

    Walsh is clearly aware of this fact, and also that Gen-Z staff are tending to look for more meaningful job perks than appeal to older age cohorts, as well as employers that facilitate their desire for better work-life balance. All of this could feed into the way you try to appeal to the Class of 2025.

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    Kit Eaton

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  • Starting Career Advice: What Are You Passionate About?

    Starting Career Advice: What Are You Passionate About?

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    For college students and those nearing graduation, it’s common to think about the future, including their career. Every year, undergrads call, email, and communicate with me on social media to ask for advice. They’re typically focused on finding their first full-time paying job.

    While gaining employment and becoming self-sustaining is essential to cover living expenses, I always warn that making decisions based on compensation alone can be a dangerous trap. It’s often more important to ensure you’re doing something you enjoy. It will help make the workload easier, and you won’t mind putting in the extra hours when needed at the office.

    Follow these steps when looking to match your first job with your passion.

    Ask Others To Share Their Expertise

    Reaching out to your close network can be a great starting point. Rather than telling them you’re looking for a job and want their help, request a brief call. Take 15 minutes or less to ask them about their experience and what insight they would share for someone who’s just starting out in their field. Do research before making the call so you’re not coming in entirely cold.

    Here’s why this step can be helpful: once you’ve had a chance to talk to a dozen or more people in various fields, you can gain a better sense of what would be of interest to you. Moreover, you might be able to determine what part of the industry you would like to get involved in. For example, in the realm of real estate brokerage, you might begin as an analyst if you’re apt with numbers. Or you could start as a sales associate and work for a senior broker. Evaluate the different roles and then match your skill set to the job description.

    Reflect On Your Past Jobs

    If you had internships in the past, it can be helpful to remember what you liked about them. Also think through parts that you didn’t enjoy. Sometimes the downsides are just as helpful—if not more important—than the aspects that you did appreciate. I spent a summer working for a big corporation in the auto industry. It was a very nice, plush, 9 to 5 job, complete with golf outings. Yet as I spent time there, I noticed there didn’t seem to be much upside potential in the roles. Many of the middle managers, for instance, had been doing the same thing for the past 10 or 15 years. While they had great jobs, I realized that I was looking or something a little more entrepreneurial.

    Shadow Someone for a Day

    It might seem that to really learn about an industry or job, you need to invest an entire summer at a company. However, I’ve found that even spending a day with someone can give you incredible insight into their world and what they do.

    At my workplace, we recently had over two dozen college students come in on individual days to shadow one of our brokers. It was a great way for individuals to learn about brokerage, especially if they were unable to get an internship in the highly competitive market.

    Be Open To Learning

    Once you’ve found a job that aligns with your interests, keep in mind that you may not need an extensive background to get started. After you get hired, you might find a mentor who is willing to give you advice and help you move forward. When I started my career, I was fortunate to have two incredible mentors, Paul Massey and Bob Knakal, who taught me an immense amount about real estate. Most of the learning I did was on the job, as I sat next to them in the office and absorbed everything they had to say. It was a small company, and as I observed them, I gained incredible knowledge that helped throughout my career.

    Over time, you’ll also come to see that a lot of the learning goes on outside of the workplace. I’ve been in real estate for more than 25 years, and I’m still a voracious consumer of news and trade publications, along with books and podcasts. I’m always challenging myself to learn new things about the business in my free time.

    I was very lucky in that my first job out of college, I worked for the company for 17 years until it sold, and then I stayed on for another three years. Effectively, I was at the same job for 20 years. You might change jobs more often (though bear in mind that employers might look negatively on hopping from place to place too frequently). Once you find a place that suits your interests, you may be inclined to stay and continue learning to further advance your career. Ideally, if you align your passions with your employment, you won’t dread Mondays and overall, the workload won’t seem like work. You’ll be doing what you enjoy and eager to learn more.

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    James Nelson, Contributor

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