The 10 Best Remote Career Fields For New College Grads

Mark C. Perna

As companies ramp up their hiring, college grads are entering a job market replete with opportunities—especially in remote work. Here’s who is hiring and what you need to do to land that first job.

Let me extend an early congratulations to the graduating class of 2021. You’ve all persevered through an incredibly trying time in order to cross this threshold. So what’s next? The good news is that, while hiring isn’t quite back to pre-pandemic levels, the overall job market is building steam. According to a report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers are projecting that they’ll be hiring 7.2% more new college graduates from the Class of 2021 than they hired from the Class of 2020.

“While hiring isn’t yet back to pre-pandemic levels,” said Sara Sutton, founder and CEO of FlexJobs, “the overall job market is gaining momentum, and that includes a stronger remote job market as well.”

What’s interesting is that when FlexJobs surveyed soon-to-graduate workers about their job preferences, some 32% of participants reported that they would give up some vacation time for the opportunity to work remotely as much as they wanted to, while 24% said they would take less pay for the chance to work outside the office. As the world of work evolves, being willing to work remotely can help a new grad land their first job.  

“Remote work can remove the geographic limitations to a job search, so focusing on work-from-home jobs can also significantly increase access to potential job opportunities,” says Sutton.

That means members of the 2021 graduating class (unlike those from a year earlier) have a great shot at starting their professional career sooner rather than later. 

10 hot remote job categories

FlexJobs has identified the top 10 career categories that currently have the greatest number of remote entry-level positions. Among these categories, HR & Recruiting, sales and call center entry-level remote listings have grown at least 25% since January 2021.

6.    Bilingual 

7.    Sales 

8.    Data Entry 

9.    Computer & IT 

10. HR & Recruiting

4 tips for landing that new job

When it comes to getting hired, the FlexJobs Career Coaching Team suggests the following four tips:

 1. Make time to focus

The best way to get hired is to get focused and organized. For example, make daily to-do lists that might include tasks like: Revising a cover letter, sending out three applications and spending a half-hour on LinkedIn exploring connections. 

2. Update your resume

If you’ve been making the time to update your skills, update your resume to reflect that. Don’t forget to include any internships, volunteer activities and school-based activities you engaged in as well. And, if you want to work remotely, add any experience you’ve had with remote classes, remote group projects or remote internships and jobs.

See all 10 job categories + all 4 tips for landing the job AND the complete Forbes article

 

 

 

 

20 Job Search Tips for 2012 College Graduates

by Rich DeMatteo



I want to tell you about a conversation that I once overheard.  The day was March 15, 2005, my college graduation day.  A roommate’s dad was talking to my mother and father when I heard him say…

I wanted to bring a 2X4 (lumber), write “LIFE” on it, and use it to smack Billy right across his forehead the moment he received his diploma

I was certainly too confused and overwhelmed with my current newfound life situation to understand how true that joke actually was.  For many, graduation signals a new life.  For some it’s a tougher life.  For most (if not all) it’s the official birth of a professional — but only after they do land that first job.

When I graduated, the job market was much easier to break into than it is now.  The “life” 2X4 induces much more pain for graduates these days, so here are 20 Job Search Tips for the current or soon to be 2012 Graduates:

1.  Use Linkedin:  Spend serious time on Linkedin.  Build connections, join groups related to your industry, and apply for jobs through Linkedin.  If you spend 10 hours on Facebook per week, try popping onto Linkedin for 5 hours.

2.  Visit Your School Career Center:  Your career center is not only free, but people there are very helpful.  Take advantage of their tips, advice, and employer connections.

3.  Focus Your Job Search:  Don’t apply to everything you see.  Focus your search on one or two specific areas.  Applying to too many jobs is sloppy and employers will take notice.

4.  Practice Interviewing With Friends:  Get a group of 2-3 friends together and meet once a week to practice interview questions.  Critique each other and offer feedback.

5.  Buy Your Interview Clothes Before Graduating:  You might already have nice clothes for an interview, but it’s always a nice feeling to buy a new suit and feel mentally prepared for something great to happen.  Don’t want to get a call on a Tuesday for an interview on Thursday and feel unprepared to look the part.

6.  Have a Plan:  Write out a little job search plan.  List the companies you really want to work for, the geographic locations you like, and pick specific times of the week to designate for the job search.

7.  Don’t Have a Plan:  Hey, some people just can’t plan, and that’s OK.  Just make sure to not lose focus of the one or two areas that you’re SURE you want to work in.

8.  Set a Professional Voicemail on Your Phone:  A standard voicemail will work just fine.

9.  Check Your Facebook Privacy Settings:  Turn your wall comments off, disable photo tagging, and set everything to a minimum of “Friends of Friends”.

Tips 11 - 20 and complete article

Get a new job? 10 tips for new grads

Job seekers, particularly those just finishing school, have a lot more control over their situations than they acknowledge. Even in a competitive economy, there are steps to take to help land a new job successfully Check these off your list to get on the road to job search success!

1. Apply for the right jobs. Study job descriptions and highlight the parts describing you.


2. Research companies seeking your skills. Use LinkedIn’s Skills section to help choose suitable organizations.


3. Create and cultivate a professional online presence. Jobvite’s 2011 Social Job Seeker Survey reports 89 percent of companies will use social networks as part of their hiring plans this year. Consider creating and maintaining your own professional website like a social resume.


4. Network in person. Join professional organizations (many will have student or new professional rates) and attend events where you can expect to meet prospective hiring managers and mentors.


5. Practice your pitch. Be able to tell people what you do, why it’s important to them, and about your accomplishments. Narrow down these talking points to a 30-second introduction.

Tips 6 - 10 and complete article

A pre-graduation job search action plan

By Robert Half International



Graduating from college soon? As the "real world" looms, keep in mind these words of wisdom from Thomas Edison: "Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning."

While a lucky few from the Class of 2012 will secure employment opportunities with minimal effort, the majority of graduates will need to work hard to launch their careers. Use your remaining time in school to your advantage by following these 10 job-search steps:

1. Keep it clear and concise. Some recent graduates try to compensate for a lack of experience by filling their résumés with overly verbose language. Others bump up the font size or triple-space the document to make it appear more impressive. Skip the typographical tricks and put away the thesaurus. A short and sweet résumé written in plain English is better than one brimming with extraneous phrases and fancy five-dollar words.

2. Fine-tune your résumé. The résumé remains the go-to document for employers, so make sure it's clearly organized and error free. While professors might have overlooked a typo in research papers, hiring managers may not be as forgiving. Proofread diligently and ask detail-oriented classmates, mentors and counselors in the career services department to check your work for both content and clarity.

3. Adapt your pitch. Once you have a rock-solid résumé to work from, customize it for each company you contact. It may sound like a pain, but this step is critical. Research the company, pay close attention to the words the company uses in the job posting, and incorporate these terms as appropriate. Tweak your pitch by highlighting strengths most relevant to that specific opportunity. For one role, you might play up the niche software skills you honed during an internship, while for another open position you might emphasize your communication and collaboration skills.

4. Cover your bases. Think writing cover letters is old school? Think again. In a Robert Half survey, 91 percent of employers interviewed said cover letters are valuable when evaluating job applicants. Your cover letter should demonstrate your knowledge of the company and expand upon your most pertinent selling points. Think of it like an introduction to your résumé. And, at just two to three paragraphs in length, a cover letter can be fairly quick to craft. There's no reason to skip it.

5. Polish your online image. Operate under the assumption that employers will search the Web for additional information about you. Clean up any digital debris floating around Facebook, Twitter or blogs. That means deleting questionable content and checking your privacy settings. Also, it's increasingly important to have a presence on LinkedIn. Students and recent college graduates represent the site's fastest-growing demographic.

Read Tips 6 - 10 and the complete MSN article

50 Career Tips for College Students

by Tom Denham

College teaches you how to think.  However, unless you are engaged with your campus Career Center, college teaches you virtually nothing on the subject of career development.  Think about how many courses you took in your major, and then think about how many semester-long courses you took on career development?  A rare few colleges offer, at most, one or two courses on the topic.  You spend time more time at work than in any other aspect of your life, but college teaches you barely anything on how to start, build and manage your career.  Without the Career Center, you will be left on your own to figure out what you are suppose to do with your life.  The transition is difficult because there is no syllabus for success.  Here are my 50 tips to prepare you for the realities of working.

1. Go to the Career Center on campus at least once a semester and then every month when you are a senior.
2. Believe in yourself, believe in something and have someone believe in you.
3. Success comes from inside of you.
4. In addition to your college degree, employers will want to see multiple internship experiences.  Your competition has them.
5. Start building your resume early in your college career.  Don’t wait until you get back from spring break of your Senior year.
6. Be nice to your faculty.  You’ll need them someday to serve as a reference for graduate school or a job.
7. Get clarity and focus on the three types of jobs you will pursue: 1) Ideal Jobs, 2) Back-Up/Realistic Jobs, and 3) Survival Jobs.
8. Come up with your own personal and professional definition of success and don’t let anyone else define it for you.
9. Your first job is a period of adjustment.  It’s like being a freshman all over again.  Be patient and learn the ropes.
10. Think of your first job as a stepping-stone that can help you get closer to your Ideal Job.

Tips 11 - 50 and complete article

The 10 Worst Mistakes of First-Time Job Hunters

By Kelly Eggers



If you're in your final year of college, be warned: the rumors about landing a job in this economy are true. You should be taking steps today, not next semester, to prepare yourself.

An April 2011 survey conducted by Braun Research on behalf of Adecco Staffing U.S. found that 71% of 500 recent four-year college graduates would have done something differently to prepare for the job market. While companies will hire 9.5% more graduates from the class of 2012 than they did from the 2011 graduating class, according to another poll, employers are still looking for the pick of the litter.
"When you're not familiar with the job market or job seeking, you really don't know how much effort it will take," said Kathy Kane, senior vice president of talent management for Adecco NA,
To find out what students can do to better prepare for the current job market, we spoke with career coaches, recruiters and recent graduates.

"I would have started looking for jobs earlier."
Putting off your job hunt isn't a wise move. Among the Adecco survey's respondents, 26% said they would have started looking for potential positions earlier.
"It's easy to fall into 'my weekend starts on Thursday' mode, rather than 'I've got to put my job search into full gear today' mode," said Kane, "but procrastinators will have fewer choices."
Most students don't start thinking about their careers until they have to, said Lindsey Pollak, a career expert who focuses on Generation Y in the workplace. "There's so much you can do that's not a lot of work and not overly time consuming."
"I would have actually networked."


For students and older professionals alike, networking can feel like the most dreaded part of a job hunt. Twenty-nine percent of respondents to the Adecco survey said they would have spent more time building a solid professional network.
"Networking can be scary," said Pollak, "but about 70% of jobs are found through networking." Students who spend their time trolling job boards should instead spend that time making solid connections with people who are respected and involved in the workforce, industry experts and alumni, and spend only 30% of their time looking at job listings.
For the most part, Pollak said, people love to help students. As long as you are gracious and thankful and not trying to hard-sell yourself right off the bat, potential connections are likely to be receptive.

"I would have taken on a job or an internship in addition to my courseload."
Bottom line: There's no substitute for experience.

Having some professional experience under your belt before entering the workforce has become a necessity for many employers.

"I don't know a company that doesn't want people with internship experience," said Pollak. "My advice is to get yourself through the recession any way you can, and come out with whatever experience you can."

Look for internships that provide college credit or are paid. Otherwise, gain work experience in a setting such as waiting tables -- and talk with people at each and every table. "There are CEOs who started networking while they were waiting tables," Pollak said.
If you can't find a full- or part-time position on- or off-campus, try going to the Internet for virtual work. "There are jobs you can get without even leaving your dorm room," Pollak said, including maintaining someone's social media outlets, working as a copyeditor or building a website for a small business. Many of these types of jobs have flexible hours, an added benefit for busy students.

"I would have gotten more involved in career-relevant extracurricular activities."


Read The Complete FINS Article

Why College Students Should Join LinkedIn

By Miriam Salpeter

LinkedIn is the best designated professional network and the first social network job seekers should consider using to find opportunities. Yet job seekers without much workforce experience may wonder whether LinkedIn is useful for them. If you don’t already know a lot of people who are using LinkedIn, it is easy to underestimate its potential value.

Less experienced job seekers don’t flock to LinkedIn in the same numbers as other networks, such as Facebook, but joining early, learning how LinkedIn works, and connecting with professional contacts throughout your college career will help you later. You may have a work-study or part-time job, enjoy a good relationship with your supervisor, but not want to be friends on Facebook. What better way to connect and stay in touch than LinkedIn?

Making a concerted effort to grow your online network will help support your job hunting efforts today and in the future. In a transient environment, when people do not always stay in one job very long, connecting via LinkedIn helps you keep track of contacts who might serve as references or refer you to opportunities later.

LinkedIn says approximately 200,000 college students join every month, encouraging companies to use the site to recruit internship and entry-level positions. You don’t want to miss those opportunities by not having a profile.

LinkedIn even has a student portal. The LinkedIn blog explains the benefits of the portal:
• Recommends jobs based on your education and interests. You’ll be able to get email alerts and notifications on your LinkedIn home page.
• Helps LinkedIn’s network help you. Adding connections via LinkedIn is probably a lot easier than you thought. You can even import your email lists and see who is available on LinkedIn. The company suggests looking first at alumni (who may be hiring), friends, and family members. If you don’t know a lot of people using LinkedIn, tell your friends to join and then connect with them. You may be surprised by how quickly your network can grow.
• Helps you research companies via LinkedIn’s company pages. Find out what they do, types of people they hire, and what people say about them.

More advice and complete USNews article

11 Reasons Why Every College Student Needs a LinkedIn Page

by K. Walsh



While in college, students worry about having enough money for tuition, what to major in, finding time to study, and passing mid-terms and finals. Having a LinkedIn page is probably far from their mind. But it shouldn’t be! LinkedIn is a valuable tool in their arsenal for helping them to establish their career.

It is important to remember that LinkedIn is your professional face to the business world. It is not like Facebook or YouTube. Don’t post goofy pictures, be silly, or say inappropriate things. Put your best foot forward. You are creating your own personal branding and this is your sales letter (about you) to future employers and to the world.
With that in mind, here are 11 reasons why every student needs to join LinkenIn:

1. Build your professional network. It’s never too early to start building a network with people in your career area. Start by linking to classmates who are in your major. While they are friends and classmates now, in the future they become business referrals. Ask professors who are in LinkedIn to write a recommendation for you. Linking to professors ensure that you will stay connected to them after you graduate. This could be beneficial.
2. Check out career paths. Find people who are in LinkedIn who are already employed in your desired profession. Check out their profiles to see what they have done to become successful. See if you can incorporate something from their career path into yours.
3. Prepare for interviews. When you have a job or internship interview, review the profile of the person who will interview you. Having this background knowledge during the interview will help impress the interviewer.
4. Get referrals. Networking is all about who you know and who those people know. If there is someone in LinkedIn that you would like to meet, ask a mutual acquaintance to for an introduction.
5. Land internships or jobs while in school. Is there a company that you would like to work for or an internship that interests you? LinkedIn can help you find a common connection to someone at that place of business.
6. Gain connections from conference attendees. When you meet new acquaintances at a conference that you attend as a student, chances are you do not have a business card to share. Nor do other students. LinkedIn is the perfect place to maintain a connection to those people once you have returned back to school.

Tips 7 - 11 and complete article

College seniors: Start your job search in January, walk into a job in May

Matt Krumrie

Minneapolis Workplace Examiner

About-to-be new grads who begin their job search in April or May can get in real trouble, says Joanne Meehl. Also known as The Job Search Queen, Meehl is an accomplished career management expert who has worked with thousands of people in transition.
"Everyone else is looking then, and employers have already made a lot of choices," says Meehl, who offers a variety of career services for entry-level to executive-level job seekers and other career-minded individuals. "It's tough enough to find a job this year if you’re graduating, so why make it harder?"
If you start in January, you give yourself a longer runway. You may land a part-time job or internship now exactly where you want to be full-time. Prove yourself, and upon graduation, you could be stepping into a full time, professional position.
Here are several things Meehl recommends you should do now, in January and beyond, to get your job search going so that in May/June you can readily exchange your graduation gown for a suit:


- Focus on the companies or organizations you're interested in -- meaning, why do you want to work there over other places? What are their issues, needs, etc.? Then find the people – through LinkedIn and networking – who can tell you more about these places.


- Strengthen your LinkedIn profile (connect with Joanne Meehl on LinkedIn) -- Yes, you need to graduate to business networking sites like LinkedIn. You need to have a Summary here; borrow some phrasing from your resume for this. Add recommendations from faculty, former internship advisors, and others. Add to your connections; tap your existing network and any internship and job contacts.


- No resume? OUCH. Go to your Career Services office for help with this, or to a career coach, and do it NOW! Or, contact Matt Krumrie at mattkrum@yahoo.com to get a resume review and price quote.


- Sign up for Google alerts for job titles and company names. You'll get all kinds of news about your target companies.


- On Twitter and Facebook: Sign up to get alerts from companies you're following there, especially about job openings. Companies ARE posting openings only to Facebook and Twitter. Also, it’s time to get serious: Make sure your Facebook material is appropriate. Look at your material as a potential employer might. There’s “college”, then there’s professional.Delete any "lite" Twitter entries: You should be posting more professional things now, such as links to articles about your field and career area. Start following your idols in your business, and re-tweet what they say. This will create your brand.


- Start networking at any and every business gathering imaginable, in your college's area AND where you want to locate. Be sure to connect with alums there.
Starting to do these things now means you’ll be a stronger candidate who will be more likely to be getting a real paycheck upon graduation!


Resources
For a free booklet with a January-to-May month-by-month task list for your college senior job search, email your request, with the subject line “college booklet”, to Joanne@TheJobSearchQueen.com.

Read The Original Examiner Article

10 Job-Search Mistakes of New College Grads

People entering the job market (and all job seekers) should avoid these common errors.
by Charles Purdy, Yahoo! HotJobs

Although this year’s college graduates are facing a tough job market (and the smart ones are facing it now, rather than waiting until after graduation), they have an advantage over other job seekers, according to Andy Chan, vice president of career development at Wake Forest University: they are among the age group most likely to be hired in coming months.

“Organizations are very interested in hiring young people because they have a lot of energy and are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done,” Chan says.

But no matter how well-positioned these young people are, they—and all job seekers—will have a better chance of success if they avoid these common job-hunting mistakes of new college grads:

1. Not being proactive enough
Emily Bennington, the author of “Effective Immediately: How to Fit In, Stand Out, and Move Up at Your First Real Job,” says, “This isn’t the time to sit back and be casual in your approach. Create a hit list of five to ten target companies, and really utilize your network to locate an ‘in’ at each.”

2. Relying solely on the Internet
In a recent Yahoo! HotJobs poll, 57% of respondents said networking was a factor in landing their current or most recent job. Brad Karsh, president of JobBound, says, “When thousands of candidates are applying to the same jobs online and posting their resume to the same job boards, candidates need to stand out by making connections and networking their way into a company.” Job boards are an important tool, but Karsh says new grads also need to focus energy on networking.

3. Not creating wide networks
Career expert Liz Ryan agrees: “Use your parents’, grandparents’, and friends’ networks to help you in your post-graduation job search,” she says. “Don’t be shy—reach out to any long-ago Scoutmaster, choir director, or babysitting or leaf-raking boss. … There’s no statute of limitations on networking.” (Read more Yahoo! HotJobs articles about effective networking.)

4. Not creating customized resumes
Ryan says, “Don’t send out any resumes that simply list your courses, the degree you’ve earned, and your part-time and summer jobs—use this opportunity to make a stronger statement about what you want to do with your adult life.” And according to Jay Block, the author of “101 Best Ways to Land a Job in Troubled Times,” younger job seekers often haven’t thought about what they have to offer an employer (as opposed to what they want to get from one). With this mindset, they create resumes that are “boring biographies” instead of effective marketing tools. (Read more Yahoo! HotJobs articles about crafting better resumes.)

5. Misusing the Internet
Tory Johnson, CEO of Women For Hire and the author of “Fired to Hired,” says, “New grads don’t use LinkedIn—it’s not sexy like Facebook or Twitter. But it’s the best resource for getting names and building a professional identity. Don’t overlook it.”

6. Failing to follow up
Johnson says, “It’s not enough to send resumes and pray the phone rings.” She cautions that job seekers can’t expect a resume to be discovered in that “big black online hole.” “Hustle to follow up,” she says.

7. Setting expectations too high
Johnson says new graduates too often focus on looking for the perfect job, instead of a first job: “Especially in this economy, the first job should be about finding a position where you’ll learn a great deal, you’ll be super busy, and you’ll be surrounded by lots of people.”

8. Appearing unprofessional
Make sure you’re ready for employers’ scrutiny, says Tim McIntyre, president and CEO of The Executive Search Group. That means you should “sanitize your MySpace page—right now. It will be checked,” he says. He notes that many college students will need to change off-color voicemail greetings. Ryan adds, “Don’t assume that Facebook’s privacy settings will keep your youthful antics away from curious eyes. Rid your profile page of any photos of the ‘three Bs’ (beer, bongs, and bikinis).”

9. Not taking the job interview seriously
Even when you’re applying for an unpaid internship, you need to adhere to common standards of professionalism. McIntyre says those standards include demonstrating you’ve done your research on the company and dressing appropriately. Block adds that new grads are often unprepared for tough (but standard) interview questions, such as “Where do you see yourself in three years?” and “What are your weaknesses?” (Read more Yahoo! HotJobs articles about effective interview tactics.)

10. Not using the college’s career office
“A career office can help [students] identify networking contacts, learn important job-search skills, and significantly improve their resume and cover letter,” says Wake Forest University’s Chan. Ryan agrees, but adds that this is just a first step. The career office’s job is to “to prepare you for your job search, not to conduct it for you,” she says. “Use LinkedIn, reach out to everyone you can, and begin researching employers who’d be likely targets for your job-search.” (Start your job search now.)

Original Article

Job-Search Tips for New College Graduates

By Sara Murray

The labor market may be tough for new college grads – but it’s not hopeless. Here are some of the popular tips university career experts offered for those who are still searching.

Don’t quit before you’ve started. Some students are so frustrated by the state of the economy they haven’t bothered to look for a job. “I tell them, ‘Look that’s a self-fulfilling prophesy,’” said Kitty McGrath, executive director of career services at Arizona State University. “If you don’t look then you know you won’t have a job.”

Prioritize. “Is it likely that you’re going to get your A, No. 1, first job and see lots of those? No,” said ASU’s McGrath. Decide in advance how much time you’ll spend pursuing your first choice — a month for example — and then expand the search to include other positions, McGrath said.

Search across industries. “The major doesn’t necessarily equal their career,” said Katharine Brooks, director of the career center for the Liberal Arts college at the University of Texas at Austin. “They really need to focus on the value of what they’ve learned and be able to articulate that to an employer.”

Rely on networking. “More and more of our employers are providing full-time job offers to their interns as a first choice,” Wayne Wallace, director of the career resources center at the University of Florida in Gainesville. So stay in touch with former internship employers and devote more time to expanding your professional network than searching online job sites.

Only opt for graduate school if you have a plan. “There are students who are, what I would say, punting and saying ‘Why don’t I get the graduate degree?’” said Matthew Berndt, director of career services for the Communications school at the University of Texas at Austin. But that only makes sense if students know what they’re going to study and how it will help them get a better position once they’re finished. If that’s not clear, then “you’re still not any more capable of telling an employer what you want to do and why you want to work for them,” Berndt said.

Be willing to relocate. “Those students who are willing to migrate and to take a chance on a new part of the country and take a chance on a brand new job have more options,” said Florida’s Wallace.

Do your research. If you’re meeting with an employer, be knowledgeable about the business and be able to articulate why you’re a good fit for the position and the company.

Remember: A new job is only the first step. “The first job they get out of college in almost every single case is just one step on the path to their eventual career,” said Rebecca Sparrow, director of career services at Cornell University. So don’t “try to think too much about this needing to be the perfect thing. Most people are not going to stay in that first job for 10 years,” Sparrow said.

Original Article

College Grads' Outlook Grim Students Begin the Search Early, Look to 'Plan-B' as Campus Recruitment Falls

By SARA MURRAY

Despite signs of life in the job market, the outlook for newly minted college graduates remains grim and many are trying new strategies for landing positions.

Students are starting their job hunts months earlier than usual, while others are looking into short stints at positions outside their major.

Bob Tutag began beating the bushes in October, a time when most college seniors are barely back from summer vacation. But it paid off: The 21-year-old Michigan State University student in March accepted an offer at Developers Diversified Realty Corp., a commercial real-estate firm in Beachwood, Ohio. He starts in May.

Mr. Tutag knew he faced a challenge, having majored in accounting with a specialization in real estate, a sector of the economy hammered by the downturn.

Career-fair recruiting at MSU is down 25% this year. The same story is heard on college campuses from coast to coast: Companies have cut back hiring and when they do have jobs, they have plenty of experienced applicants to pick from. College graduates typically need further training and seasoning, so many employers are skipping college career fairs this year or tapping former interns if they need fresh talent.

Meantime, the job opportunities that are available aren't spread evenly—either by sector or region—and can be hard to spot. And unlike previous years, employers are making offers, and students are accepting them, early in the fall to lock in specific candidates.

Usually, graduating students have held off until the spring to accept positions.

"Some employers might be encouraged enough to begin to add some employment," said Philip Gardner, director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at MSU. But he said, "I'm really not anticipating a significant turnaround until this time next year."

But there are some bright spots: The unemployment rate for people ages 20 to 24 with a bachelor's degree was 7.2% in March, down from 7.6% a year earlier and below the 21.9% jobless rate for those in the same age group with high-school degrees only.

Preliminary data from a spring poll of employers by the National Association of Colleges and Employers show college-graduate hiring could rise 3% to 5% this year after falling 22% last year.

Erika Skalski, 22, another MSU student poised to graduate in May, is still searching for a job in event planning after studying hospitality, another area hit by the recession, and Spanish. She was encouraged by the interviews she has had, but so far has no offers.

"I'm actually very nervous about it," Ms. Skalski said, adding that if nothing pans out she will apply to programs that would allow her to move to Spain and teach English for a year or so.

Such plan-Bs are common this year. "We are seeing more students coming into the office talking about what we call the 'gap-year opportunities,' " said Rebecca Sparrow, director of Cornell University's career services, where recruiting is down slightly this year. She often directs them to programs such as AmeriCorps, Teach for America and similar alternatives.

At the University of Florida in Gainesville recruiting has fallen 40% to 50% from the 2007-08 school year. Education is one of the hard-hit career paths this year, said Wayne Wallace, director of the university's career-resource center.

"Several years ago the state of Florida could not find enough teachers," Mr. Wallace said, "now we have school districts that are doing massive layoffs."

Meanwhile, business and technical majors are likely to see the most demand, particularly as Wall Street resumes hiring.

A recent survey from 7city Learning, a financial-services training company, found that 76% of Wall Street firms plan to hire more recent graduates than a year ago.

Certain regions of the nation are expected to do better than others. At the University of Texas at Austin, the communications school attracted 77 employers at its spring career fair, up from 51 last year. Meanwhile, Facebook Inc., which is opening an office in Austin, has been collecting student resumes to help fill 60 jobs.The country's south central and northwest regions are expected to increase hiring more than other areas.But with such a competitive market, the biggest worry for hiring experts is that students will give up on their job search without ever starting. In some cases that means heading straight to graduate school, an investment that is only likely to pay off if students know what they want to study and why that will better position them to land a job in the future. Graduate-school enrollment rose 6% last year and will likely continue to rise this year.

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Six Tips to Land a Summer Internship

The summer internship and summer job outlook looks bleak for college and high school students. Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that the percentage of 16- to 19-year-olds who'll get summer jobs this year will be even lower than last year's record low 28 percent, according to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. Just a decade ago, nearly half landed summer work.

But just because the odds are tough doesn't mean you and your kids should be discouraged - it just means you need to have a good strategy and work a little harder. An intern's foot in the door can be a giant step toward a real job post-college, and unless the economy picks up speed in a hurry, your children are going to need any advantage they can find as they enter the workforce. "The pressure is on and competition is fierce," says Ellen Gordon Reeves, Harvard graduate and author of Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview? Finding, Landing and Keeping Your First Real Job.


Some internships pay, some are unpaid, and some you'll pay for, since many colleges now require tuition in exchange for course credit for internships in students' chosen fields. We grilled employment experts and recent grads to find out how to beat the odds and land a position. Here, then, is the college student's six-step action plan for landing a summer job or internship.

1. Network Strategically

"Stop sending your resumes into cyberspace. It's a black hole," says Reeves. To help zero in on the right contact at a place you want to work, figure out who you know who can give you a leg up. Given the competition, you need to make actual contact with a human being to have a fighting chance. Can't think of anyone? Here's where cyberspace can help out: Tweet and post on Facebook: 'I'd love to intern at Sirius Radio. Does anyone know someone who has worked or interned there?'"

Your web of relationships is the single most powerful tool you have at your disposal when it comes to landing this job - and every other job you get for the rest of your life.

University of Michigan senior Corey Friedberg brainstormed with housemates to exchange contacts and skillfully worked his various networks. "It has helped me to leverage my relationships," says Friedberg. "I've used every contact, from my father to the recruiters I met on campus." His diligence paid off. As a junior, Friedberg landed a summer internship at Bloomberg Financial in New York City. The company offered him a job after he graduates, but so has an investment bank. He's going with the bank.

(Parents of teens should network, too. Ask your eighth-grade daughter's friend's dad if he could talk to your son about internship opportunities at his company. It's just a conversation, not a commitment.)

2. Push Your Passion

"I've always been a political junkie," says Hannah Lloyd, who graduated from Washington University in St. Louis last spring. Lloyd knew she wanted to get into politics after college, so in February 2009 she started applying for House of Representatives internships online and then spent her spring break in Washington, D.C., handing out resumes. "I wasn't connected in Washington, but I'm very driven and motivated," she says. Lloyd landed an unpaid internship the summer after graduation with Rep. Russ Carnahan, a Democrat from Missouri. The internship led to a paying job as a staff assistant for the Senate Armed Services Committee.

3. Mine the Web

One way to use the web for an internship search is to hone in on the most targeted Web sites for the field you hope to pursue. Alexander Altvater, a Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management major who graduated last year from Clemson University, logged onto the Student Conservation Association site to apply for his summer internship at Congaree National Park in South Carolina. The internship helped propel Altvater into becoming a park ranger for the National Park Service.

The other way is by using a broad database site such as Internships.com, Indeed.com, or, if you want to spend your summer overseas, GoAbroad.com. With these, after you type in the type of internship you want and the location, the site pulls up every match it has. If you'd prefer to intern at a nonprofit, try Jobs.change.org, an offshoot of the social entrepreneurship site, Change.org.

4. Research All Your Options

Make a beeline to Web sites of all the companies you'd ache to work for, read every word in their "job and internship opportunities" areas, and then pursue a few prospects relentlessly. Piggyback any networking possibilities and remember: Persistence and virtual pavement-pounding pays.

John Conte, a Penn State senior and captain of the hockey team, began scouring NHL team sites in November of junior year. At the bottom of Tampa Bay Lightning site, he found a lead about an internship. A family friend who worked for the team told him the right person to speak to (see, strategic networking works); Conte ultimately snagged the unpaid gig, along with 19 other interns. "The internship ended up costing me money, but this is a business I would love to pursue," he says.

5. Study Up

Before an internship interview, learn how to walk the employer's walk and talk the employer's talk. At the interview, you'll want to look as though you'd fit in and dazzle the recruiter with your knowledge about his business and industry.

For his financial firm interviews, Friedberg always wore a black or navy suit, a shirt with French cuffs, and a tie, keeping the campus dry cleaner busy. Lloyd knew she had to dress conservatively to be taken seriously for a Capitol Hill internship, so she wore dark pants, a turtleneck and a jacket.

Friedberg always crammed the week before an internship interview, reading the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times to track the markets and get news about prospective employers. "It was definitely very time consuming," he says. "But they'd ask you, 'Where do you think the price of oil is going and why?' You either had to nail it on head or look like a fool."

6. Last Resort: Buy One

This may sound ridiculous, but for a fee of $5,000 to $10,000, an outfit called University of Dreams will guarantee to find an unpaid internship in one of eight U.S. cities or six international spots, or it will refund your "tuition." The cost includes housing, meals, transportation (other than air travel), weekend trips, seminars, and resume-building instruction. "It's almost like a study-abroad program with an internship. Pack a suitcase and fly to London and we'll cover your entire time there," says Scott Bergner, vice president of marketing. "Seventy-five percent of our candidates are being offered positions or being asked to come back and work for the company again," he says.

While the idea of buying an internship sticks in the craw, think of it as an investment. If it results in a job come the spring of 2011, you'll have earned a pretty good return.

This story, by Alice Garbarini Hurley, originally appeared on CBS' Moneywatch.com

Dude, where's my job? College graduates can find career help in many different places

By now it's common knowledge that the job market is suffering. But what does a "tough market" mean for students looking for jobs or internships? Employers are expecting to hire 22 percent fewer graduates from the 2009 class than from the year before, according to projections from the National Association of Colleges and Employer's Job Outlook 2009 Spring Update. With that in mind, it's time for students to start getting smart about the job hunt.

About.com job search expert Alison Doyle said the most important thing students need to do now is visit the career office because it can offer access to many resources, not only for jobs but also for interviewing skills and resume and cover letter writing.

Staci Heidtke, arts and sciences internship manager, said Career Services, 230 Schofield Hall, offers many helpful tools for students looking for internships or jobs. One tool is Career Link, an online database students register for. Employers search the database, often directly contacting the student, she said. Another helpful tool is Ask an Alum, where students can contact alumni, ask informational questions and network, making important contacts.

Steven Rothberg, founder and president of Collegerecruiter.com, the leading job board for college students offering many free online resources to aid the job search, said the biggest thing he can stress to a student looking to land a job is to avoid relying on the Internet to find a job.

"(Students) need to get out from behind the computer," he said.

But that doesn't mean don't use a computer. Rothberg recommended looking at two or three online job boards, targeting niche career paths as well as a desired location. Students should search job openings, set up job match alerts through the site if offered and apply for any job they are qualified for. This should take no longer than a day, he said. After that, students need to stop wasting time perusing the online job boards, he said.

"It's not a productive use of time," he said. "Eighteen months ago it was OK to do it. Well, not now."

Rothberg, who has been through three recessions, said he sees newcomers to in the job market making the same small mistakes when looking to get hired. In good economic times, Rothberg said employers are more forgiving when reviewing resumes and interviewing applicants; they are financially in a place to be hiring. In bad times however, Rothberg said employers are looking for arbitrary reasons to eliminate candidates for a particular job from the hiring pool simply because they cannot hire as many people.

For this reason, Rothberg has six pieces of advice for the inexperienced job hunter:


Pick a specific industry
One mistake Rothberg said he sees from students is trying to be everything to every potential employer.

"When you do that, you end up being nothing to everyone," he said. "It's the kiss of death." Rothberg said students should pick one specific industry and focus all efforts on 10 to 20 employers within that industry. Rothberg also said resumes and cover letters should be tailored to each of those 10 or 20 employers; no one should ever receive the same copy of a resume or cover letter.


Incorporate the "lingo"

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http://media.www.spectatornews.com/media/storage/paper218/news/2009/03/09/Moneyhealth/Dude-Wheres.My.Job-3664859.shtml

Make Sure Your Facebook Profile Doesn't Lose You A Job

Do you use Facebook? I do too -- and so do a heck of a lot of other people. Including my mom, and my former boss.

Employers are increasingly using Facebook (and other social networking sites) to check up on potential and current employees. People have been disciplined at work, have missed out on job positions, or have even been dismissed due to comments they've left on Facebook and similar sites.

In the credit crunch times, you can't afford to have anything working against you. Here's how to make sure your Facebook profile isn't visible to your boss - and how to clean it up if necessary...

Step 1: Check Your Privacy Settings
Do you know who might be reading your Facebook profile? Are you really certain that it's only limited to those people who you've accepted a Friend request from? Log into your account, click the "Settings" button on the top left: then look at the "Networks" tab:
Like me, you might well be in two or more networks - probably a school one(mine's Cambridge University) and a regional one (mine's London - so pretty huge). Have a quick glance at the numbers of people in those networks: 44 thousand at Cambridge and three MILLION in London.

Hang on a minute ... "My Networks and Friends"? Well, I've got three hundred or so friends on Facebook -- but my networks cover three and a half million people: all of whom are either graduates of the same university (so high on my list of potential networking contacts), or people who live in London (where, if I was looking for another full-time job, I'd be seeking employment).

As you can imagine, giving potential bosses (and your past professors - people who might write you a reference) access to your entire profile could be a no-no. I don't actually use Facebook a lot and the few obligatory drunken photos of me aren't particularly risque, so I'm not too bothered who can see my information. But if you pack your profile with rude quotes, if your status update regularly includes how drunk/stoned/lazy you are, and if the photos of you are ones you'd never want to be posted on the office noticeboard ... you might want to limit all of the information in your profile to friends only.

Why Should I Bother?
When an employer decides to check you out on Facebook prior to interviewing you, they won't be able to see your profile, photos of you, and so on. The first impression they get of you will be a professional one from the interview. Leaving your Facebook profile open to them is a bit like inviting them to come and nose around your home (when it's at its most untidy, with your stack of dodgy magazines left lying around...)

And if you doubt that employers do make these checks, here's food for thought from an article on "Facebook Can Ruin Your Life" from the Independent (a UK newspaper) - emphasis mine:

At Cambridge, at least one don has admitted "discreetly" scanning applicants' pages – a practice now widespread in job recruitment. A survey released by Viadeo said that 62 per cent of British employers now check the Facebook, MySpace or Bebo pages of some applicants, and that a quarter had rejected candidates as a result. Reasons given by employers included concerns about "excess alcohol abuse", ethics and job "disrespect". 


Do you want to risk missing out on your dream job because of your Facebook profile?

Step 2: Cleaning Up Your Profile
You might not want to limit access to your profile to only your friends, if you use Facebook for a lot of networking. Or, you might have a lot of "friends" who've added you because they read your blog, or because they knew you in kindergarten: you never know when one of these friends might be a useful ally, a potential employer or mentor.

And although your profile might not contain anything too dreadful (such as admissions of just how you ended up leaving your previous job), things which seem perfectly innocuous could still cause employers to decide to pass on you. The recruitment site www.onrec.com offers ten top turn-offs for employers who are performing discreet background checks using Facebook and similar sites:

  Top ten turn-offs for employers on social networking websites

  1. References to drug abuse
  2. Extremist / intolerant views, including racism, sexism
  3. Criminal activity
  4. Evidence of excessive alcohol consumption
  5. Inappropriate pictures, including nudity
  6. Foul language
  7. Links to unsuitable websites
  8. Lewd jokes
  9. Silly email addresses
  10. Membership of pointless / silly groups


And from the New Zealand Herald:

  Interestingly, employers were not just concerned about alcohol or drug use, or inappropriate photos. They also used the information posted to identify those with poor communication skills, and inaccurately stated qualifications. Bad mouthing of former employers and colleagues was also identified as a concern in a large number of cases.

  So it's worth cleaning up your profile to get rid of anything that's not contributing to the impression you want to give to employers, business colleagues and other contacts - anything which undermines or contradicts your personal brand.


I'm going to focus on two key areas that could be letting you down: "Your Info" and "Your Photos".

Your Info

Click on "Profile" in the top bar, then on "Info":

Have a good read through what's listed there. You might want to update old information (I'm awful at doing this...) You may need to self-censor some of your "favorite music" or "favorite movies", if you have somewhat extreme tastes in either. Think about who might read your profile here: if you're going for a job with a right-wing political or charity body, a long list of slasher/horror movies and death metal music might not go down too well, but it could be just the thing if you're trying to land a job with a design agency that prides itself on "alternative" styles and creating shocking, engaging concepts.

Some quick tips that might help you are:

  * Get rid of any silly, profane or potentially bigoted (racist/sexist/etc) group memberships

  * Try to list some favorite books, not just films and music. Employers will be impressed if you look well-read.

  * Make your Quotations ones which are funny/profound, not all lewd jokes that your friends made after a few drinks..

  * Check for typos and spelling mistakes: these might seem unimportant to you, but they could be sending a negative impression to potential employers

Your Photos

Click onto the "Photos" tab. This will show everything which someone's tagged with your name. It's worth going through every single one, and untagging it if it's not something you want to be associated with! Again, use your own judgement here: an unflattering shot might be a disaster if you're trying to become a supermodel, but could be an actual asset if you're aiming for a career in stand-up comedy...

Click on the thumbnail to view a photo full-size, and click the "Remove tag" link next to your name (at the bottom, under the photo) to remove the tag - meaning snoopers can't find that photo of you:

For most of us, photos to look out for are:

  * Photos where you look drunk/stoned/comatose (even if you were "just caught at a bad angle, honest")

  * Photos containing a number of "unsuitable" looking friends

  * Photos where someone's put a really dodgy caption about you (sadly, employers may decide against you based not only on your profile, but on what your friends seem to be like).

  * Any photos containing evidence of illegal or semi-illegal activity - especially if your employer or school could penalise you for it

Why Should I Bother?

Current employers (or your university/school) may check up on your Facebook profile. The Independent article mentioned the unfortunate case of:

  Kevin Colvin, an intern at Anglo Irish Bank, who told his employers he had a family emergency, but whose Facebook page revealed he had, in reality, been cavorting in drag at a Hallowe'en party.


Photographic evidence can also be used to catch student culprits:

  Oxford University proctors disciplined students after pictures of them dousing each other in shaving foam, flour and silly string in post-exam revelry were found on their Facebook pages. 


Step 3: Keeping Your Profile Clean
Once you've limited access to your profile and cleaned it up, you need to keep it safe for work. In my last full time job, my boss was "friends" with a number of my co-workers: this calls for considerable caution! If you have parents who are paying your tuition fees, you might want to make sure your Facebook account gives the impression that you're making the most of their money (rather than partying constantly...)

Some good points to pause for thought are:

  * When setting your status. Do you really want to declare that "John thinks work SUCKS" or that "Jane is thinking of throwing a sickie?" Even something a bit less obvious, like moaning about a difficult client, could rebound badly on you.

  * When uploading photos. Is it really something you want your office colleagues to see? Or your mum?

  * When commenting on other people's photos, wall, etc. Think about what your words might convey to someone who wasn't in on the joke or the conversation. Would you look bigoted, illiterate or plain nasty?

It's also unwise to use Facebook while at work - your actions are time-stamped, so if your boss sees that you've been updating your account at 11am when you should've been hard at work, s/he's unlikely to be impressed.

Why Should I Bother?

Thoughtless use of Facebook has led to people losing their jobs in the past (though this is usually due to admission of some serious wrong-doing, such as theft from the company). Even if you don't get sacked, you might have to face up to consequences.

I'll leave you with the cautionary tale of Kyle Doyle, a call center worker who pulled a sickie ... and bragged about it on Facebook:

  Kyle Doyle, a 21-year-old resolutions expert for telecommunications firm AAPT, bragged about his day off on the social networking site while telling his employer he was away for "medical reasons".

But he was found out when his boss spotted this Facebook profile update on the day in question, August 21: "Kyle Doyle is not going to work, f*** it I'm still trashed. SICKIE WOO!"

So ... head on over to Facebook, and check out the employer-friendliness of your profile. Let us know what you decide to change (or whether you look squeaky-clean already) -- but don't say anything too incriminating in the comments. Remember, bosses read Dumb Little Man too...

[Ali Hale] Written on 2/24/2009 by Ali Hale. Ali runs Alpha Student, a blog packed with academic, financial and practical tips to help students get the most out of their time at university. Photo Credit: facebook

Original Article - http://www.dumblittleman.com/2009/02/make-sure-your-facebook-profile-doesnt.html