College Graduate Rock Bottom When Landing Jobs

After helping start a philanthropy group from scratch, running my own business, participating in two unpaid internships, and graduating with a B average from a respectable college institution, one would think I would have a job now, right? Not exactly the case…

Even after applying for over one hundred positions, I have still managed to get only four interviews. From here, two never called back, and two, I declined because the compensation packages were ridiculously low compared to what kind of value I could add to the company.

Although fortunately I do have a backup plan, my family is in commercial fishing, and so I can easily hop on the boat and make some quick cash. Financially this is comforting, but it still has me wondering, why am I struggling to gain an employment opportunity which will actually require the educational background that I worked so diligently to earn?

For all those out there wondering relatively the same thing, I’ve come up with some factors that may contribute to hard times of being jobless:

Competition

Especially with the strength of the U.S. economy and the power of the internet, jobs are not as easy to come by. People are now applying for more jobs outside of their expertise than in years past just to land any occupation and have security. In turn, this has increased the applicant pool significant. I know from my personal experience that I was competing against over 600 people for one single position. In addition, an employed friend told me that when they applied for a specific position four years ago, there were only two individuals applying, and now there are fifty for the same exact position that opened up this year.

Expenses

Whether we want to admit it or not, employers unconsciously or even directly cut people out of candidacy solely based on where an applicant is from. For instance, if an applicant is a Miami local, but is looking for a job in Seattle, a recruiter may frown upon the travel distance because it might cost their employer a significant amount to fly the applicant out for an interview. On the same token, job seekers don’t want to have to pay to travel either, so some often limit their searches to select areas. Sometimes employers will throw in other perks like a free day skiing or meals, which I got, but trust me, flights and hotels are the most important to be provided.

Networking

A lot of companies pride themselves on high percentages of hiring from within. Well, good luck external applicants. This is growing in popularity. Not only does it save the human resources department money, but also time. With this said, most external candidates will have to start from the bottom-up in specific organizations, even if they are overqualified. To add, if companies do have to search for applicants outside of the office, they will often seek referrals from their own employees. If you’re not in that network, then chances of getting hired may shrink even further. As a side note: collect business cards, and keep in touch.