This is the ‘focused’ job search strategy college grads need

As another class of graduates prepares to enter the job market, the importance of having a well-defined strategy becomes increasingly evident. Just over a million Americans received bachelor’s degrees in 2023, with most individuals seeking employment within 9 months of graduating, according to the US Bureau of Statistics. Spearmint Coaching CEO Fran Berrick joins Wealth! to share her top tips for graduates seeking jobs.

Berrick notes that new graduates often fail to create “a target job description.” She emphasizes the need for a focused approach, as new graduates frequently “leave their search completely online,” neglecting the power of networking and failing to “focus their plan forward.” She notes the importance of understanding what one’s experiences look like “in the actual job market.”

On the AI front, Berrick stresses the need for college grads to go beyond just creating a resume tailored to AI. Instead, she encourages them to focus on in-person networking and truly understanding the job. “The idea here is having as many conversations to exponentially increase your reach and your message, and ultimately find someone who’s going to need your skills and services,” Berrick tells Yahoo Finance.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Wealth!

This post was written by Angel Smith

Video Transcript

Well, over a million people received their bachelor’s degrees last year and the majority of them had jobs within nine months of graduating according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

So to break down how this year’s cohort of college grads can land their dream jobs.

Fran Berwick spearmint coaching.

The CEO is here.

Thank you for joining me this morning.

So, you know, people who are coming, graduating, they’re, they’re wide eyed and looking at this job market here, there was still a tight labor market here.

What is the biggest mistake that new graduates make when they’re first entering the job market?

Um I would say overall, the biggest mistake new grads make is not determining a goal, not creating what I would call a target job description.

There’s lots of data to show that people land a job more quickly and more successfully when they have um a a bias towards action and a goal oriented focus.

Uh The other thing that I I see quite a bit is that they lead their search completely online rather than use uh using their network to focus their, to focus their plan forward.

Um And mostly, and you can understand why this gen Z graduating class of 2024 is, is like, is graduating into an anxious environment and I find many of them are nervous about actually making mistakes in the job.

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I as they, as they apply towards jobs.

And I like to say there are no mistakes here um and lead towards a bias of action.

So Fran let’s break a couple of things down there.

So if you’re a new grad and you’re thinking, OK, my goal, should it be a, a salary amount?

Should it be?

This is the kind of company I want to work for?

Should it be?

This is the CEO I want to work for.

How should they gauge that?

Right?

Well, hopefully, like your last uh uh guest mentioned, you know, the work experience or academic experience they’ve had in college will have led them to understand what I call their unique operating system, uh their strengths and um innate strengths and skills and experience and what that may lead up to and look like in the world of work.

Most universities have great resources um in college career centers.

So if you don’t understand what your playlist would look like, you know, in the actual job market, I would suggest that you use your resources to identify what that might look like as an end result.

If that makes sense, that that does make sense and, and something else that you touched on was networking a lot of people, you know, when they’re fresh out of college, the first thing they do is perhaps, you know, email people on linkedin trying to get a mentor.

What are some of the ways they should really think about networking if they feel like they really don’t know anybody in the industry they want to enter.

Yeah.

No, I look, I think networking, there’s two things I find for my clients once they have an understanding rochelle of what their, what I would call their elevator pitches, what their professional value proposition is.

The whole concept of networking gets a, gets a whole lot easier because they understand what it is that they’re talking about when they present themselves.

Um when I sort of do a deep dive with recent grads, they’re often surprised to understand that they can network or express their goal with professors uh with previous employers uh with friends and family and with the understanding that it may not be them who can offer you a job immediately, but they may know someone um who could refer you to someone who may know somebody.

So the, the idea here is having as many conversations to exponentially increase your, your reach and, and your message and ultimately find someone who’s going to need your skills and services.

And, and you mentioned this thing this about sort of some of the offline things that people aren’t doing and they’re just sort of focusing on an online search.

What is the best mix of that.

Is it sort of an old school cover letter mixed with some of the, the newer things we’re seeing with A I and really landing that dream job, how should we approach it?

Right.

I love that question.

Um I, I think A I is a great tool.

Um But there is lots of data now to show that one of the quickest, most advanced ways of actually land a job is to take your resume off that algorithmic, you know, um hamster wheel and get in front of a real set, a real set of eyeballs, a real person in hr and hiring you do that through warm contact.

So for example, the blend I like to use is if my clients or anybody listening has a target list of top 20 companies that they would love to work for, obviously, you should be applying to every role you see online, but you should also be working on your linkedin contact list or your network contact list.

So when a job comes up at Amazon Google, uh and the advertising agency of your dreams somewhere in health care, you’re already in the mix.

You know, somebody who could maybe even make a referral fee by recommending you, you know, through, through, through hr contacts.

And I find it’s that combination, that 12 punch of the online submission and the warm contact that really gives people an advantage.

Well, people certainly should be taking heed there lots of great advice.

I appreciate you taking the time this morning, Fran Berrick Spear coaching CEO.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.