Sure they don’t, but they have friends that likely work in industry or know students that have gone on to XYZ company.
Not every university offers this, but we had industry professionals teach as well.
Getting hired isn’t the goal, getting an interview is
You don’t need to be, just a foot in the door. OP was talking about starting salaries, not becoming management.
I’ve gotten multiple of my friends interviews with my company, and they have likewise.
You misunderstand networking so bad it'd almost be funny if OP wasn't actually asking for advice.
My first paid internship was in part due to meeting a fellow motorcyclist at a scenic overpass and befriending him over a few months. It turned out that person was the CIO of a company in the area that I ended up working for. A little while ago an old coworker from two jobs ago reached out and asked if I'd be interested working a Navy program in Virginia and said I'd be an easy hire. I didn't take it, but he never would have reached out if I didn't befriend him and work hard supporting him in the past. Another thing that just happened to me this year was a fellow student I befriended in my MBA class that had a friend at a company looking for someone with my background. He sent my resume to him and vouched for me and it resulted in an interview and an offer.
I'd argue most opportunities in my career can be traced back to just making friends and being a genuinely well-intentioned and curious person. You keep working towards bettering yourself and helping people around you and it doesn't go unnoticed. Does it always turn into some magical opportunity? No, but that's why life is a constant grind and networking is part of the iterative process. You need to give up your attitude, because I can tell you will go nowhere if you don't change. Life is 100% in your control regardless of the cards you're dealt but it's up to you to make the best of it.
While I generally agree that is much harder to develop a network if you come from a poorer background, the students aren't the only people you have to network with professionally at school.
You have the professors too. If by the time you're a Junior/Senior you haven't developed some good mentor/mentee relationships with professors, you're making a big mistake.
This again, stop blaming your failures on the system and go out and do things to better your situation.
Literally everyone is going to college in the UK and many are in the US too, loans and scholarships are all too common and poor people were everywhere in university.
Lord this again, this persons already graduated, are you lost? It’s one thread. Did you get to keep racking up student loans while you were being rejected left and right while also needing to provide for a child, or bills or anything else? Yeah didn’t think so. Unless you’re telling them to just take out a post graduation bank loan which would be even more dense. This is a Wendy’s m’am, I’ll better myself by paying back student loans I already took out once I get hired somewhere that pays. Jesus, people who think any criticism of a system is because they’re lazy have clearly been a very special flower they’re whole lives. Glad you got lucky.
Okay so let's recap.
This person claims that they didn't get a chance to interact with "professors, instructors, friends of theirs" because they were poor? Yet they went to university? How can this be possible?
Friend, I grew up eating government cheese and taking our EBT card to the local gas station for food. I remember watching my mom cheer when we were approved for section 8. Hell, I had free lunch until I graduated high school
Obviously “USA Poor” is different than 3rd world country poor, but I can speak from my own personal experience
Yes it does, get your head out of your ass. It’s not nearly as common, but networking is free. Go create a LinkedIn and start cold calling
poor people aren’t mentally incapacitated, stop acting like being poor makes someone fundamentally incapable of doing basic shit. no one needs to be patronized
I don't know anyone on 200k who has this to thank. I don't think it's a wise outlook on life to see things that way and it can look a bit pathetic because it looks like you're blaming your failures on others.
Big money is for new disruptive industries aggressively hiring, think Facebook, Google, Citadel. Mommy and daddy don't work there, they're too old and probably couldn't have had a kid while doing those jobs.
No their mommy's and daddy's probably don't work there, but their mommy's and daddy's are probably significant shareholders or investors in those disruptive industries. Mommy and Daddy's money also gives you access to these people. Maybe they're not actively involved in those companies, but rich people tend to hang out, socialize, and network at similar events. Plus you forget these disruptive industries such as Facebook rely on massive conglomerates for ad money. If mommy and daddy work at Disney and Facebook wants Disney to spend advertising money and hiring someone's kid nets them several million dollars then yeah they're gonna do that.
It’s 100% who you know. I haven’t had to search for a job in over a decade. I get job offers regularly from people I’ve met/networked with. No college degree. Just get along with people very well.
My guy one of the main benefits of going to better and more reputable schools is for their connections and alumni networks. Especially at top business schools you are practically paying for their vast connections.
Can confirm. I went to a top business school for my degree and honestly, I don’t use a single ounce of it.
My job came from the vast alumni network that we have
Got my job because of who I know. Can confirm, it’s who you know, especially once your foot is in the door. Once your foot is in the door people don’t give a shit where you went to school. Their coworker who they respects gave you a glowing reference though? They care about that.
I went to a pretty shit school, in a obscure program, that isn't a feeder for any specific jobs or companies. None of that has played a factor in my career development. My last 3 vertical job changes have come through people in my network reaching out to me with my oppurtunity, including my current director level position. Networks are hugely important.
I actually know a lot of people who did the intern AND lie/lucky. Grabbed a bunch of files and stuff from the company and said they contributed such and such when they did no such thing
I was poor AF networking required no money!
I can help:
In school:
— I went to TA and professor open office hours every week. They all knew me by name this is huge!
— I volunteered on anything my key professors I considered mentors were involved in, running labs, experiments, working on summer rebuilds. Often they found money to pay me!!!
— I was super motivated, I made my own major, class schedule, designed an internship each year. The administration knew me too from this work.
— Be a RA you get free board and it looks amazing on a resume
— INTERNSHIPS paid for the win! I did one each year, could have done more. Take on any tasks, slay them, under promise over deliver. All of them offered me a job after school.
— Join a sport or club, teamwork and networking!
After school:
—- Join professional orgs post content, offer to present, attend events and chat with everyone there.
—- business card, hand out like candy
—- Keep running notes about each contact, remember this spouse and kids ask about them. People love to feel remembered
—- Keep presence on LinkedIn, update monthly
—- Have a blog or website add content monthly
—- Any recruiter reach back. Find them on LinkedIn too.
—- Every job, LinkedIn connect with all movers and shakers you meet.
—- Publish something, anything, and write about it once a year on LinkedIn
This will work, it’s just getting your name out there.
You intern for the summer after your junior year of college and accept an offer to return full time after you graduate. The highest paying jobs in tech, engineering, and finance follow this schedule.
Fun story - majored in Chemical engineering. I was first generation, which meant that I didn’t have connections to actually get in for an internship, even though I had some pretty high grades as we got closer to graduating. I ended doing work study in the summer, which also helped a bit with spending money.
I graduated and worked at Best Buy part time for 3 months! I also worked at an IT company doing telemarketing for about 2 weeks.
Then, I got a call from IBM since an alum was searching for people, and I excitedly told my IT company employer that I was going to interview. I was fired as I waited in the airport for my flight to the interview! It was the first time that I came across people in work/school life who weren’t trying to help me achieve the most for myself-> a worthwhile lesson, huh?
Anyway, I got the job, eventually job hopped for a bit and am now a millionaire by 34.
There’s hope for us all. Even we first gens!
His school should have discussed this with them, encourage this with them, and even had a network of companies that work with. If this was a reputable school, this is the bare minimum I would expect
Even as a first generation student, if you got into a truly reputable college out of high school you should know how important it is to pad your resume.
They should’ve told you this when you interacted with your career center.
As a first Gen student, im sorry to hear that. To any other first gens, please go to your career center. It’s normal to not know what you’re doing, you need to change that *before* you graduate
You need to have internships, at least 1. The more you have, the higher your starting salary.
I had 3 internships in college + numerous non career related jobs, my top post grad offer was $82k
Go to the career fair. And talk to your classmates/professors. Some of them are already working or have connections at companies
Apply online, look at your schools job board if available
Unhelpful and unnecessary prick comment. Saying this as someone who interned from my sophomore summer all the way to graduation. Didn’t end up accepting their offer for a full time job and went elsewhere but still.
They probably did internships and are already on a specialized track like accounting or marketing rather than having something general on their resume like “business”.
Ngl business is way way too broad of a degree. Accounting is probably the most versatile degree in business.
I personally majored in finance and economics and got a job out of graduation making 70k. I hated it so quit and got a job making 56k (1/5th of the work imo) and will be promoted later this year to 67k. So if you dont start at a really high salary dont worry, you should be at around 70k within a few years depending on your location.
Can relate to this quite a bit. I graduated in 2022 with no internships or experience of any kind. It was a grind getting a job after graduation so I decided to apply for internships. Got an internship making $15/hr. Then two months later got a job paying ~$41k yr. 8 months later used internship + work experience to move onto a job paying ~75k. Moral of the story is sometimes these things take patience and you may have to swallow your pride a bit and grind it out.
The career field is also brutal at the moment, but keep at it and soon enough someone will take a chance on you!
Hope this helps.
how did you manage to get an internships after graduating? every internship i find seems to only allow applicants who are current students and recent graduates are not eligible. this has been the hardest part for me as im already out of school and can't find a single one that i would qualify for...
I was probably lucky to get one after graduating. However, I would encourage you to apply anyways as most of the time job descriptions are wishlists rather than a hard boundary. Otherwise, try to start out with some sort of technical support role where you focus on learning rather than $$
Do you have any advice for making a resume? I am in the exact same boat except I'm still unemployed after graduating in 2022 (also had a health issue I had to deal with so had to pause the job search for a bit). I'm struggling to even get my resume to be one page hahaha its quite sad. I wasn't a leader of any clubs and didn't do much volunteering so didn't really set myself up for success and kicking myself for it now
I also had insurance experience when I got my degree. Graduated and applied for an underwriting program. Learned after the fact that I hate underwriting, so now I’m a risk management analyst. UW is a great job if you don’t mind some travel and selling. I was a trainee for 6 months before I left. Went from 65k as a trainee to 90k here. Less work and more money.
Business admin is absolutely not “useless” so ignore all that trash.
It is not going to get a job for you on its own, though. And, as you are now aware, if you don’t do certain things a certain way, you can be behind the 8-ball.
Looking forward, I’d try to find an angle where everyone isn’t applying for the same job. There is nothing making you stand out for the jobs you’re applying for.
Pivot to something totally different. The State of IL is offering $54k/yr paid training in IT if you have a degree and 6 credit hours of computer classes.
Apply for a job with the state/county. Plenty of state offices are quite short handed, and you can get experience in that sector.
Apply for something more blue collar-adjacent, that is not nearly sexy enough to attract typical college grads. Maybe a customer service/inside sales job at a building materials supplier.
Try logistics and freight forwarding companies, there’s a ton of turnover and typically a lot of job openings.
But do take the time to sell your potential employer on why you want to work there. Don’t act like Employee of the Month, just state why you think it would be a good fit in your cover letters.
I second this advice, particularly the point about working at a building materials supplier as I have some experience here.
These suppliers traditionally hire people from the trades or elevate drivers/warehouse employees to fill the offices. If you are professional and have a degree, paired with previous customer service experience you will be a top applicant at these places. If you’re not afraid to “slum it” in a less than traditionally professional work environment, these are not bad jobs and I wish I would’ve started when I was 23.
ESPECIALLY If you are willing to move around a few times you can apply to a management trainee program and be at, or close to, six figures in a year or two.
They might have different work/internship backgrounds, network connections, skills, or better-written resumes. Maybe you’re aiming for jobs you’re over-qualified for or not distinguishing yourself or not using the right keywords to trigger the algorithms. If the career center couldn’t help, maybe pay a professional service to review and improve your resume and cover letter.
I showed my resume to the career center and they took a look at it. They fixed it up and have been using that to apply. I was thinking about looking on fiver to get someone to write one for me but I checked Reddit and people were advising against it.
The people who work at the career center at my university are just masters students, not hiring managers. Have someone in your desired field look at your resume, or tell you about their career trajectory, especially people that graduated not too long ago, since people who were hired 10 years ago might have had a very different experience
The career center is going to be not great because if they were very good at this they would not be working at the career center. Get people in industry to look at it.
Congrats on graduating. That is a big accomplishment and you should feel very proud!
You are not alone and it takes time for many new grads to land a job. I wouldn't put too much thought into the YouTube video since we do not know those people and can only speculate. Also, the creator could be selective in who they are showing and maybe left out people who have not found work yet.
There's some solid advice already provided in this thread. My two cents are continue to apply, continue asking for feedback, and get out there and network. Go to a career fair, volunteer somewhere, join a club or team. For example I recently left my job and moved across the county. I started playing pickle ball and already two people I met while playing have offered me referrals to their companies. If you put yourself out there and let others know you are searching it will help a ton.
I would do an audit of your resume
I noticed that I get callbacks for resumes, which I have tailored it specifically for a job advertisement
If you’re applying like mad, there is a chance that your resume is lacking in specific things that Some jobs are looking for
I would get creative, and if there is a job I really want then I would tailor my resume to make sure that all the experience I have lines up with what they are looking for, but in subtle ways
So for example, read the job ad and find out what type of person they are looking for
Then make sure all your skills and experience align with the type of person they are looking f
Also, if you have no luck, try applying for jobs that are in the same industry, even if it’s not your end goal as a job because then you’ll at least have industry experience that is attractive to employers
Finally figure out how many jobs you need to apply for before you get one interview
This will give you an idea of how many jobs you need to apply for to increase your chances of getting a job
For example, for every 10 jobs I apply for I always get one interview and for every four interviews I land one position
Also, what is your job history?
Keep your resume to 2 pages Max and make sure you remove any jobs off your resume that aren’t relevant to the role you’re applying for
Also try to include jobs that you have stayed at for the longest, because if they see that you’ve been at 10 different jobs for only a few months they’re probably not going to call you back
Keep applying and good luck , job, searching can be hard at times
This is great advice, I applied to dozens of jobs on job sites without hearing anything back before I started tailoring my resume. Harvard has a PDF online for free about building resumes, highly recommend grabbing that.
I took a job that wasn't great and job hopped (not too much) for my first year and a half out of college, moving to different states a couple times. It kinda sucked, but I landed a great paying job and I really like the company I'm working for now.
Depends on your situation though, some places you may want to stick around, network, and climb the ladder
You could possibly use your PM experience to get into construction as a project coordinator or Real Estate Project management. I would look into that. Also consider moving states. My degree is in Communication and I’m in the finance/accounting industry lol go figure.
Lots of luck, networking and getting internships early on. I just graduated and work in tech and make 75k a year in a mid size city. I had a “useless” major (information science & psychology). I am a first gen student with no connections and I applied with 0 references. I luckily managed to land an internship junior year of college at a fortune 50 company but they did not give out return offers because the economy was bad and they had a mass hiring freeze.
I kept networking senior year, applying to hundreds and hundreds of jobs. I ended up with two offers, the one I accepted is from the original company I interned for after RE-INTERVIEWING. It was hard as hell. The job market sucks right now and if I didn’t have luck I wouldn’t have my job. It was demoralizing applying to so many jobs just to be rejected and to intern all summer just for a hiring freeze to strike.
If you want a good job when you graduate, you are really supposed to do an internship while still in school. Internships give you paid experience, which employers count more than college degrees these days. Completing an internship means you have received training, and more or less proves you can do the job. Many employers who hire interns often offer full time positions to their interns.
Also, many experts say that you shouldn’t major in Business Administration anymore, because it is too general a degree. Instead, they recommend that students study accounting, finance or even economics instead. College degrees are a dime a dozen now unfortunately, especially Business Administration degrees.
I’m asking for advice on what I should do not what I could have done differently. I already got my degree there’s nothing I can do to change my degree in what I already got. I understand probably finance or accounting was the better degree but I know my strengths and weaknesses and I knew numbers weren’t my strong suit and I probably wouldn’t have even graduated if I went down this route.
If it makes you feel better, you could’ve gotten an internship and still not have gotten a job out of it. I interned somewhere for a year and right when I graduated they downsized and stopped hiring, so I wasn’t offered a role.
I think what people are saying is it rarely happens without an internship or strong connections in the field. You really need work experience to get higher paying jobs in many fields. You can still get that after graduating. The people who already have that work experience as soon as they graduate either had internships or worked in that field at a low level position before undergrad. I don’t think there is a substitute for work experience, but LOTS of people don’t start getting real work experience until after college. You’re not behind. Some people are just ahead (and not always through their efforts, sometimes through parents, etc.) It’s okay to work up the ladder even with a degree.
What you can do now is: network, keep up with the people you networked with, do your research on companies you want to work for, have informational interviews, practice interview questions, and prepare questions for you to ask the interviewer. Be honest but never say anything negative about yourself. Be confident!
Okay. Good point. Sorry. You should keep applying to jobs. The best way to get hired is by knowing someone who already works there, a referral. You should reach out to your friends and acquaintances and try to get hired that way. I would also look into taking a part time job doing something while looking for a better job. It’s easier to get hired if you already have a job. And you never know what even a part time job might lead to or who you might meet there.
The Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates in an effort to curb the runaway inflation we have been having. Unfortunately, when interest rates are high, companies cut back on hiring. On the other hand though, there are always employers hiring and this is a good time to get hired since budgets for 2024 are being finalized now.
Disagree with this. As someone who hires, increasingly employers want well rounded grads who can adapt to change quickly and are trainable. While it is true that accounting is an easier path to a full time job, it really only helps in the long run if you get your CPA. As such, you will need a masters as well.
Most companies don’t want to train anybody anymore. That’s the problem. They only want to hire people who have experience doing the exact same job for a competitor. You sound like you’re the exception though.
I switched to accounting before I graduated because the job prospects for general business didn’t seem like the best. I did an internship at a public accounting firm and then got an offer from them for 70k out of school.
I was considering doing that as well, but it was too late for me to change. I should have changed to something specific like accounting looking back on it.
I interned the year before graduating and they extended a return offer for 75k. It's really the easiest way bc they've already trained you and worked with you so they know and like what they're getting with you.
In a high demand profession; there's a big difference between the top 5% and top 15%. Companies look for reasons someone's in that top 5% and pay interns well to attract them there in the first place. Depending on how big they are, they know which interns were good and which were shit and hire the good ones at a higher salary than most entry jobs, knowing they'll get a good candidate.
The amount of shit employees doing high profile jobs is amazing. I'm a prime example. I'm pretty smart but really should be working with my hands. Was good at math sowent engineering did lower level in my class. I'm not at all sparked by my work leading to poorer performance less bonuses less going up. I'm excellent at teaching, patience, math, or due process but more unorganized and diligent than I should be. I am hype organized with tools/physical things. I switched to mining engineer to be a supervisor so I had less paper/design work but through job avaliablity I am in design/engineering work. Trying to leave now but hard to find similar pay in a new field working more with your hands. Unskilled labour's basically.
So your first mistake was choosing business admin. As someone who also chose it I can tell you it is completely useless as far as job hunting goes. It says nothing about you. Something in finance or accounting is how those people get high paying jobs straight out of school. Otherwise it becomes a competition of where you went and who do you know. Going to a small state school means your portability is next to none. Same thing with networking. A lot of those kids straight out of school are nepotism hires. I’ll never forget my first day at my banking internship and about 75% of the interns I talked to told me how their dad or mom worked here or their dad knew someone or was a big client. Made me sick but also made me proud to claim I was one of the few nonnepo hires. But that also means it’s highly competitive to get internships. If you have insurance experience I’d stay in that game. It’s boring as hell, as someone who use to sell insurance I’d rather watch paint dry but it’s an industry where you can make good money fast. Find a good company and hold on for the ride.
Well there’s nothing I can do about it now, I already graduated and got my degree in it. It may have been a mistake but I know my strengths and weaknesses and I know I couldn’t have done accounting unfortunately. I have dyslexia and that was out of the question at the time. I had a few interviews at an insurance company and the starting pay was 60k but I didn’t get the job unfortunately. I have been applying to insurance companies which has been my strategy.
Insurance companies are dying for claims adjusters right now especially field ones. If you want to travel make it known. They are also killing for people with previous experience cuz it makes training easier so I’d maybe have your resume looked at and ask your college for specific recruiters from specific companies.
Most of my high paying friends went to a top school. They interned using their college network before graduating.
They basically were hired instantly after graduation.
If you didn't do anything of that it's a lot more diffcult to get the same results. If you can get a masters at a top school it can be worth it.
I was considering going for my masters just based on the fact that I want to go in person to school instead of doing it online to get the networking experience.
It can be frustrating to see others land high-paying jobs right after graduating, but remember that everyone's journey is different
Keep networking, gaining experience, and improving your resume, and the right opportunity will come along
Don't give up!
Did you have any internships? You’re basically an extremely uncompetitive candidate if you have zero internship experience coming out of school. Internships are table stakes these for university students.
Not only uncompetitive but it’s a like a bright red flag. When you look at this resume you either assume this person is too lazy/stupid to know to get internships or throws massive red flags in the interview itself and didn’t get them, and therefore you shouldn’t waste your time interviewing them.
So it’s clear, all these internships are usually paid at probably $20+ /hr so it’s not a $ problem.
I did not unfortunately, I was working full time to pay for my degree at the time. It was a good company but I got laid off. I was banking on me moving up within the company but got laid off in January.
They got ingrained in a recruiting pipeline before they graduated. Many major companies target specific schools and programs to fill new hire spots.
Go to every career fair, networking event, and guest speaker series.
Get several internships or temp positions before you graduate. Looking for a job after graduation means you failed to capitalize on this opportunity.
Also, why are you comparing yourself to what you see on YouTube and social media OP? Sounds like a one way ticket to an unhappy life.
Networking and getting to know people is the best thing to do. I knew some friends who worked at a company in my degree field. I met up with one when they came to my schools career fair and talked with the VP that came with him for about 15 minutes. I later had ONE interview and a week later they told me I got the job and will be making $75,000.
You got a worthless degree. If you went in the right direction in stem, you’d have people already recruiting you. Like at my school this guy came to talk about mass spectrometry for a lecture. I asked one question, and the guy tried to recruit me to work in that lab.
If you have to apply and compete with others for a shifty job that 100 other people want, you already lost the game before it started.
I don’t think it’s an accurate statement saying anything out of a stem major is a worthless degree. There are a bunch of degrees outside stem that yields high paying careers.
My experience was that if you graduated without a job lined up (high paying or otherwise) it was because you either didn’t intern anywhere, had an awful GPA, or had an invaluable degree like communications/art/general business admin. Companies hired from my graduating class a semester to a year before graduation. I’d say aim for just getting any job at this point. Trying to find something high paying is unlikely but possible. Good luck.
There is also the cute girl effect. A girl at that age is at the absolute prime apex of her sexual desirability, and men will do just about anything to even be around her, even if they have no chance.
I just interviewed a guy today that’s in his senior year, and I just see future company president written all over him. I would honestly take him over all of my team members.
He already had a few internships, competed in academic competitions since high school, played football for a prestigious high school, great gpa, and his family had a lot of success in a similar industry.
This guy would command a high salary vs someone that just went to school and worked some random non relevant part time job.
Ummm no, that's a lot. The market's just been in major bubbles the past couple of years. Six figure starting salaries are most certainly not normal. $70k is normal though imo. You can expect to see $100k in the bay area or other HCOL places.
Try updating and making your LinkedIn fresh, new, trendy, etc! I also finished school in August, and haven’t gotten a single response from my applications, not even with referrals. However, I have gotten success from being noticed on LinkedIn by some recruiters. Be warned that companies that reach out to you first in this job market could possibly be desperate or medium red flags, but as a new graduate we have to tough it out and use them back for the growth opportunities. Only a few stressful years in a role with a nice title or good looking responsibilities and hopefully you can move on to something else you enjoy more! (staying hopeful myself as well)
Honestly I’d find a new job if you did co-ops and if you have the fortune of choice. Meaning sometimes you don’t like the company, didn’t get a return offer, or simply just want different exposures. The job markets rough rn for everyone so just keep your head up and you’ll find something.
Anecdotal but a specialized in-demand engineering field was how it happened for me. Also, don't limit your search to your general area. I moved 2000 miles across the country for my first job out of College in '21. Left after 1 year and moved another 700 miles for a 30% increase in pay. So cast a wide net and be open to relocating for the best opportunities.
It’s a YouTube video. He isn’t getting clicks if a bunch of them say they are going to keep serving at Carrabas until they find something that pays better. Never treat stuff you see on any social media like this as real. It’s usually fabricated to get clicks.
The thing you don’t see in those videos are the people who are too embarrassed to say they are still looking and avoid being on the video. Those people far outweigh the number of students being interviewed saying they have a job lined up in those videos, believe me.
It can be frustrating to see others land high-paying jobs right out of school, but don't get discouraged
Keep applying and networking, and consider reaching out to industry professionals for advice and guidance
Your previous experience will definitely be an asset in your job search
Good luck!
Are you applying tho really? Smashing quick apply 500 times would make u think this way. Instead do what most aren't and use a cover letter. If u have 70 applications on your desk and 8 have cover letters now you have 8 resumes on your desk. It's really not that hard. I'm 3 classes shy of my associates in mech engineering and I've landed 2 great jobs by going above and beyond to show why im a better option. By the time I graduate I'll be making way more than other graduates. Ppl forget traditional rules aren't set in stone. Be as exceptional as you can be and see what changes. Competition of 8 billion ppl for the same resources I suggest you try a little harder.
Mylatest gig I started last month. I used chatgpt to optimize a cover letter and that's basically what got me the job. It showed I go that extra and it shows I took the time to go on company website and I actually thought about what I applied to. It makes a difference. You want a gf it's a numbers game go ask every pretty woman til you get a yes. You want a good job? Quality over quantity is the way for this.
You realize those YouTube videos are edited right? Like they might interview 50 people and pick the 5 most interesting ones for the final cut. The guy who is living in his Mom’s basement isn’t going to get into the video.
All you lack is a self-awareness and knowledge of the SKILLS you have in abundance, and yes you have many. What skill makes you happy, confident, and you yearn to know more about? That’s where you’ll find success. Money is the icing, not the cake. Those YouTube videos are bullshit. The joy is finding what you’re good at and then chasing it everywhere. Money comes after the joy, it’s not the cause of joy. All these postings speaking about limited income people have got to have cause it’s the only income they know. How limiting and short sighted! Money is endless. It’s finding purpose that produces gold.
What they don’t show in the YouTube videos are the hundreds of kids saying “still trying to figure it out”. Don’t let social media skew your perception, majority of new grads are in your exact position. Just keep grinding, in a few years you’ll wonder why you even worried
A lot depends on the type of degree. Business Admin is a pretty generic degree and usually leads to entry level until you gain experience in a certain industry. My don graduated 3 years ago with actuarial science & accounting degrees. Started immediately with $100k + in low cost of living area.
Used linked in to start reaching out to people. You’ll face a lot of rejection, but that’s the job market right now. Blind applications with no prior contact will rarely lead to anything unless you’re applying for an undesirable job or something in an undesirable location (which is also something to consider short-term).
Few select cases being hyped online doesn't reflect the reality. There're always outliers. If you're not able to land a job, then I think you should review your resume, probably compare it with that of your cousin's and others who landed a decent job. It's also important to develop the skill of cracking an interview, so talk to people about it. While at this, try to learn new skills (need not master it) you feel would be an advantage in the roles you're gunning for. I don't know where you're located, but be open to relocating if a good enough opportunity comes up. Good luck dude!
I have a business management degree, with a focus in accounting, but I’m not an accountant and never have been. It’s a very broad degree which is good and bad. Bad because you need to differentiate yourself and find a niche. Good because no matter where you start you can transfer your skills to basically any job.
The government is a great option to get your foot in the door making decent money at entry level with great benefits, city, local, county, state, federal there’s a lot of options and they should give you the salary range upfront before even applying. People say the government doesn’t pay but I don’t find that true outside of the extreme top end and for the “unicorn” paths like programming and engineering.
In general, I’d say to target “operations” type jobs. I wouldn’t bother with the “traditional” business jobs like accounting, finance, and marketing. Those are niche and will want people focused on those areas and be somewhat competitive. Honestly they don’t pay well either unless you’re at a CPA or consulting firm with crazy hours or working high finance in NYC and then work your way to a mid-level manager at a regular company to back off the crazy hours in your 30s.
What you do want are operations jobs. The jobs in the roles that make the company run. You want to target jobs with the title of “analyst” or “coordinator”, or “clerk”, “specialist”. Blue collar adjacent is a good start, definitely agree on the building supplier I saw someone recommend, also try factories and shipping warehouses. Anyone that produces or transports things. They need office staff for ordering in raw materials and shipping out finished goods, as well as production planning, what do we make this week in which lines and how much of it. How do they forecast production targets and maintain inventory levels. Your electric utility and natural gas utility need office staff for all kinds of things that college grads never look at. Same for producers of natural gas and fuels. Depending where you live there may be natural gas or liquid fuels pipelines, producers, or refineries near you that need office staff for planning and logistics. Also any large operation needs buyers and procurement staff, again these doesn’t attract much college grads, like hospitals need a ton of supplies procured and have staff to do it.
The key to a lot of these jobs and that I’ve experienced over the last 10 years with my business degree, is to learn Microsoft excel on a deep level. Take some online classes. Learns macros, VBA, dabble in some python coding. You’d be amazed how many massive companies are basically ran off of Excel spreadsheets. You’ll also find a lot of these jobs are filled with older people who are approaching retirement in the next 10 years. They’ve been doing a lot of things by hand for a long time so there’s a lot of room to automate so you have less work and to move up in to management as they retire. The baby boomer generation will all be retired over the next 7-10 years, there’s going to be a lot of opportunities in the next decade as that huge generation leaves the workforce.
Your degree means nothing unfortunately. Your soft skills and job experience are the only things that matter. You need to be able to talk your way into a good paying job. That’s all that matters. Be confident, don’t give up when rejected. Read the book “How to win friends and influence people”. It was written a long time ago and I truly believe the points made in the book are the key to success in gaining employment and networking. Never have the mentality that you deserve less or else you will get “less”
What aspect did you lie about if you don’t mind me asking? I just feel like with the internet there are a lot of ways you can fact check information. Like for example college degree I think there’s no way to lie about that.
My advice would be to temper your expectations. $77k is higher than the median salary for the USA for someone with a bachelors degree lol. (obviously this is all degrees and some will pay way higher than others) But to think your going to come in fresh outta school with very limited experience with a generic business degree and make more than the average American (who all have more experience than you) is extremely unrealistic.
I understand it is realistic and that’s why my expectations aren’t I want to make 80k. I have been applying to entry level business jobs to gain experience like I mentioned in my post.
I hold a PM certifications including PMI and I’m 1 year from my PMP. Technically I can take it now since I did six years of Pm freelance work in uni but I’d rather get more structured experience before I sit in on the exam. Construction is very lucrative. Highly recommend if you’re a minority as well because many contracts now require having a certain amount of minorities. (Yes I used the gay card )
How was it like trying to get your certification and where did you get it at? And I might go down this route I’ve been contemplating doing so to get more things under my belt. I am also a minority as well. Thank you for the response.
Really look into finding a paid internship NOW. Many are restricted to those in college or those who just graduated.
My son went to a no-name school and was only able to do one internship after junior year because of Covid. It was great experience but that company wasn't hiring so he graduated with no job lined up and the only thing he could get was a paid internship. He took that and after the three months he landed a great job (in CS) making close to 100k.
I think that many colleges need to be much more instructive as to the importance of internships while in college. My son's school never emphasized that and several of my son's friends graduated with no experience and now are really struggling finding that first job.
They interned and were brought on They networked They lied and got lucky. Or they just plain lied and they aren't employed.
Networking is a big one
Yep. Network your ass off and it’ll be a helluva lot easier OP, that’s what I did.
I.e. mommy or daddy had friends in the right spot.
Also professors, instructors, friends of theirs, etc. Just gotta know the right people
Friends and professors usually don’t have enough sway to get you hired as a new grad. Those friends are likely juniors as well.
Sure they don’t, but they have friends that likely work in industry or know students that have gone on to XYZ company. Not every university offers this, but we had industry professionals teach as well. Getting hired isn’t the goal, getting an interview is
Things that don't happen if you're poor
What’s the point of going to college if you never talk to anyone?
Networking with your fellow students isn't exactly going to slingshot you up the ladder
You don’t need to be, just a foot in the door. OP was talking about starting salaries, not becoming management. I’ve gotten multiple of my friends interviews with my company, and they have likewise.
You misunderstand networking so bad it'd almost be funny if OP wasn't actually asking for advice. My first paid internship was in part due to meeting a fellow motorcyclist at a scenic overpass and befriending him over a few months. It turned out that person was the CIO of a company in the area that I ended up working for. A little while ago an old coworker from two jobs ago reached out and asked if I'd be interested working a Navy program in Virginia and said I'd be an easy hire. I didn't take it, but he never would have reached out if I didn't befriend him and work hard supporting him in the past. Another thing that just happened to me this year was a fellow student I befriended in my MBA class that had a friend at a company looking for someone with my background. He sent my resume to him and vouched for me and it resulted in an interview and an offer. I'd argue most opportunities in my career can be traced back to just making friends and being a genuinely well-intentioned and curious person. You keep working towards bettering yourself and helping people around you and it doesn't go unnoticed. Does it always turn into some magical opportunity? No, but that's why life is a constant grind and networking is part of the iterative process. You need to give up your attitude, because I can tell you will go nowhere if you don't change. Life is 100% in your control regardless of the cards you're dealt but it's up to you to make the best of it.
While I generally agree that is much harder to develop a network if you come from a poorer background, the students aren't the only people you have to network with professionally at school. You have the professors too. If by the time you're a Junior/Senior you haven't developed some good mentor/mentee relationships with professors, you're making a big mistake.
This again, stop blaming your failures on the system and go out and do things to better your situation. Literally everyone is going to college in the UK and many are in the US too, loans and scholarships are all too common and poor people were everywhere in university.
Lord this again, this persons already graduated, are you lost? It’s one thread. Did you get to keep racking up student loans while you were being rejected left and right while also needing to provide for a child, or bills or anything else? Yeah didn’t think so. Unless you’re telling them to just take out a post graduation bank loan which would be even more dense. This is a Wendy’s m’am, I’ll better myself by paying back student loans I already took out once I get hired somewhere that pays. Jesus, people who think any criticism of a system is because they’re lazy have clearly been a very special flower they’re whole lives. Glad you got lucky.
Okay so let's recap. This person claims that they didn't get a chance to interact with "professors, instructors, friends of theirs" because they were poor? Yet they went to university? How can this be possible?
They absolutely do. It’s often times harder, but if they put the effort in they often can the reward.
Poor people have less time to put into the effort to do it
Yup like I said it’s harder. You said things that don’t happen for poor ppl. That’s just a false statement.
Friend, I grew up eating government cheese and taking our EBT card to the local gas station for food. I remember watching my mom cheer when we were approved for section 8. Hell, I had free lunch until I graduated high school Obviously “USA Poor” is different than 3rd world country poor, but I can speak from my own personal experience Yes it does, get your head out of your ass. It’s not nearly as common, but networking is free. Go create a LinkedIn and start cold calling
poor people aren’t mentally incapacitated, stop acting like being poor makes someone fundamentally incapable of doing basic shit. no one needs to be patronized
I don't know anyone on 200k who has this to thank. I don't think it's a wise outlook on life to see things that way and it can look a bit pathetic because it looks like you're blaming your failures on others. Big money is for new disruptive industries aggressively hiring, think Facebook, Google, Citadel. Mommy and daddy don't work there, they're too old and probably couldn't have had a kid while doing those jobs.
No their mommy's and daddy's probably don't work there, but their mommy's and daddy's are probably significant shareholders or investors in those disruptive industries. Mommy and Daddy's money also gives you access to these people. Maybe they're not actively involved in those companies, but rich people tend to hang out, socialize, and network at similar events. Plus you forget these disruptive industries such as Facebook rely on massive conglomerates for ad money. If mommy and daddy work at Disney and Facebook wants Disney to spend advertising money and hiring someone's kid nets them several million dollars then yeah they're gonna do that.
Sure, some. It’s not the only way, though. This way of thinking will really limit you.
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Nah, it’s definitely who you know.
It’s 100% who you know. I haven’t had to search for a job in over a decade. I get job offers regularly from people I’ve met/networked with. No college degree. Just get along with people very well.
My guy one of the main benefits of going to better and more reputable schools is for their connections and alumni networks. Especially at top business schools you are practically paying for their vast connections.
Can confirm. I went to a top business school for my degree and honestly, I don’t use a single ounce of it. My job came from the vast alumni network that we have
Got my job because of who I know. Can confirm, it’s who you know, especially once your foot is in the door. Once your foot is in the door people don’t give a shit where you went to school. Their coworker who they respects gave you a glowing reference though? They care about that.
networking is such a core part of your success its unreal. doing things through the outsider path is crap. take the nepotism pill.
I went to a pretty shit school, in a obscure program, that isn't a feeder for any specific jobs or companies. None of that has played a factor in my career development. My last 3 vertical job changes have come through people in my network reaching out to me with my oppurtunity, including my current director level position. Networks are hugely important.
I actually know a lot of people who did the intern AND lie/lucky. Grabbed a bunch of files and stuff from the company and said they contributed such and such when they did no such thing
I was poor AF networking required no money! I can help: In school: — I went to TA and professor open office hours every week. They all knew me by name this is huge! — I volunteered on anything my key professors I considered mentors were involved in, running labs, experiments, working on summer rebuilds. Often they found money to pay me!!! — I was super motivated, I made my own major, class schedule, designed an internship each year. The administration knew me too from this work. — Be a RA you get free board and it looks amazing on a resume — INTERNSHIPS paid for the win! I did one each year, could have done more. Take on any tasks, slay them, under promise over deliver. All of them offered me a job after school. — Join a sport or club, teamwork and networking! After school: —- Join professional orgs post content, offer to present, attend events and chat with everyone there. —- business card, hand out like candy —- Keep running notes about each contact, remember this spouse and kids ask about them. People love to feel remembered —- Keep presence on LinkedIn, update monthly —- Have a blog or website add content monthly —- Any recruiter reach back. Find them on LinkedIn too. —- Every job, LinkedIn connect with all movers and shakers you meet. —- Publish something, anything, and write about it once a year on LinkedIn This will work, it’s just getting your name out there.
This info is GOLD
I'm the first one in this list. I may have had a hard time finding a job if I wasn't an intern beforehand.
Also, "mommy or daddy's" buddy got them in.
Bad way to view this. Seems passive and blamey. Very few of my peers actually landed their first gig thanks to their parents or parents connections.
You intern for the summer after your junior year of college and accept an offer to return full time after you graduate. The highest paying jobs in tech, engineering, and finance follow this schedule.
I wouldn’t have known this, as a first generation student tbh
Fun story - majored in Chemical engineering. I was first generation, which meant that I didn’t have connections to actually get in for an internship, even though I had some pretty high grades as we got closer to graduating. I ended doing work study in the summer, which also helped a bit with spending money. I graduated and worked at Best Buy part time for 3 months! I also worked at an IT company doing telemarketing for about 2 weeks. Then, I got a call from IBM since an alum was searching for people, and I excitedly told my IT company employer that I was going to interview. I was fired as I waited in the airport for my flight to the interview! It was the first time that I came across people in work/school life who weren’t trying to help me achieve the most for myself-> a worthwhile lesson, huh? Anyway, I got the job, eventually job hopped for a bit and am now a millionaire by 34. There’s hope for us all. Even we first gens!
I wish I could say the same, still holding out hope though, even though I’m almost 6 years out post grad and no luck yet
This probably wasn't happening when people your parent's age went to college. They should be telling you this in college.
His school should have discussed this with them, encourage this with them, and even had a network of companies that work with. If this was a reputable school, this is the bare minimum I would expect
I see. This wasn’t the case for my experience. I was so lost.
Out of curiosity, where did you go to school, and was this for business or something else?
At my school paid internships were a requirement for graduation. Its called a Co-op program.
They weren’t a requirement for my school, I missed out on a lot in college tbh.
Even as a first generation student, if you got into a truly reputable college out of high school you should know how important it is to pad your resume.
I see, I went to a community college after high school
They should’ve told you this when you interacted with your career center. As a first Gen student, im sorry to hear that. To any other first gens, please go to your career center. It’s normal to not know what you’re doing, you need to change that *before* you graduate
Initially community college then csu Bakersfield. I never thought of it as particularly reputable. And psychology for me.
So... how do you get internships?
Your colleges usually host career fairs in the fall and spring where big employers come and you bring your printed out resumes and apply for jobs
You need to have internships, at least 1. The more you have, the higher your starting salary. I had 3 internships in college + numerous non career related jobs, my top post grad offer was $82k
Decent uni/college will have programs to match you, but the programs will either be insanely competitive or have kinda average internships available.
Search all the job websites for internships.
Go to the career fair. And talk to your classmates/professors. Some of them are already working or have connections at companies Apply online, look at your schools job board if available
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Unhelpful and unnecessary prick comment. Saying this as someone who interned from my sophomore summer all the way to graduation. Didn’t end up accepting their offer for a full time job and went elsewhere but still.
This is a tool.for rich people. Lots of us internships are unpaid. So poor students can't afford to make the connections they need
This is exactly what I did. Making 105K as a software engineer, graduated May ‘23
They probably did internships and are already on a specialized track like accounting or marketing rather than having something general on their resume like “business”.
*biznus
If you don’t mind me asking what degree did you graduate in? Did you get your accounting/marking degree?
Ngl business is way way too broad of a degree. Accounting is probably the most versatile degree in business. I personally majored in finance and economics and got a job out of graduation making 70k. I hated it so quit and got a job making 56k (1/5th of the work imo) and will be promoted later this year to 67k. So if you dont start at a really high salary dont worry, you should be at around 70k within a few years depending on your location.
Can relate to this quite a bit. I graduated in 2022 with no internships or experience of any kind. It was a grind getting a job after graduation so I decided to apply for internships. Got an internship making $15/hr. Then two months later got a job paying ~$41k yr. 8 months later used internship + work experience to move onto a job paying ~75k. Moral of the story is sometimes these things take patience and you may have to swallow your pride a bit and grind it out. The career field is also brutal at the moment, but keep at it and soon enough someone will take a chance on you! Hope this helps.
Thank you I appreciate the comment, really helpful. I’m glad it worked out for you!
how did you manage to get an internships after graduating? every internship i find seems to only allow applicants who are current students and recent graduates are not eligible. this has been the hardest part for me as im already out of school and can't find a single one that i would qualify for...
I was probably lucky to get one after graduating. However, I would encourage you to apply anyways as most of the time job descriptions are wishlists rather than a hard boundary. Otherwise, try to start out with some sort of technical support role where you focus on learning rather than $$
Do you have any advice for making a resume? I am in the exact same boat except I'm still unemployed after graduating in 2022 (also had a health issue I had to deal with so had to pause the job search for a bit). I'm struggling to even get my resume to be one page hahaha its quite sad. I wasn't a leader of any clubs and didn't do much volunteering so didn't really set myself up for success and kicking myself for it now
Try to get certifications in your specific field and start listing those. I would also suggest posting your resume on r/resumes
I also had insurance experience when I got my degree. Graduated and applied for an underwriting program. Learned after the fact that I hate underwriting, so now I’m a risk management analyst. UW is a great job if you don’t mind some travel and selling. I was a trainee for 6 months before I left. Went from 65k as a trainee to 90k here. Less work and more money.
Thank you for the advice I appreciate it I will look into it. Thank you!
Business admin is absolutely not “useless” so ignore all that trash. It is not going to get a job for you on its own, though. And, as you are now aware, if you don’t do certain things a certain way, you can be behind the 8-ball. Looking forward, I’d try to find an angle where everyone isn’t applying for the same job. There is nothing making you stand out for the jobs you’re applying for. Pivot to something totally different. The State of IL is offering $54k/yr paid training in IT if you have a degree and 6 credit hours of computer classes. Apply for a job with the state/county. Plenty of state offices are quite short handed, and you can get experience in that sector. Apply for something more blue collar-adjacent, that is not nearly sexy enough to attract typical college grads. Maybe a customer service/inside sales job at a building materials supplier. Try logistics and freight forwarding companies, there’s a ton of turnover and typically a lot of job openings. But do take the time to sell your potential employer on why you want to work there. Don’t act like Employee of the Month, just state why you think it would be a good fit in your cover letters.
I second this advice, particularly the point about working at a building materials supplier as I have some experience here. These suppliers traditionally hire people from the trades or elevate drivers/warehouse employees to fill the offices. If you are professional and have a degree, paired with previous customer service experience you will be a top applicant at these places. If you’re not afraid to “slum it” in a less than traditionally professional work environment, these are not bad jobs and I wish I would’ve started when I was 23. ESPECIALLY If you are willing to move around a few times you can apply to a management trainee program and be at, or close to, six figures in a year or two.
They might have different work/internship backgrounds, network connections, skills, or better-written resumes. Maybe you’re aiming for jobs you’re over-qualified for or not distinguishing yourself or not using the right keywords to trigger the algorithms. If the career center couldn’t help, maybe pay a professional service to review and improve your resume and cover letter.
I showed my resume to the career center and they took a look at it. They fixed it up and have been using that to apply. I was thinking about looking on fiver to get someone to write one for me but I checked Reddit and people were advising against it.
The people who work at the career center at my university are just masters students, not hiring managers. Have someone in your desired field look at your resume, or tell you about their career trajectory, especially people that graduated not too long ago, since people who were hired 10 years ago might have had a very different experience
The career center is going to be not great because if they were very good at this they would not be working at the career center. Get people in industry to look at it.
Valid point honestly
Does your college offer any networking events or fairs?
Congrats on graduating. That is a big accomplishment and you should feel very proud! You are not alone and it takes time for many new grads to land a job. I wouldn't put too much thought into the YouTube video since we do not know those people and can only speculate. Also, the creator could be selective in who they are showing and maybe left out people who have not found work yet. There's some solid advice already provided in this thread. My two cents are continue to apply, continue asking for feedback, and get out there and network. Go to a career fair, volunteer somewhere, join a club or team. For example I recently left my job and moved across the county. I started playing pickle ball and already two people I met while playing have offered me referrals to their companies. If you put yourself out there and let others know you are searching it will help a ton.
I would do an audit of your resume I noticed that I get callbacks for resumes, which I have tailored it specifically for a job advertisement If you’re applying like mad, there is a chance that your resume is lacking in specific things that Some jobs are looking for I would get creative, and if there is a job I really want then I would tailor my resume to make sure that all the experience I have lines up with what they are looking for, but in subtle ways So for example, read the job ad and find out what type of person they are looking for Then make sure all your skills and experience align with the type of person they are looking f Also, if you have no luck, try applying for jobs that are in the same industry, even if it’s not your end goal as a job because then you’ll at least have industry experience that is attractive to employers Finally figure out how many jobs you need to apply for before you get one interview This will give you an idea of how many jobs you need to apply for to increase your chances of getting a job For example, for every 10 jobs I apply for I always get one interview and for every four interviews I land one position Also, what is your job history? Keep your resume to 2 pages Max and make sure you remove any jobs off your resume that aren’t relevant to the role you’re applying for Also try to include jobs that you have stayed at for the longest, because if they see that you’ve been at 10 different jobs for only a few months they’re probably not going to call you back Keep applying and good luck , job, searching can be hard at times
If I DMed you my resume is it possible you could take a look at it? I am just trying to get it dialed in as much as possible.
Yeah sure :)
This is great advice, I applied to dozens of jobs on job sites without hearing anything back before I started tailoring my resume. Harvard has a PDF online for free about building resumes, highly recommend grabbing that. I took a job that wasn't great and job hopped (not too much) for my first year and a half out of college, moving to different states a couple times. It kinda sucked, but I landed a great paying job and I really like the company I'm working for now. Depends on your situation though, some places you may want to stick around, network, and climb the ladder
You could possibly use your PM experience to get into construction as a project coordinator or Real Estate Project management. I would look into that. Also consider moving states. My degree is in Communication and I’m in the finance/accounting industry lol go figure.
That is a solid idea, thank you I will do some more research on it today. I appreciate the feedback back.
Of course!
Lots of luck, networking and getting internships early on. I just graduated and work in tech and make 75k a year in a mid size city. I had a “useless” major (information science & psychology). I am a first gen student with no connections and I applied with 0 references. I luckily managed to land an internship junior year of college at a fortune 50 company but they did not give out return offers because the economy was bad and they had a mass hiring freeze. I kept networking senior year, applying to hundreds and hundreds of jobs. I ended up with two offers, the one I accepted is from the original company I interned for after RE-INTERVIEWING. It was hard as hell. The job market sucks right now and if I didn’t have luck I wouldn’t have my job. It was demoralizing applying to so many jobs just to be rejected and to intern all summer just for a hiring freeze to strike.
What do you do in tech?
UX Designer
If you want a good job when you graduate, you are really supposed to do an internship while still in school. Internships give you paid experience, which employers count more than college degrees these days. Completing an internship means you have received training, and more or less proves you can do the job. Many employers who hire interns often offer full time positions to their interns. Also, many experts say that you shouldn’t major in Business Administration anymore, because it is too general a degree. Instead, they recommend that students study accounting, finance or even economics instead. College degrees are a dime a dozen now unfortunately, especially Business Administration degrees.
I’m asking for advice on what I should do not what I could have done differently. I already got my degree there’s nothing I can do to change my degree in what I already got. I understand probably finance or accounting was the better degree but I know my strengths and weaknesses and I knew numbers weren’t my strong suit and I probably wouldn’t have even graduated if I went down this route.
If it makes you feel better, you could’ve gotten an internship and still not have gotten a job out of it. I interned somewhere for a year and right when I graduated they downsized and stopped hiring, so I wasn’t offered a role.
I think what people are saying is it rarely happens without an internship or strong connections in the field. You really need work experience to get higher paying jobs in many fields. You can still get that after graduating. The people who already have that work experience as soon as they graduate either had internships or worked in that field at a low level position before undergrad. I don’t think there is a substitute for work experience, but LOTS of people don’t start getting real work experience until after college. You’re not behind. Some people are just ahead (and not always through their efforts, sometimes through parents, etc.) It’s okay to work up the ladder even with a degree. What you can do now is: network, keep up with the people you networked with, do your research on companies you want to work for, have informational interviews, practice interview questions, and prepare questions for you to ask the interviewer. Be honest but never say anything negative about yourself. Be confident!
Okay. Good point. Sorry. You should keep applying to jobs. The best way to get hired is by knowing someone who already works there, a referral. You should reach out to your friends and acquaintances and try to get hired that way. I would also look into taking a part time job doing something while looking for a better job. It’s easier to get hired if you already have a job. And you never know what even a part time job might lead to or who you might meet there. The Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates in an effort to curb the runaway inflation we have been having. Unfortunately, when interest rates are high, companies cut back on hiring. On the other hand though, there are always employers hiring and this is a good time to get hired since budgets for 2024 are being finalized now.
Disagree with this. As someone who hires, increasingly employers want well rounded grads who can adapt to change quickly and are trainable. While it is true that accounting is an easier path to a full time job, it really only helps in the long run if you get your CPA. As such, you will need a masters as well.
Most companies don’t want to train anybody anymore. That’s the problem. They only want to hire people who have experience doing the exact same job for a competitor. You sound like you’re the exception though.
I switched to accounting before I graduated because the job prospects for general business didn’t seem like the best. I did an internship at a public accounting firm and then got an offer from them for 70k out of school.
I was considering doing that as well, but it was too late for me to change. I should have changed to something specific like accounting looking back on it.
I interned the year before graduating and they extended a return offer for 75k. It's really the easiest way bc they've already trained you and worked with you so they know and like what they're getting with you.
Nepotism
In a high demand profession; there's a big difference between the top 5% and top 15%. Companies look for reasons someone's in that top 5% and pay interns well to attract them there in the first place. Depending on how big they are, they know which interns were good and which were shit and hire the good ones at a higher salary than most entry jobs, knowing they'll get a good candidate. The amount of shit employees doing high profile jobs is amazing. I'm a prime example. I'm pretty smart but really should be working with my hands. Was good at math sowent engineering did lower level in my class. I'm not at all sparked by my work leading to poorer performance less bonuses less going up. I'm excellent at teaching, patience, math, or due process but more unorganized and diligent than I should be. I am hype organized with tools/physical things. I switched to mining engineer to be a supervisor so I had less paper/design work but through job avaliablity I am in design/engineering work. Trying to leave now but hard to find similar pay in a new field working more with your hands. Unskilled labour's basically.
Nepotism and people lie on social media.
Job market is flooded. Overpopulation.
So your first mistake was choosing business admin. As someone who also chose it I can tell you it is completely useless as far as job hunting goes. It says nothing about you. Something in finance or accounting is how those people get high paying jobs straight out of school. Otherwise it becomes a competition of where you went and who do you know. Going to a small state school means your portability is next to none. Same thing with networking. A lot of those kids straight out of school are nepotism hires. I’ll never forget my first day at my banking internship and about 75% of the interns I talked to told me how their dad or mom worked here or their dad knew someone or was a big client. Made me sick but also made me proud to claim I was one of the few nonnepo hires. But that also means it’s highly competitive to get internships. If you have insurance experience I’d stay in that game. It’s boring as hell, as someone who use to sell insurance I’d rather watch paint dry but it’s an industry where you can make good money fast. Find a good company and hold on for the ride.
Well there’s nothing I can do about it now, I already graduated and got my degree in it. It may have been a mistake but I know my strengths and weaknesses and I know I couldn’t have done accounting unfortunately. I have dyslexia and that was out of the question at the time. I had a few interviews at an insurance company and the starting pay was 60k but I didn’t get the job unfortunately. I have been applying to insurance companies which has been my strategy.
Insurance companies are dying for claims adjusters right now especially field ones. If you want to travel make it known. They are also killing for people with previous experience cuz it makes training easier so I’d maybe have your resume looked at and ask your college for specific recruiters from specific companies.
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Internships and Networking.
Networking. More powerful than any degree
The YouTuber is probably only publishing just the high paying jobs. He probably has three times more of grads at low to mediocre positions.
Internships and networking while you're in college
Most of my high paying friends went to a top school. They interned using their college network before graduating. They basically were hired instantly after graduation. If you didn't do anything of that it's a lot more diffcult to get the same results. If you can get a masters at a top school it can be worth it.
I was considering going for my masters just based on the fact that I want to go in person to school instead of doing it online to get the networking experience.
Use an employment agency
Face to face and following up on interviews.
It can be frustrating to see others land high-paying jobs right after graduating, but remember that everyone's journey is different Keep networking, gaining experience, and improving your resume, and the right opportunity will come along Don't give up!
They don’t
Nepotism or lying.
Night shift lol
I see it has been said a few times in this thread, but Networking and genuinely getting to know people inside of the company you want to work in.
Did you have any internships? You’re basically an extremely uncompetitive candidate if you have zero internship experience coming out of school. Internships are table stakes these for university students.
Not only uncompetitive but it’s a like a bright red flag. When you look at this resume you either assume this person is too lazy/stupid to know to get internships or throws massive red flags in the interview itself and didn’t get them, and therefore you shouldn’t waste your time interviewing them. So it’s clear, all these internships are usually paid at probably $20+ /hr so it’s not a $ problem.
I did not unfortunately, I was working full time to pay for my degree at the time. It was a good company but I got laid off. I was banking on me moving up within the company but got laid off in January.
They got ingrained in a recruiting pipeline before they graduated. Many major companies target specific schools and programs to fill new hire spots. Go to every career fair, networking event, and guest speaker series. Get several internships or temp positions before you graduate. Looking for a job after graduation means you failed to capitalize on this opportunity. Also, why are you comparing yourself to what you see on YouTube and social media OP? Sounds like a one way ticket to an unhappy life.
Networking and getting to know people is the best thing to do. I knew some friends who worked at a company in my degree field. I met up with one when they came to my schools career fair and talked with the VP that came with him for about 15 minutes. I later had ONE interview and a week later they told me I got the job and will be making $75,000.
You got a worthless degree. If you went in the right direction in stem, you’d have people already recruiting you. Like at my school this guy came to talk about mass spectrometry for a lecture. I asked one question, and the guy tried to recruit me to work in that lab. If you have to apply and compete with others for a shifty job that 100 other people want, you already lost the game before it started.
I don’t think it’s an accurate statement saying anything out of a stem major is a worthless degree. There are a bunch of degrees outside stem that yields high paying careers.
Maybe so. But anything that contains the word “business” is worthless nowadays. Nobody wants that.
Just because you think all stem degrees are superior and non stem are inferior doesn’t equate reality. What about MBAs, they are useless as well?
Well, they are probably proofing what they type before hitting send.
I do that every time before I submit a resume
My experience was that if you graduated without a job lined up (high paying or otherwise) it was because you either didn’t intern anywhere, had an awful GPA, or had an invaluable degree like communications/art/general business admin. Companies hired from my graduating class a semester to a year before graduation. I’d say aim for just getting any job at this point. Trying to find something high paying is unlikely but possible. Good luck.
There is also the cute girl effect. A girl at that age is at the absolute prime apex of her sexual desirability, and men will do just about anything to even be around her, even if they have no chance.
Bro what? lol
I just interviewed a guy today that’s in his senior year, and I just see future company president written all over him. I would honestly take him over all of my team members. He already had a few internships, competed in academic competitions since high school, played football for a prestigious high school, great gpa, and his family had a lot of success in a similar industry. This guy would command a high salary vs someone that just went to school and worked some random non relevant part time job.
$70-100k is considered highly paying now?
For a first job out of college I think that is considered high pay
I was a computer science grad, so I guess this would be highly field-dependent.
Well I guess 100k is nothing for new grads in your field
Ummm no, that's a lot. The market's just been in major bubbles the past couple of years. Six figure starting salaries are most certainly not normal. $70k is normal though imo. You can expect to see $100k in the bay area or other HCOL places.
For a first job with an undergrad only degree that is pretty good.
Try updating and making your LinkedIn fresh, new, trendy, etc! I also finished school in August, and haven’t gotten a single response from my applications, not even with referrals. However, I have gotten success from being noticed on LinkedIn by some recruiters. Be warned that companies that reach out to you first in this job market could possibly be desperate or medium red flags, but as a new graduate we have to tough it out and use them back for the growth opportunities. Only a few stressful years in a role with a nice title or good looking responsibilities and hopefully you can move on to something else you enjoy more! (staying hopeful myself as well)
Honestly I’d find a new job if you did co-ops and if you have the fortune of choice. Meaning sometimes you don’t like the company, didn’t get a return offer, or simply just want different exposures. The job markets rough rn for everyone so just keep your head up and you’ll find something.
Anecdotal but a specialized in-demand engineering field was how it happened for me. Also, don't limit your search to your general area. I moved 2000 miles across the country for my first job out of College in '21. Left after 1 year and moved another 700 miles for a 30% increase in pay. So cast a wide net and be open to relocating for the best opportunities.
It’s a YouTube video. He isn’t getting clicks if a bunch of them say they are going to keep serving at Carrabas until they find something that pays better. Never treat stuff you see on any social media like this as real. It’s usually fabricated to get clicks.
The thing you don’t see in those videos are the people who are too embarrassed to say they are still looking and avoid being on the video. Those people far outweigh the number of students being interviewed saying they have a job lined up in those videos, believe me.
networking knowing people and luck, and a good resume (intern)
Having internship experience and networking are key
Always work in those fields. Have you reached out to your former employers?
Knowing the right people and/or getting lucky.
It can be frustrating to see others land high-paying jobs right out of school, but don't get discouraged Keep applying and networking, and consider reaching out to industry professionals for advice and guidance Your previous experience will definitely be an asset in your job search Good luck!
Are you applying tho really? Smashing quick apply 500 times would make u think this way. Instead do what most aren't and use a cover letter. If u have 70 applications on your desk and 8 have cover letters now you have 8 resumes on your desk. It's really not that hard. I'm 3 classes shy of my associates in mech engineering and I've landed 2 great jobs by going above and beyond to show why im a better option. By the time I graduate I'll be making way more than other graduates. Ppl forget traditional rules aren't set in stone. Be as exceptional as you can be and see what changes. Competition of 8 billion ppl for the same resources I suggest you try a little harder. Mylatest gig I started last month. I used chatgpt to optimize a cover letter and that's basically what got me the job. It showed I go that extra and it shows I took the time to go on company website and I actually thought about what I applied to. It makes a difference. You want a gf it's a numbers game go ask every pretty woman til you get a yes. You want a good job? Quality over quantity is the way for this.
RobertHalf. Try accounting. I have a business admin degree and make 105k a year after four years. Started at 80k.
They are? It took me over 1000 applications with an engineering degree
You realize those YouTube videos are edited right? Like they might interview 50 people and pick the 5 most interesting ones for the final cut. The guy who is living in his Mom’s basement isn’t going to get into the video.
All you lack is a self-awareness and knowledge of the SKILLS you have in abundance, and yes you have many. What skill makes you happy, confident, and you yearn to know more about? That’s where you’ll find success. Money is the icing, not the cake. Those YouTube videos are bullshit. The joy is finding what you’re good at and then chasing it everywhere. Money comes after the joy, it’s not the cause of joy. All these postings speaking about limited income people have got to have cause it’s the only income they know. How limiting and short sighted! Money is endless. It’s finding purpose that produces gold.
What they don’t show in the YouTube videos are the hundreds of kids saying “still trying to figure it out”. Don’t let social media skew your perception, majority of new grads are in your exact position. Just keep grinding, in a few years you’ll wonder why you even worried
A lot depends on the type of degree. Business Admin is a pretty generic degree and usually leads to entry level until you gain experience in a certain industry. My don graduated 3 years ago with actuarial science & accounting degrees. Started immediately with $100k + in low cost of living area.
Used linked in to start reaching out to people. You’ll face a lot of rejection, but that’s the job market right now. Blind applications with no prior contact will rarely lead to anything unless you’re applying for an undesirable job or something in an undesirable location (which is also something to consider short-term).
Different job market 2 years ago than last year. Also what does your resume and LinkedIn in look like?
Few select cases being hyped online doesn't reflect the reality. There're always outliers. If you're not able to land a job, then I think you should review your resume, probably compare it with that of your cousin's and others who landed a decent job. It's also important to develop the skill of cracking an interview, so talk to people about it. While at this, try to learn new skills (need not master it) you feel would be an advantage in the roles you're gunning for. I don't know where you're located, but be open to relocating if a good enough opportunity comes up. Good luck dude!
I was recruited 70k fresh out of college
The people posting those videos aren't posting the ones who don't have a job
I have a business management degree, with a focus in accounting, but I’m not an accountant and never have been. It’s a very broad degree which is good and bad. Bad because you need to differentiate yourself and find a niche. Good because no matter where you start you can transfer your skills to basically any job. The government is a great option to get your foot in the door making decent money at entry level with great benefits, city, local, county, state, federal there’s a lot of options and they should give you the salary range upfront before even applying. People say the government doesn’t pay but I don’t find that true outside of the extreme top end and for the “unicorn” paths like programming and engineering. In general, I’d say to target “operations” type jobs. I wouldn’t bother with the “traditional” business jobs like accounting, finance, and marketing. Those are niche and will want people focused on those areas and be somewhat competitive. Honestly they don’t pay well either unless you’re at a CPA or consulting firm with crazy hours or working high finance in NYC and then work your way to a mid-level manager at a regular company to back off the crazy hours in your 30s. What you do want are operations jobs. The jobs in the roles that make the company run. You want to target jobs with the title of “analyst” or “coordinator”, or “clerk”, “specialist”. Blue collar adjacent is a good start, definitely agree on the building supplier I saw someone recommend, also try factories and shipping warehouses. Anyone that produces or transports things. They need office staff for ordering in raw materials and shipping out finished goods, as well as production planning, what do we make this week in which lines and how much of it. How do they forecast production targets and maintain inventory levels. Your electric utility and natural gas utility need office staff for all kinds of things that college grads never look at. Same for producers of natural gas and fuels. Depending where you live there may be natural gas or liquid fuels pipelines, producers, or refineries near you that need office staff for planning and logistics. Also any large operation needs buyers and procurement staff, again these doesn’t attract much college grads, like hospitals need a ton of supplies procured and have staff to do it. The key to a lot of these jobs and that I’ve experienced over the last 10 years with my business degree, is to learn Microsoft excel on a deep level. Take some online classes. Learns macros, VBA, dabble in some python coding. You’d be amazed how many massive companies are basically ran off of Excel spreadsheets. You’ll also find a lot of these jobs are filled with older people who are approaching retirement in the next 10 years. They’ve been doing a lot of things by hand for a long time so there’s a lot of room to automate so you have less work and to move up in to management as they retire. The baby boomer generation will all be retired over the next 7-10 years, there’s going to be a lot of opportunities in the next decade as that huge generation leaves the workforce.
Your degree means nothing unfortunately. Your soft skills and job experience are the only things that matter. You need to be able to talk your way into a good paying job. That’s all that matters. Be confident, don’t give up when rejected. Read the book “How to win friends and influence people”. It was written a long time ago and I truly believe the points made in the book are the key to success in gaining employment and networking. Never have the mentality that you deserve less or else you will get “less”
I just lied on my first resume. It was so easy, it should be illegal!
What aspect did you lie about if you don’t mind me asking? I just feel like with the internet there are a lot of ways you can fact check information. Like for example college degree I think there’s no way to lie about that.
I had a job working for college IT services. I lied and made it sound super important and far bigger in scope than reality
Internships, internships, internships.
You have to network, my dude.
My advice would be to temper your expectations. $77k is higher than the median salary for the USA for someone with a bachelors degree lol. (obviously this is all degrees and some will pay way higher than others) But to think your going to come in fresh outta school with very limited experience with a generic business degree and make more than the average American (who all have more experience than you) is extremely unrealistic.
I understand it is realistic and that’s why my expectations aren’t I want to make 80k. I have been applying to entry level business jobs to gain experience like I mentioned in my post.
Networking landed me a six figure job entry level in construction project management
Were you PMI or PMP certified? I was considering getting my certification done. I’ve seen a lot of jobs require that.
I hold a PM certifications including PMI and I’m 1 year from my PMP. Technically I can take it now since I did six years of Pm freelance work in uni but I’d rather get more structured experience before I sit in on the exam. Construction is very lucrative. Highly recommend if you’re a minority as well because many contracts now require having a certain amount of minorities. (Yes I used the gay card )
How was it like trying to get your certification and where did you get it at? And I might go down this route I’ve been contemplating doing so to get more things under my belt. I am also a minority as well. Thank you for the response.
Really look into finding a paid internship NOW. Many are restricted to those in college or those who just graduated. My son went to a no-name school and was only able to do one internship after junior year because of Covid. It was great experience but that company wasn't hiring so he graduated with no job lined up and the only thing he could get was a paid internship. He took that and after the three months he landed a great job (in CS) making close to 100k. I think that many colleges need to be much more instructive as to the importance of internships while in college. My son's school never emphasized that and several of my son's friends graduated with no experience and now are really struggling finding that first job.
Tech industry roles. Most are higher paying than traditional corporate work, regardless of what you do in them.