In a tough job market for new workers, networking and adaptability can make a difference

Key Points

• The job market for new graduates is challenging, with the unemployment rate for college graduates aged 22 to 27 outpacing the general population since the pandemic.
• Networking is crucial; personal connections can help candidates navigate the applicant pool, especially as employers increasingly use AI to filter resumes.
• Prospective employees should remain adaptable and open to positions outside their field of study, as many successful professionals do not work in their original career path.
• It's important for job seekers to acknowledge that the prolonged search is not necessarily their fault, emphasizing the necessity of resilience and persistence despite setbacks.

NEW YORK (AP) — Growing up as the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica, Stacey Watson didn’t see herself in the characters of the books she read. Now 28, she wants to be a book editor who helps promote a more diverse range of story protagonists so her nieces and other young people feel represented.

But an entry-level job in publishing has proven elusive. Two years after earning her master’s degree, with four internships and several part-time jobs under her belt, Watson hasn’t landed a full-time staff position. She lives with her parents in Brooklyn to make ends meet.

“You’re hoping every year is the year you can tell your parents, ‘I got the full-time job, you don’t have to worry about me anymore,’” she said.

Watson's experience echoes the difficulties facing many job seekers who are trying to start their careers at a time when economic uncertainty has discouraged employers from adding staff and workers from leaving their jobs.

The U.S. unemployment rate for college graduates aged 22 to 27 has outpaced the joblessness rate for the general population since the coronavirus pandemic. Many degree-holders seeking their first jobs report spending months submitting applications.

In a tight job market, companies often choose more experienced candidates because they can, said Laura Ullrich, economic research director for job search website Indeed. “Quit rates are low ... and companies aren’t hiring many people. So it’s this stagnant environment where there’s not a lot of room being created for these new grads.”

Below, career experts and candidates who landed jobs share how to persevere in the search.

Building your network

When some employers are using artificial intelligence to filter through hundreds of resumes, having a connection within a company can help candidates by providing an introduction, experts say.

An internship or part-time job can provide a starting point for building relationships with professionals in your chosen field. Alumni networks and professional organizations are other avenues for meeting people.

When Jennifer Moglia, 22, was interning in the music business, she made a spreadsheet to record the names of everyone she met during meetings, what they talked about and any interests she shared with them. She then looked them up on LinkedIn, the social networking platform, and requested time to meet one-on-one.

“I typically reached out to pretty much anyone that I had worked with, just to say, ‘Hi, I’m interning here. I would love to talk to you about your job if you have 30 minutes,’” Moglia said. “I would just try to make it as easy as possible for them,” saying, “'If your calendar is up to date, I could find a day and time that works. I can book the room.'”

The networking paid off. In the months before her college graduation, Moglia applied for 70 jobs, reaching out to contacts she'd made to ask about vacancies. “Most of the interviews that I got were for companies that I had connections at," she said.

After receiving two offers, Moglia now works as a venue marketing coordinator for Live Nation Entertainment in New York.

Keep an open mind

Consider looking for jobs outside your college major or ideal career path if there are way more than applicants than open positions in your area of choice. Your skills may be transferable to other fields and positions.

“If you ask a lot of 40-year-olds, they’re not working in the exact field they went to college for,” Ullrich said. “So casting a wide net is smart.”

Luke Sutton, 24, who graduated college in 2023 with a degree in dramatic writing, wanted to work in television, but a strike by Hollywood writers halted hiring at studios and production companies as he began his search. Sutton applied for more than 1,000 jobs before getting one as a creative assistant at healthcare advertising agency Patients & Purpose.

At times, he felt desperate. The hardest part was hearing nothing after filling out applications. “My head’s sort of like spinning, like I just want to be able to eat. Is that too much to ask?” Sutton recalled.

He worked part-time jobs and kept an open mind, putting himself forward for a wide range of positions that involved writing and focusing on jobs with assistant in the title. His current role is not his dream job, but “I’m one of the lucky ones because I’m doing at least something creative,” Sutton said.

Adapting to artificial intelligence

As use of artificial intelligence grows, employers are looking for people who understand how to use the technology and incorporate it into workflows, said Efrem Bycer, LinkedIn's head of workforce and climate policy partnerships. Because technology is shifting so rapidly, however, adaptability is also a sought-after skill.

“What employers are going to want to know is, can you work through that change?” Bycer said.

Some employers are holding off on hiring entry-level workers because they’re finding that some tasks can be done by artificial intelligence, said Betheny Gross, research director at WGU Labs, the innovation arm of Western Governors University, an online school based in Utah.

But AI can also be used to help bridge the experience gaps of entry-level candidates. The university is offering virtual internships and apprenticeships that simulate scenarios workers would encounter on a job.

“For the time being, the labor market is going to segment into people who understand what AI can do, are able to use it themselves, and understand the strengths and also limitations of it, and those who do not,” Gross said.

Give yourself grace

One of the most important things to remember in a prolonged job search is that you're not necessarily the reason it's taking a long time, said Peter Cappelli, a management professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. If new would-be workers are feeling discouraged, “I think the big thing for them and for their parents is to recognize, this is not your kid's fault.”

Securing a job since she was laid off from a nonprofit organization in May has been a brutal process for Aileen Ryan, 23, who has supported herself and helped her mother pay bills since she finished high school.

None of her 400 applications has brought an offer. Out of the 70 contacts Ryan sent messages to on LinkedIn, only three replied; one of them wrote, “I wish I could help, but my best recommendation is to pray.”

With her unemployment benefits and student loan deferment set to end in December, Ryan plans to move in with her mom, if she doesn’t have a job, ideally in the nonprofit sector, by then. Nevertheless, Ryan keeps going because she has to, she said.

“I know what I have to offer and I’ve worked really hard to get to this point,” Ryan said. "I also know what I want for myself, and I’m just going to keep going until I get to that."

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