Colleges Should Teach the Job Search

“I have applied to 100 jobs and have heard back only rejections or no response.” Have you ever had this conversation with a distressed young adult or even experienced it yourself?

Job searching is a frustrating experience. From the time they were five or six years old, most young adults have never had to worry about next year’s plans. When the academic year was over, nearly all simply moved up to the next grade.

Upon graduation, that reality changes. For the first time in many of their lives, next year’s plans are uncertain. Job? Graduate school? Many find themselves facing the big question of “What am I going to do with my life?” Unfortunately, the skills that make one a successful student and the skills that make one good at landing a job are not the same. Yes, there is some overlap, but many solid academic performers find themselves lost about what to do about what comes next.

The world doesn’t need professional students. A quick glance at the mission statements of many colleges and universities will reveal words and phrases such as “leadership,” “growth,” and “transform lives,” as the relevant pages advertising Duke, UNC and NC State reveal. Yet higher education devotes nearly all of its resources to helping students succeed in the classroom. The world doesn’t need professional students. Higher education needs to do a better job preparing students for life after college, especially where the skills needed for a successful job search and financial security are concerned. That should be part of the mission.

Higher education needs to do a better job preparing students for life after college. This is not to say that colleges and universities should focus only on vocational skills. Within a robust general education, students should develop skills of quantitative literacy, problem solving, critical thinking, civics, as well as oral and written communication. Yet, while college offers an opportunity to explore, students should also focus on learning a marketable skill by graduation. Needless to say, some careers, such as law and medicine, require a graduate degree. But, eventually, everyone will be faced with a job search.

True, nearly all colleges have a career center. In addition to offering valuable counseling services and enrichment opportunities, such as classes and field trips to businesses, many college career centers offer job listings from employers seeking student applications. Unfortunately, this wonderful resource is often underutilized by students. For example, a National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) survey revealed that only 20-25 percent of students tapped their career centers for assistance with internships, job-interview preparation, and networking.

The result is that many near or recent graduates become lost. Most students go about the job search all wrong. They start by seeing what job openings are out there and tailoring their résumés to the job description. They apply to as many as 100 jobs or more and become frustrated when they don’t hear back. This approach rarely works. Many who try it find themselves underemployed.

So what’s the solution? Incentives matter. If colleges and universities want to develop the student skills necessary for job searching and financial security, the lessons need to be given where the students are—that is, in the classroom. Students care about grades. Faculty should make lessons about the job search part of the grade in subjects across various curricula so that no students fall through the cracks.

The keys to a successful job search are not a mystery and are not complicated. Students should be exposed to these ideas throughout college. Here are some of the things that should be taught.

First, rather than focusing on what is out there, colleges should encourage students to instead focus inward. Students should start by asking themselves the following: What is my goal and purpose in life? What type of working environment do I prefer? How much money do I need to make? What skills and knowledge do I offer? Where do I want to live?

For those who are unsure about what they want to do with their life or about the answers to any of the above questions, one book I recommend reading is What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles. This book helps tease out the answers to the questions above by taking readers through a series of reflective exercises. For example, if you unexpectedly find yourself in a bookstore with 20 minutes to kill, what section of the bookstore are you likely to browse in? Your answer to this question offers insight into what you are passionate about. What Color is Your Parachute? was first published in 1970 but keeps getting frequently updated. The fact that the book did not die on the vine and continues to be purchased suggests the power of its lessons.

Job searching is hardest when your network is the smallest. Secondly, networking is key to landing a good job that matches your skills and requirements. Job searching is hardest when your network is the smallest. By circumstance, young workers or recent college graduates generally have the smallest network. Older workers who insulate themselves will find themselves in the same position.

As a group, young people are addicted, but only a fool would ignore the networking potential of social media. How to expand your network? Very simple. Talk with people. Be engaged. This can happen anywhere, such as on an elevator. Hence the “elevator pitch.” The goal isn’t to land the job with that initial conversation but simply to continue it.

Here is a true story of how this works. Shortly after my husband learned he was going to lose his job when his company closed down its Research Triangle Park location, he (and I) met a new neighbor while walking our dog. The “What do you do?” question came up, and my husband told our new neighbor about his situation. About a week later, this new neighbor knocked on our door to let my husband know about a job opening in his company. Long story short, that was the first step of how my husband landed his position with his next employer, a company he remained with for 10 years.

Social media is a bane and a blessing. As a group, young people are addicted, but only a fool would ignore the networking potential of social-media platforms such as LinkedIn, Monster, Indeed, or Facebook. One strategy for using social media is the following: If you find a position for which you are interested in applying, look at your list of contacts (your network) to see who works for that company. Reach out to that person and ask them for assistance in getting your application/résumé to the right people for viewing. If the person refers you and you get hired, then this person may get an incentive payout from the company, so it is a win-win.

Third, nothing trumps experience. As mentioned earlier, the unsolicited résumé is the least effective way to land a job. Most employers hire from within their own organization (such as by taking a part-time worker to full time). Having an undergraduate degree from an elite university may open some doors when you are first getting started, but the degree will matter less over time, and job performance will matter more.

Where does one get job experience? Start early, and start at the bottom. Colleges should encourage their students to work, if not during the semester then during breaks. Don’t underestimate the skills to be gained in entry-level jobs. Waitresses and check-out clerks learn much about conflict management, problem solving, and customer service. For example, it wasn’t the executive leadership at Disney that solved the problem of how to help the multitude of guests find their lost cars in its many parking lots. It was the parking attendants who came up with the solution by asking a great question: What time did you arrive? In a job interview, students can draw on their on-the-job experiences to answer questions intelligently and to reveal their grit.

Speaking of which, grit is probably the most important skill of job searching and unfortunately not necessarily something that can be taught in the college classroom. It’s developed. As I used to explain to my students: We learn best through our failures. And grit is no exception. Grit is learned through experience—through failure. By trying out for a sport and not making it. Then practicing more and trying out again. By auditioning and getting cut, working harder, and trying out a second time. This is an important skill, not only for job searching but for one’s eventual job. Employers don’t want employees who give up or get too discouraged when setbacks occur. Students should be encouraged to take chances and not be afraid to try and fail.

Grit is an important skill, not only for job searching but for one’s eventual job. Finally, what about the student who finds him or herself in the lucky position of having two job offers? If one has higher pay and a better cultural fit, then the choice is easy. But suppose the one with higher pay has a poorer cultural fit. For example, the colleagues may not be as supportive. What’s better? My advice is, assuming the lower pay is within reason, take the job with the better cultural fit. We are social beings. The better job and higher salary will eventually come. Don’t measure yourself on your first job. Remember that your career is not a sprint. It’s a marathon.

Deborah Hadley, the former director of job placement and cooperative education at Wake Tech, agrees, telling me in an email that recent graduates should “seek a job that [they’ll] enjoy, in an environment where [they’ll] be supported as a young professional, because that’s what matters. Get experience working, contributing, learning, demonstrating responsibility, and building collegial relationships. As [they] do, [their] longer-term interests will become clearer.”

Landing a job that’s a good fit does require a bit of good luck. But as the Roman philosopher Seneca stated: “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” Higher education can play an integral role in making that happen.

Kelly Markson recently retired from Wake Technical Community College, where she taught economics for 20 years.