In addition to being managers and executives, many of my corporate clients also happen to be parents. If they are not only parents but parents of college-aged kids or recent college graduates, what with the number of unemployed college graduates hitting historical highs these days, they can also, on occasion, be… kinda stressed out.
Which is bad: stressed out parents can mean stressed out kids, and stressed out kids (read: job searchers) don’t get hired when it’s a “buyer’s market.”
I can’t change the economy, but I can do something to help parents support their college graduates more effectively, so I have. I’ve put together this video series for parents to help them understand how best to help their kids with the job search. My hope is to help you alleviate some of the stress that job search process is probably bringing to you and your kids by providing some concrete tips. Let me know if it helps!
What’s Wrong with My Kid?! The Neighbor’s Is Working and He’s Not Half As Bright/Special/Talented As Mine!
Nothing’s wrong with your college grad. Getting a job is a process and we all master it in our own sweet time. The only difference with this particular process is that because there’s a paycheck associated with its successful completion (as opposed to a grade, driver’s license, or spot on sports team, say), there’s a lot more pressure to get through it FAST. So let’s go:
10 Steps to Getting Your College Grad a Job
1. Help them understand their value to employers.
The #1 mistake new grads make? They don’t know how to sell themselves to an employer. Here’s what they need to know from you:
2. Help them understand what it means to work for someone else.
It’s not about selling your soul to work for “The Man,” it’s about understanding that the world is a crowded place where independence is a state of mind, not a state of being. Even if you don’t have a “boss,” you still answer to customers, financiers, employees, etc.!
3. Open doors for them, but help them learn to network, too.
Possibly the #1 mistake parents make? Throwing a phone at their kids and expecting them to know how to use it. There’s more to networking than having a phone number! Help your graduate build quality relationships by walking him/her through a networking conversation:
4. Help your grad chillax.
Your offspring’s first job probably won’t be a perfect one… so what? Repeat after me: “No big deal!” There is a broad spectrum of opportunity between “holding out for the perfect job” and “grabbing the first thing that comes my way out of sheer desperation.” Help your graduate get close, and then help him or her understand how to actively make that job as great as possible.
5. Be supportive—as defined by your college graduate.
There’s a world of difference between “well-intended” and “truly helpful”… during stressful times, when we tend to get lost in our own heads, it’s good to be reminded of how to tell those two things apart. (Never saw/read Misery? IMDb is your friend!) Here y’are:
6. Get additional resources to help your graduate hone those job skills.
It’s been a long time since you’ve been entry level… so if there are aspects of the job you can no longer relate to, consider signing your graduate up for Found Your Career, a 21-day course designed to help entry level job seekers learn and practice things like researching, networking, and interviewing. This product was a collaboration between myself and Willy Franzen of One Day, One Job… check it out!
7. Help your graduate set realistic job search goals.
Goal setting is where attitude and action meet. Getting started and avoiding the 3 false gods of goal setting can be tricky… Here’s a good place to start:
8. Attitude
Success starts with your attitude. It sounds trite, but it’s true… you probably know from your years of experience that while the right attitude doesn’t guarantee success, a bad attitude all but guarantees failure. Still, your kid—who’s in a hurry to act now! now! now!—may not have the patience to cultivate a winner’s attitude. With empathy and a smile, you can help set a better tone:
9. Research.
Look for a job the right way, and the search itself creates the job opportunity. Have your college grad check out One Day, One Job for great insights on companies and about how to approach the job search:
10. Interviewing.
The best way to practice for that big interview? Always be interviewing! The added bonus of this approach is that, when you find yourself talking with someone who can help you, you won’t suddenly be remorseful about your decision a moment earlier to pick your nose.
What More You Can Do to Help Your College Grad
The world right now needs as many entry-level job seeker success stories as we can create… For step-by-step instructions on how to create one, subscribe to Found Your Career, a program I developed in conjunction with Willy Franzen of OneDayOneJob.com.
Photo Credit: Got Jobs – Flickr user AdobeMac
Photo Credit: Overprotective Parents – Flickr user Carl Smith
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I watched these vinettes and I was impressed. Get these in front of the mass media, I would love to see these on TV.
To be honest the thought of working for an employer really seems to push my buttons, What I mean is I can’t stand taking orders from some-one like a line manager or supervisor. Plus I don’t like the thought of being pigeon-holed into a role. It’s like i’m a peg trying to fit a square-round hole. Actually I’m a serial job-hopper as soon as one job bores me i’m off, the thought of being a corporate slave doesn’t really interest me and that’s what finding a job means to me, could be why i’m still unemployed.
Hey Mom,
I came across this website today and thought of you! I can’t watch the videos on my computer because the sound doesn’t work but maybe if you have a free moment, you could watch one or two of them and tell me what you think!
I am not a parent or anything. I’m the kid. I wish my mom can watch this and stop stressing me out. But seriously, “cheap and hardworking” defines me. Good stuff~ I’m not sure if the actual course is a good one but out of desperation I might actually enroll and u are probably going to earn a customer~
As a Monday morning quarterback, I would say that parents might want to whisper in their kid’s ears while they are still in college. Bring up networking, resume-building, getting experience before graduation so that they might have some prospects before they even throw their caps in the air. http://www.collegejobbank.com/articles/can-2009-college-graduates-find-jobs-4119-article.html
If you don’t find yourself or your offspring in that position though, I agree with Jason’s advice. Always be networking, always be interviewing, always be job-seeking. Consider the job-search your current full-time job…..don’t look at it as a trudge off to the coal mines, see it as your full-time job where you are your own boss, in charge of your own destiny. If you want to be successful you’ll get up, get out there, research, discuss, and take your daily experiences to make yourself better. The more you search for a job, the better you get at it. The end result = the job.
Phenomenal! My daughter just graduated from an Ivy league and does not have a job. She sent this to me! Making sure she reads it.
I am an executive recruiter and these are all of the things I have been telling her. RESEARCH and then use that info to NETWORK and make calls. The kids don’t realize that applying on line is like you said-standing in a crowd of thousands. A resume, how they present it (info in cover letter about company, specifics about company, etc) and how they follow up-make them STAND OUT and be seen.
I am going to look into your group and see what else you offer and definitely pass on to other people.
This is by far one of the most useful collection of advice for a recent graduate (re: me). Very engaging and motivational. Thank you!
i like food
What parents of recent college grads don’t realize is how greatly the economic landscape has changed since they were young. A college degree no longer guarantees any type of employment. College is, and always has been, a vehicle for sustaining the lifestyle of the middle class in America. But because of big time corporate greed and corruption behind the scenes, a large percentage of the middle class is steadily slipping into poverty because millionaires wanted to become billionaires.
The job market for recent college grads is so bad right now. The job market is even worse for my demographic as a 25-28 year old fresh-out-of-college minority male. I actually envy guys locked up behind bars. At least prison inmates are guaranteed three hot meals and a cot everyday. My whole family is broke that we might be starving out in the streets in a few months. Prison inmates also live work free lives and don’t have to worry about making tons of money to attract beautiful but evil trophy women who really want them anyway.
@NWO—You’re losing hope. You’ve begun to externalize the source of your problems… that’s bad. It makes you incapable of solving them and creates a dead-end path for yourself. Consider this:
1. College has not always been a way of sustaining the middle class. It was for awhile, and then, only recently. It’s evolution is not over.
2. Yes, big time corporate greed and corruption exist, but don’t you dare suggest that wealthy people and corrupt people are all the same people. They’re not. There are plenty of poor swindlers, and plenty of generous millionaires. And one day, when you’ve worked through this mess and are sitting on a pile of cash yourself—which you can do—I think you’ll feel good about having earned your money, and won’t take kindly to strangers judging you poorly by your bank account.
3. The job market for your demo is harsh… no question. You really think incarceration is an enviable alternative? You’re kidding, right? You are not seriously thinking that jail is a good alternative, are you? Please say NO.
4. I know some wealthy men. I also know men of meager means. What I’ve learned: marital problems transcend both looks and wealth.
NWO, my suggestion to you: less time hating, more time planning your own future. There is a way forward, and you will find it… but only if you keep your attention focused and don’t allow it to drift to a place where you start imagining the world as a great big ball of enemies.
Keep your head, NWO. Please.
Hi Jason, as a coach I couldn’t agree more with your last comment. I see many clients who have lots of reasons why their life is the way it is and as you say it’s external to them. A good coach will help people see that their limiting beliefs about the world are just that – limiting beliefs that are not based on true facts and evidence but on our own skewed perceptions of the world around us (we are all guilty of this). By believing things are against us we waste our time, effort and resources on giving up our control and freedom. Where is the freedom and happiness in prison?
If you believe the world is corrupt then you will look for it until you find it and make it true; missing all the good stuff that’s out there to be enjoyed! I figure that choosing our beliefs is something that we have complete control over so you might as well pick some beliefs that make you feel good and help you get what you want in your life. Why would you want to do anything else? But if you’re having trouble you can always change them in 2min! http://www.virtuallyperfect.org/Virtually_Perfect_Limited/NLP_Videos.html
A great series for the New Year and very pertinent to the current climate – keep them coming!
The secret to getting the job of a lifetime? Simple; match your unique selling point to the employer’s unique buying point! Most people start the other way around by trying to sell their skills and experience. What you need to do is research what THEY want rather than what you have to offer. Understand what their need is and then package your transferable skills to match it. The better you match and present/communicate this to your potential employer, the more likely you will get the job.
It’s getting pretty ridiculous how insignificant degrees are these days. A four year graduate is nothing more then “cheap” and “hard-working”. Yes I agree with the hard-working part, it’s reflective of your work ethic and effort in staying in school for four years, but why must you be cheap? Simply because you have lack of experience? Selling yourself short seems to be the common agenda for most recent grads and its not because it’s always been like this… no, it’s because in a recession, these businesses want cheap and qualified work horses. If things keep going the way they are going, we’re going to find people with Phds and Master Degrees competing for jobs at your local supermarket or fast food restaurant. I’ve known a number of friends with BA and MA degrees competing with high school dropouts for retail jobs, this is just getting plain sad.
Recent graduates: If you haven’t found a job opportunity yet that satisfies what you had previously intended, it’s not because your expectations are far-fetched or you aren’t good enough. It’s because our economy is in terrible… terrible condition. So, you’re not wrong for settling for something less, but never think that’s what your 4 years of education and hard work are worth in the real world today… trust me a lot of corporations will try to make you believe this so they can keep a work horse in check for as long as they can. Rather, persevere and always be looking for better opportunities. Those who seek success in today’s economy have to go above and beyond all boundaries, and although it may seem glorified, it really just shows that we are in an absolute bleak and depression-like time. Corporate greed and corruption at the highest level as well as mediocre and idiotic decision making has lead us to this mess. Our past generation’s leaders did a beyond terrible job, we have to pay for it, and hopefully as this generation perseveres, we can fix the mess they made and restore America’s economy to its original prospering state.
I’m in high school, and I’m just wondering if a) the college you attend matters (ivy vs. non-ivy, I noticed an unemployed ivy leaguer who posted) b) if selecting the right major would make a difference (are some areas more likely to employ – i.e. women in engineering, science and technology; economics/finance? vs. liberal arts, theater, government, for example) c) are law school degrees worth a dime these days? My mother is very concerned about my selecting the right courses in high school (electives – things you would enjoy taking vs. some AP courses you wouldn’t excel in – e.g. AP Calc, Chem vs. an Economics or Molecular Bio/Forensics, Musical Improv, Theater class, etc.). She’s also concerned with me having a life outside of high school as well (which doesn’t seem possible with all the homework we have – I had to drop a lot of extracurriculars outside of school – I do all my school xtracurriculars however). After reading all the posts, it looks like none of this amounts to a hill of beans. I’m a great student in my study habits, however, the courses are so difficult that if you get a B in our school, you are made out to look like a failure. My mom hates that aspect of it – I do too as do many of my friends. Everything is about competition and awards, and in all honesty, at least in my school, the awards don’t necessarily go to the best students, but to the students whose parents are high contributors. I guess it’s a lot like life – not always fair.
A friend of my mom’s who watches Suze Orman all the time, claims Suze said that unless you are attending a really good college, and have a specific career in mind (along with the drive and passion to pursue it), college really isn’t worth it if you have to assume a lot of debt and then can only find a job as a telemarketer for $6.15/hr. I attend a private school where a lot of the kids are super wealthy (we are not!), and they feel “everything” (high school, the stress and pursuit of college, etc.) just isn’t worth it. Their constant complaint is “why are we learning things we will never use again in life (except for the math and science students perhaps)…and “what’s it all for anyway.” Clearly, they have no goals and many seem lost. I just don’t understand why everyone is so negative and not understanding that it is a privilege to get an education as in other parts of the world, they fight for one. When I read NWO’s comment, it struck me hard, because it seems my generation (some of the kids) are just giving up. NWO, I’m sure you couldn’t possibly mean prison is any kind of alternative to unemployment. Perhaps you can create a job for yourself and make things happen even if you volunteer your services to a company you want to work for. In this economy especially, you have to be creative. I,myself, volunteer my time at a newspaper because I love to write. I’ve created lots of interesting assignments for myself that I am interested in and hopefully will interest other people. I know you have spent a lot of time and money in college and probably don’t want to give away your services, but it beats prison 100%.
A lot of the children of wealthy parents seem to believe that they don’t have to work as hard, because it doesn’t matter if they go to college or where they go (and they will probably get into some pretty good schools – even ivies – due to their legacy status). They feel their parents will get them jobs. Does that adage “money goes to money” ring true in this economy? It seems like nepotism is at an all time high at least in the area I live around.
After seeing a show Oprah had that my mom taped for me, one of the people on the show said that 38% of teens are millionaires! That’s an unbelievable number if its true. This makes me think that having an “idea” is the way of the future – Entrepreneurship – the way of google, facebook, twitter, myspace. Social networking sites seem to have figured it out. Thinking outside the box is a plus rather than being as, the Japanese say, a “salaryman” working for one corporation and crawling your way to the top! I don’t think there is that kind of loyalty to corporations anymore.
Good Luck to All!
@Joanna—According to the census bureau, less than three tenths of one percent of Americans aged 15-24 have incomes of $100,000 or more. (Feel better?) I’m guessing that that 38% is a shock value number that is based on the number of American adults with total assets of a million dollars (plus assumptions that those adults (1) are going to hold those assets forever, (2) have life insurance that will pay off loans and liens in the event of an untimely demise, as they say, and (3) have living wills naming their teens as beneficiaries) than with kids coming up with million dollar ideas.
@PDEC—In concept, I agree… except I think language like “unique selling point” probably does people more harm than good on a practical level. Someone who’s struggling is generally externalizing issues. That person is going to have a difficult time figuring out his or her USP in that state of mind without the aid of an expensive coaching program. My preference is to give people the tactical tools they need to stand on their own two feet than to throw jargon at them that they then need an expert to help them decipher.
KP—Degrees are far from worthless; they’re just common. And “cheap and willing to work hard” isn’t a knock, it’s a fact of life: young professionals haven’t received 15 years of steady 3% salary increases (which, at those #s and assuming equal talent, would make the younger professional 33% cheaper for the same work), and generally, younger professionals lack the types of personal obligations that make them have to leave work at 5pm on the nose (for instance, fewer of them are married, have kids, elderly or needy parents, etc.) They also haven’t been chewed up yet, so they’re more willing to dive into tasks without thought of political ramifications. These are definitely generalizations and won’t hold in every circumstance, but they’re true more often than not.
Getting angry at “what is” won’t change the reality. Better to embrace it and make it work for you!
And, as a final note: not every problem in Corporate America can be traced to malfeasance at the top. Sometimes, things just don’t work out. And sometimes, crooks end up doing more good than harm. (Britain would certainly claim that was the case with the treasonous American colonists!) Let’s not be so quick to crucify others en masse.
@Joanna To answer your first question, it really depends on a few things when it comes to answering this question. I feel that for certain disciplines and types of degrees/majors, getting it from an ivy league type of school will benefit you greatly in landing a great job opportunity after-wards and improve your chances at getting into a graduate program. In other circumstances, it really wouldn’t matter where you went to school and graduated from and in that case, why spend the extra bucks going to an ivy league school in the first place. I think the one underlying factor and deal breaker in choosing to seize an opportunity to go with the ivy league school as oppose to any four year college is the more convenient and easier time to network with future ivy league alumni. The statistics don’t lie, most of these people will end up one day moving into management and head directors/CEO’s of fortune 500 companies and because they know you and come from the same school as you did definitely plays to your favor.
For your second question, yes their are countless articles online that will show the most demanding jobs for the coming years and the most beneficial degrees and academic concentrations you should invest in for lets say… the best starting salary or opportunity for career-growth. In regards to gender distribution for different types of careers, I’m sure you can find research on that quite easily through the internet but to be honest I don’t think you should be discouraged to pursue a major simply because of this. As I can tell right now, like 8 of 10 jobs that have great salaries and are in demand (and will be in demand for the coming years) are engineering types of jobs. To generalize even further, jobs that are technical and require specific skills are the way to go if you’re looking for stability and longevity in a shaky economy.
For your third question, law degrees are still valued and sought after but not to the degree it was perhaps a few years back. A lot of this has to do with the fact that people are reluctant to take that huge gamble to take out a loan that big in size in this day and age and especially because student loans for the most part will be stuck with you until you pay them off period.
The only advice I can give you is never stop having a social life because networking and developing an out-going type of personality will serve you wonders in your future endeavors. Those little awards in high-school and picking the exact classes don’t count for all that much in my opinion but they can perhaps highlight some of your strengths for your college application. Your goal right now should be working hard academically to fulfill those requirements to make it to a great university and perhaps exploring a bit into what academic subject and study you are most interested in. Don’t stress too much over it at this point though, you’re in high-school, it happens once and if you worry too much about the future, you’re going to pass up the memories you can make in the present. The fact that you’re even on a website or blog-site for “finding a job” tells me you’re planning wayyyyy ahead, which is good, but really… just stay focused and have fun!
Ok So here is a high schooler thinking ahead and you tell her.. Just “dont worry” She is freaking right! I graduated from college and basically have to work and live like a slave. No vacation, $100/24 hrs.. No job estability.. I mean at this rate I will never be able to afford to have a family 1)time, 2)money.
I dont feel like I use my brain at all, and the jobs where I can be mentally stimulated want people with experience! And go figure where to get experiencew if you sdont ever get to do that kind of job~
@Sara—
1. “Don’t worry” and “It’ll be easy” are two totally different statements!
2. No one said it won’t be hard. No reason to make it extra difficult by adding self-imposed stress.
3. The people who want experience actually don’t want experience. What they want is to not have to worry about or pay for your training. If you’re willing to train yourself—and can demonstrate that (not talk about it, but demonstrate it) before an interview, you can get around that objection.