When Jenny Flora Wells graduated from Ohio State University in 2021 with her master’s degree in social work, she applied to 400 jobs. At that time, she had three interviews.
“I was told that the MSW was the golden ticket and that I would be sure to get a job. I did everything by the book, I had a 4.0 GPA, I worked in career services, and I checked my resume four times, and I still couldn’t get the job,” Wells said.
Now Wells is helping other recent students who are struggling to find a job. I am a licensed social worker working in Los Angeles. While looking for a job, Wells received an internship at OSU’s Career Services Department, which helped her build an expertise in career counseling.
“What we see from these younger generations is that they are working harder than before but they have nothing to show for it because no one will give them a job,” Wells said.
What Wells experienced firsthand and now sees professionally — students frustrated and mentally exhausted by an unforgiving job market — is echoed by labor analysts and academics.
New confusion in a tight labor market
“What we’re seeing right now is a small part of the labor market. The jobs that need to be filled are often skewed heavily toward those with a bachelor’s degree,” said Rachel Sederberg, senior economist and director of research at the firm. of employee evaluation. Shine.
“We’re hearing this from students, but we’re also seeing labor market data that supports it,” said Sederberg, who is also an adjunct economics professor at Stonehill College, adding that he’s seen student frustration firsthand. .
For example, Lightcast data shows that job placements for bachelor’s degree holders with two years of experience or less from Jan-May ’23 to Jan-May’24 saw little change in the top jobs, industries and skills in demand. However, there were 148,500 fewer jobs in that period for ’24 than in ’23.
For jobs that don’t require a degree, the opportunities have risen slightly since last year, from 65.75% of ads in 2023 to 65.98% so far in 2024. However, according to Lightcast data , 8 of the top 10 jobs in March were there. which did not require a college degree.
“For jobs that don’t require a degree, we don’t have enough workers in any way, and they have a lot of experience trying to find jobs,” Sederberg said, adding that there is a need strong in business, shopping. hospitality, and leisure.
“That’s because we’ve come back to our lives after four years of Covid, and we’re seeing a lot of baby boomers age out of the workforce, leaving a lot of opportunities. The average age of those doing big jobs it is too high, and we need to fill in the back;
It’s not a detriment to the degree work, the diversity of the applicant
Part of what Sederberg says we’re seeing is a global job market for grads, but not a crash.
“We are by no means in a weak labor market; we got used to the incredible energy and chaos of the last two years,” Sederberg said. He noted that there are young children in college who have already stopped working while waiting to finish their degree because many companies increased hiring during the epidemic immediately.
Not only is there a conflict between those who hold degrees and those who do not, but there is also a similar gap in the graduate skills market, with some jobs attracting more applicants than others. they remain unfilled, making the competition for jobs just over. grads want more power.
That’s a strong point Cindy Meis, director of graduate career services at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business, says she’s also seeing in what she described as a fragmented job market. There are a record number of jobs posted on platforms his office uses to help students connect with prospective employers, such as Handshake, but the numbers don’t tell the whole story.
“The available jobs do not always match the needs and requirements of the candidates. There is a mismatch between the needs and the talent pool,” said Meis.
That means some tasks get a lot of activity while other inboxes stay empty.
There are many applicants for marketing jobs, “but accounting degrees? We can’t produce them fast enough,” said Meis. He added that recent graduates have different experiences they are trying to get out of the workforce than their younger counterparts. Recent graduates are looking to return to the office, while older workers are more open to maintaining a pandemic-era home office.
Don’t rely on college as a difference maker
“Employers are well aware that non-traditional career paths, not just college degrees, give people the skills and experience to qualify for many jobs,” said Christina Schelling, Verizon’s Chief Talent and Supply Officer. , who oversees the company’s pipeline of talent. .
Schelling says the 2024 job market for grads is strong, but focusing too much on just getting a degree is a mistake. About 99% of Verizon’s more than 100,000 jobs do not require a college degree. He also says that soft skills – such as collaboration, critical thinking and empathy – are more important than ever.
Schelling said: “It is easier to teach a person technical skills than how to endure and find solutions to problems. “That is why, in interviews, candidates must emphasize their desire for continuous growth and intellectual curiosity. Big companies, now more than ever, are investing in employees and are committed to building skills.”
Some labor market experts see heavy application requirements among jobseekers that are already difficult for students.
“The hiring process is broken,” said Justin Marcus, co-founder and CEO of Big 4 Talent, which matches college graduates with some of the toughest financial and financial situations.
Marcus says new students don’t have the patience or time to jump through some of the hoops required to work with applicant tracking systems that require manually uploading resumes and filling out questionnaires. Marcus added that everyone – recruiters and grads – vote. Companies are very selective and require experience for “entry level” roles.
“Of course it depends on the vertical, but a lot of ‘white collar’ jobs are raising their demands because of the volume of applicants,” Marcus said.
Ultimately, he says the grad’s job market opportunities will vary depending on where they are, what they’re applying for, and what they want. A single unemployment number no longer tells the same story.
“Unemployment trends are multi-level, regional, and state-specific,” Marcus said.
Wells, meanwhile, finds many mental health problems among his clients, who were expecting a path to success after receiving their degrees.
“Everybody tells you that if you go to college, get your masters, wake up, you’ll be successful and you can have a comfortable life and live the American Dream, but what I’m finding is that more complicated than that,” Wells. that said. “By 2024, the job market is changing dramatically.”
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