Graduation Time
It is that time of the year again when a new group of students graduate and go out to find a job in the working world. While as students, they’re often prepared well in their field of study, it is rare that they are ready to work the process of going out to find a job. Many of the key skill sets needed just are not thought in our schools of learning. In addition, the methods that may have worked for their parents or older relatives are not the same ones they will need in today’s job market or the job market of the future. A number of those twice or three times their age that suddenly find themselves “in transition”, have been learning that lesson over the last few years.
A young person entering the work force at this time likely faces a career going forward where they may have as many as a dozen different jobs. It is also likely that by choice or through circumstances, they will make a change of actual career four to five times. That averages out to a change every four to five years of their life. The work world that they are entering requires each individual in it to be able to distinctly present, who they are, the skill sets they offer and how those skill sets allow them to be able to help a perspective employer solve the problems of their organization. It is one in which it is difficult to find a job working the process entirely on your own. It requires the ability to make long lasting relationships with others. It also requires staying abreast of the changes going on in their chosen profession. Some of this is learned through book, internet or magazine research. However, a good deal of it is learned by staying in step and connecting regularly with the leaders in their field.
All of this can be confusing for the new person to the work force. That’s not surprising, because it is often a challenge for their elders, particularly if they are now in search in terms of their career and have not been for quite some time. The rules their elders knew have changed. Want ads in the newspaper have been replaced with online application forms. Social media sites have become a way that both allow job searchers to connect with others that can help them, but also a way for those who have jobs to often screen the history of prospective candidates. Many a job is not even posted or advertised publicly. It is often learned about through someone who may work at a particular company, or by possibly impressing a hiring manager that you meet with what you can do and how you can help solve his department’s problems.
Therefore, a few tips in terms of helping to support the graduate in your life. First of all be patient with them as they go through the job search process. They need your encouragement throughout the process. It does not help them to be asked why they have yet to find a job. Look to help their education process of a job search. Perhaps purchasing them a book on how to build a job search campaign or one that provides meaningful guidance on networking skills will be helpful. There are several networking groups that are becoming available, (free of charge) for members of “Generation Y” as many of our younger folks are known, where they both get guidance in the job search process and do so in conjunction with a group of their peers. Most of all ensure them that the skills they will be learning are ones they will continue to use and build upon as they go forward throughout their working life. As we said earlier, they are a generation that will face a far different employment landscape than their predecessors, and as such they will need to be prepared to navigate that journey for a long time to come.
