Confession: I run a career website and my new-grad sister is still unemployed
I have a secret I'd like to share with you all: my little sister, Jordi Friese, graduated from Queen's University this past April and is still looking for meaningful employment.
You can imagine why I'm not screaming this from the rooftops. I've spent the last two years of my life researching, developing and ultimately running a career website for students and recent graduates in Canada with the stated goal of helping students find meaningful work.
I'm a regular contributor to dialogues on what students and grads should and shouldn't do in their preparation and search, and I claim to have some sort of "extra" understanding of this process. And why shouldn't I? Each and every day, I'm not only reading and immersing myself in all things Gen Y employment, but I'm also regularly on the phone and in meetings with employers looking to attract, target and hire top young talent.
If this wasn't enough, my sister also happens to be what I consider an "A player" with a clear goal of where she wants to go (non-profit sector).
She's been actively involved in charity throughout her life, even starting her own non-profit in university. She spent a full year of university juggling her school work with a full-time job, managing a staff of over 40 at Queen's campus pub. She has a long list of references who lavish praise on her for her hard work in everything from administrative work, to charity work, to academics, to various impressive extracurricular activities.
Just yesterday, Jordi received a letter from the Dean of Arts and Science at Queen's congratulating her - her final grades were in the top 3% of all students.
What's wrong here?
Canadian employers aren't recruiting outside the lines
When I first started TalentEgg, I wrote an article called To hire the best talent, recruit outside the lines. The main goal of the article was to encourage employers in Canada to look beyond traditional qualities when assessing potential candidates.
I argued that employers who are able to identify signals of potential, rather than just looking at degree programs and grades, will be well rewarded with passionate people capable of steep learning curves in the workforce. In a service-based economy, there really is no substitute for the ability to learn and adapt quickly. I got this idea in the UK, where - when I graduated 2005 - employers recognized the most important trait you can have as a newcomer into the workforce is a proven aptitude for learning.
Quite simply, the school-to-work transition is hard
Regardless of economic condition, educational background, or all the preparation in the world, graduating into the Real World is almost always a difficult transition. This is why TalentEgg exists, and why every campus has a dedicated team of campus career advisors for each and every faculty.
How can we do better as transitioning students?
Eliminate all reasons for failure
Learn from the experiences of recent graduates who have found jobs. You might access them through your profs, alumni network, or social networking sites. You can also read articesl in the Career Incubator.
Learn how to prepare for your hunt, write a career launching resumé and give a great interview. Understand how networking can positively effect your job search and why social media and personal branding are so important and carry so much potential in your transition from class to career.
Once you've got your head around it all, execute, execute, execute.
Keep on going
Finding your first step into meaningful work may not be quick, but if you have the resources - both financial and emotional - to work hard, have patience, and persevere, it will come.
Don't be discouraged if you're offered your first job, accept your first job, hate your first job and subsequently leave your first job. This is normal, and this type of job hopping leaves both you, and probably your employer, better off.
Don't be discouraged by your lack of experience. In the new grad job hunt, sometimes your clean slate and ability to adapt quickly can be your greatest strength.
Don't be discouraged by NOs at any stage of your job search - whether you're not being invited in for interviews or not being offered jobs that you applied for.
Finally, don't be discouraged if you don't hear anything at all. There could potentially be hundreds of other applicants for the same job and it would take an enormous amount of resources to respond to every single one - including you.
For me, my little sister's job search has been eye opening. When an individual satisfies every piece of the puzzle - good connections, great preparation, a demonstrated ability to contribute to an organization and a pointed passion for the work they're looking to get involved in - it's hard for many people to understand why they struggle.
I have a feeling many of you can relate to Jordi.
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Comments
great advice -- thanks so much, from our (un)employment support network in NY and beyond. On $405/week but rich in talent!
http://the405club.com
Nice post. You touched on it, but I think the economy is a huge reason for the high teen % unemp rate. I oversee a number of interns and they're just staying on, not getting paid, and try, try, try, to get an interview.
Caught you at Dave Forde's tech event this past week...I thought your pitch was best!
Dave Nourse
While I greatly sympathize with your sister - being unemployed myself - I am troubled by the advertisement of your sister's CV in this article.
Hi Dave -
Thanks for your comment :)
Kim - I think perhaps you're missing the point...the overview of Jordi's accomplishments is there for a purpose - to show that someone who's 'doing everything right' can still struggle.
I graduated in 2006 and I am still looking for meaningful employment and a job that will bring my daughter and I out of poverty. I am like your sister and volunteer for charities, have good connections, and still cannot find work for one reason or another. Telling someone not to give up in the face of struggle and hearing the 'nos' is easier said than done.
I have to agree with Kim. It is not a matter of getting the point or not, your article/blog came across as more of an advertisement for you sister. At least that's how I felt after reading it (i.e. unecessarily specific about her accomplishements). I know you are not a journalist but you should be more conscious of this.
Perhaps she should consider becoming a stripper.
The right advice is this: keep going. For so many, the focus becomes firmly fixed on "getting a job" rather than continuing in the long-term development of a career. I guess the romantic analogue would be "I need to get married" vs. "I need to focus on building a marriage". I moved to another country a while back and it has taken two years of hard slugging to raise my profile, but it is happening, I have recently had a number of employers approach me because of small or low-pay work that I have done for them. Your sister in law needs to be flexible, and do all sorts of things that she wouldn't consider fresh out of school. I for one would suggest the most profitable thing for her would be to leave Canada, and investigate international options.
As for those who think you that Lauren is out of line for advertising her sister in law, blow it out your collective ears. The whole purpose of Talent Egg is to help young Canadians find work, and that's what Lauren is doing.
I enjoyed reading this and a lot of things you said are certainly useful/true. My school has a co-op department and they have business cards, as well as a lot of other useful resources as well. Most people I know got hired into full-time employment (even before graduation) from their co-op jobs but others I know did it through networking (having people vouch for you can do wonders). Others just did something to get their foot in the door and went from there. You never know where something can take you even if it appears mundane at first. As another user commented, flexibility is definitely important.
But I have to agree that there is a hint of promoting for your sister. Whether there is or isn't, you have to admit that *in appearance*, there seems to be which is why other people before me picked up on it. They aren't just trying to nitpick and I don't get why people are getting defensive. Yes, TalentEgg serves a great purpose, but last I checked, I was still on the Globe's website.
Lastly...I guess you never know what the employer is looking for. You expect them to "recruit outside the lines", but maybe they expect candidates to think outside the box, and aren't just looking for people that that "satisfy the pieces of the puzzle". Honestly, a lot of people in my program can fit that profile (maybe not the TOP 3% of marks - but mark-wise, I don't think being in the top 3% versus top 10% matters that much), there is still a lot of competition.
So what did your sister study? If her degree was a general arts degree just what did she expect? (Perhaps she should write the Dean back and ask him/her about the employment success rate of their graduates. Perhaps she should have considered this before attending university.)
Oh well, she could do just like so many other university grads and go back to school at a college and learn some skills that will make her employable. Otherwise an 'arts' degree is only good for a job in the fast-food industry.
Repeat after me: "Do you want fries with that?
Dear Journeyman,
I got a BA in Anthropology and went on to get a PhD in Neuroscience. I now teach at a tier 1 institution in the United States. I have never (nor will I ever) worked in the fast-food industry. Peace be with you.
drpat: Ah yes, another 'arts' grad demonstrating those superior critical thinking skills. Why is it that the people with the 'superior' critical thinking skills of an arts degree always start off with a theme of: "I know somebody with a BA who has made it…"? Where is the supporting data? What are the facts? Were you even paying attention during that university education?
(Oh, I just won the Nobel Prize in Physics; who can prove otherwise?)
Got a go now; big line up at the drive through :-)
I have an engineering degree and am in a job that's optimistically titled "engineering sales". I do no actual engineering in my day-to-day. I don't use any of the training from my B.Eng. I do use the 'soft skills' I learned in university every day - critical, analytical thinking, communication, etc.
I think there are a lot of people in my graduating class who are in the same boat. An 'applied' or professional type undergrad degree (engineering, commerce, etc.) is useful in getting better work straight out of school - but the technical skills aren't what makes for longer-term career success.
I'm not saying, 'study basketweaving instead of biocomputing'. I'm just saying, most of the value comes from the big-picture skills you learn in university, not the specific coursework you take to acquire those skills.
Journeyman - can we see your supporting data please? As a BSc grad, and so naturally being interested in the details, I'm particularly interested in the breakdown of your theory - for example, what particular roles within the fast food industry are particularly matched with the skill set of a BA grad? - burger flipper? store manager? cleaner?
Your unique insight truly is a revelation, I'm sure upon the release of your complex research and thinkings, universities such as Queens, Harvard, Oxford, Yale (you get the picture of the level I'm aiming for here) will take heed and kibosh their long established BA programmes altogether. Wow, this may even lead to the demise of the London School of Economics.
Congratulations on your Nobel Prize, I think you'll get a prize next year with your ground breaking study - BA Grads and the birth of the Fast Food Industry - whatever did they do before? I’m not sure what category that would fall under though – dare I say the Arts?
Look at you with all these prizes!!!
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