New and Recent Grads Will Be Hardest Hit by Looming Recession
According to Beyond.com, Tightening Hiring and Training Budgets Will Require Entry-Level Candidates to Raise the Bar to Increase Chances of Job Search Success
PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to Beyond.com, Inc., the world’s largest network of online niche career communities, recent college graduates, made up mostly of the Millennial generation, are likely to be hardest hit by the worsening economic decline. Not only will these job seekers feel the largest impact due to the economy, but it will also be the first time many Millennials have experienced an economic downturn.
With looming recession worries, many companies will begin tightening hiring and training budgets, making them leery of hiring recent graduates who often require additional investments of time and training to get fully up-to-speed. Rather, employers will tend to seek out one exceptional candidate with standout credentials as opposed to several individuals with average qualifications.
“As college graduation nears, many new graduates will soon be launching their professional careers in the midst of what may be a significant economic downturn. However, many individuals from the Millennial generation have little or no first-hand experience of how to deal with periods of economic recession, which could potentially affect their chances of finding their first job” said Rich Milgram, CEO of Beyond.com, Inc. “To be successful, these job seekers will need to take every avenue of opportunity to sell themselves as a valuable, dedicated employee.”
Tips on how job seekers can stand out from the crowd:
• Gain more experience — Job seekers should increase their hands-on experience and broaden their skill set by doing additional internships, co-ops or apprenticeships.
• Consider further education — Considering a Masters program can help make a job seeker more attractive in the workforce and this value will only increase as the economy begins to turn around
• Leverage certifications —Job seekers can stand out by taking certification courses within their field to master their current skill set.
• Go niche— With competition for entry level jobs increasing, job seekers should seek alternatives ways to search for jobs. Niche career communities are a valuable, yet sometimes overlooked, resource to connect with employers through highly relevant searches and networking tools.
• Prove long-term value — With HR budgets potentially tightening, employers are looking for candidates who plan to stay with the company long term, so it is important for job seekers to convey their future plans during interviews.
• Review all correspondence — Job seekers should check and double spell check their resume, emails and thank you notes. Typos and grammatical errors can break a candidate’s chances for a competitive position. Get a second opinion before you send out correspondence!
Although these tips will be helpful in receiving their first job offer, it is important for new graduates to keep the momentum going once they start their new career. The possibility of an economic recession is leading employers to set high expectations for new hires. As a result, it has become more important than ever for job seekers to leverage their experience, enthusiasm and long-term value to employers to have the best chances of surviving potential layoffs due to budget cuts and downsizing.
For additional career tips and resources, please visit the Beyond.com Career Resource Center.
About Beyond.com, Inc.
Beyond.com, Inc. is the world’s largest network of online niche career communities, powering more than 15,000 geographic and industry-specific sites. We are dedicated to helping business professionals, corporations and vertical communities connect with each other by providing relevant career search services, networking tools and portal software solutions. The Beyond.com Network attracts a niche audience of job seekers, professionals and corporations and delivers quality, targeted results through a multitude of online media and advertising models, including: recruitment advertising, email marketing, banner advertising and other lead generation vehicles.
Beyond.com is named to Inc. Magazine’s prestigious ‘Inc. 500’ list of the fastest growing private companies in 2007 and is a Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE:SFE) partner company. www.Beyond.com
PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to Beyond.com, Inc., the world’s largest network of online niche career communities, recent college graduates, made up mostly of the Millennial generation, are likely to be hardest hit by the worsening economic decline. Not only will these job seekers feel the largest impact due to the economy, but it will also be the first time many Millennials have experienced an economic downturn.
With looming recession worries, many companies will begin tightening hiring and training budgets, making them leery of hiring recent graduates who often require additional investments of time and training to get fully up-to-speed. Rather, employers will tend to seek out one exceptional candidate with standout credentials as opposed to several individuals with average qualifications.
“As college graduation nears, many new graduates will soon be launching their professional careers in the midst of what may be a significant economic downturn. However, many individuals from the Millennial generation have little or no first-hand experience of how to deal with periods of economic recession, which could potentially affect their chances of finding their first job” said Rich Milgram, CEO of Beyond.com, Inc. “To be successful, these job seekers will need to take every avenue of opportunity to sell themselves as a valuable, dedicated employee.”
Tips on how job seekers can stand out from the crowd:
• Gain more experience — Job seekers should increase their hands-on experience and broaden their skill set by doing additional internships, co-ops or apprenticeships.
• Consider further education — Considering a Masters program can help make a job seeker more attractive in the workforce and this value will only increase as the economy begins to turn around
• Leverage certifications —Job seekers can stand out by taking certification courses within their field to master their current skill set.
• Go niche— With competition for entry level jobs increasing, job seekers should seek alternatives ways to search for jobs. Niche career communities are a valuable, yet sometimes overlooked, resource to connect with employers through highly relevant searches and networking tools.
• Prove long-term value — With HR budgets potentially tightening, employers are looking for candidates who plan to stay with the company long term, so it is important for job seekers to convey their future plans during interviews.
• Review all correspondence — Job seekers should check and double spell check their resume, emails and thank you notes. Typos and grammatical errors can break a candidate’s chances for a competitive position. Get a second opinion before you send out correspondence!
Although these tips will be helpful in receiving their first job offer, it is important for new graduates to keep the momentum going once they start their new career. The possibility of an economic recession is leading employers to set high expectations for new hires. As a result, it has become more important than ever for job seekers to leverage their experience, enthusiasm and long-term value to employers to have the best chances of surviving potential layoffs due to budget cuts and downsizing.
For additional career tips and resources, please visit the Beyond.com Career Resource Center.
About Beyond.com, Inc.
Beyond.com, Inc. is the world’s largest network of online niche career communities, powering more than 15,000 geographic and industry-specific sites. We are dedicated to helping business professionals, corporations and vertical communities connect with each other by providing relevant career search services, networking tools and portal software solutions. The Beyond.com Network attracts a niche audience of job seekers, professionals and corporations and delivers quality, targeted results through a multitude of online media and advertising models, including: recruitment advertising, email marketing, banner advertising and other lead generation vehicles.
Beyond.com is named to Inc. Magazine’s prestigious ‘Inc. 500’ list of the fastest growing private companies in 2007 and is a Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE:SFE) partner company. www.Beyond.com
Tags: beyond.com, boards, careers, entry-level, graduate, hiring, interview, job, jobs, niche
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Austin Lavin on
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Maybe, but haven't yet seen this from my fellow millennials except for those trying to go into finance... I think it's going to be interesting to see how we react to an economic downturn in everything (savings, spending, etc) not just job searching.
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Permalink Reply by Kari Quaas on
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Call me sentimental for the 90s, but when I got out of school we had a economic downturn and it was tougher to get a job right out of school. Lots of people were going for graduate degrees to kill time for when the market improved. I worked a typical seasonal office job and then did some traveling and I was happy to do it. I remember thinking that there wasn't any point in interviewing with companies my senior year of college because I knew I didn't want those jobs. When I returned from traveling I took a seasonal job in the travel industry driving tour buses. This wasn't a career I necessarily aspired to, but it sure was fun for a few years and it put me on a path I never would have imagined.
I think the "kids" these days should consider seasonal employment as a way to gain experience and have some fun while they figure out what they're going to do. That seasonal job lead me to a fun and interesting career with two cruise lines and ultimately to my job at Cool Works. I wouldn't trade any of it away and I couldn't have planned it any better. There are always jobs, but sometimes you just need to think outside of the (boring) box. : )
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Permalink Reply by Steven Rothberg on -
Rather than speculating on what impact the recession may be having on college students searching for internships and recent graduates looking for entry level jobs and other career opportunities, we survey them each month to find out how their level of optimism is changing. The optimism that we saw in November fell sharply early in 2008 but has since rebounded. See http://www.CollegeRecruiter.com/pages/pressrelease03062008.php.
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