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Is it Realistic to Leverage a College Degree to Obtain a Job?

Congratulations to all of you who obtained their college degree this season! Is your degree leverage for employment? Since it is graduation season, and many college graduates are moving forward with life, how many are actually employed with a job in their major? Too early to tell of course, but those of us in the career space watch these stats as an indicator of the condition of the job market.

The Data on the College Degree

One Forbes article says that unemployment and underemployment for college graduates is a myth. In 2016, some studies showed some law schools with up to 31% of their graduates were unemployed. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics latest report doesn’t feature any of the college graduate employment numbers yet.

Regardless of the number, it is still a wait and see. Nor can anyone use it as an excuse to successfully find a job without doing everything possible.

The Return on the College Degree

My oldest son graduated in December, and in January he was off to the Air Force. That was his plan for the last two years. But he also had two internships before graduating. His plan is to attend graduate school in the next year or two, but in the meantime his job will take him on quite a few travels. Like many graduates, the first plan is to experience, and then explore. And there is nothing wrong with that.

I reflect on this because three years ago, my friend Keith Townsend and I talked about the Return-on-Investment of a college degree. Every few years, I think this is a discussion worth revisiting for any year. At that time we created a video to coincide with the podcast–I think it’s worth watching.

Getting a college degree is a personal thing for some, and for others it’s family expectation. It is worth the discussion to evaluate your career trajectory if it is worth the investment of time and money. But those of us who advise clients if a college is a must have, we will likely answer, “it depends…”

by Mark Anthony Dyson

How to Breathe Life into Your Job Search

Every day can’t be the same whether you have a job during your job search or not. It’s dead. It’s an exercise in utility. What’s worse, you are explaining to your family why you are not getting results. If your job search lacks life, you must diversify your efforts until you yield results. You need others to help, but you must have resolve.

If you’re stuck, I have some suggestions you should try. Maybe a few of them are appealing, but none of them are easy. Perhaps picking two or three could help you and then inspire other ways to get results and an

1. Create a blog

It’s important to control the narrative of your career, and a blog is the best way. Sure there is LinkedIn and other platforms, but any of them could disappear for one reason or another. Mostly, it should be the best place to find and connect with you. At least, you can take people on your journey sharing your lessons learned, opportunities found and mapping out what works and what doesn’t. Season your blog with your competencies but also with personality.

Employers and recruiters see many lifeless profiles and blog, let yours be the one that resonates with them.

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Read It’s all about your personal brand and what you deliver to employers

2. Lead local workshops/lunch learnings or training

There are all types of opportunities to hone your craft or share your expertise. If you are working, you can see how to lead a lunch and learn workshop for your coworkers. There are some cities with eateries with rooms for a luncheon, and you could be the guest speaker. Then again, there are Toastmasters everywhere with lunch meetings. If you’re not shy and join a small Toastmasters group, it’s likely you can get many opportunities to present.

3. Incessant online/offline conversations

Networking is continuous even with little time. To me, networking is about awareness and opportunity. There is not a place where someone somewhere didn’t make a significant contact where it leads directly or indirectly to a job. You will create both awareness and opportunity as you grow intentional and understand your job search will yield results.

Read Job Search in 2017 is Marketing, PR, and Schmoozing

4. Using creativity, audacity, and disruption to reach hiring managers

Unfortunately, many people who guarantee one document or technique will get you an interview. For most people, creating opportunities whether it’s through an intro using LinkedIn to sending a cold email, it’s reliant on your ability to think out-of-the-box.

Stop saying you’ve tried everything! It’s likely you’ve only attempted a few methods.

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5.Reach out to startups

Start-up companies are more likely to skip the formality of large corporations. There are pros and cons to working with smaller companies, but the opportunity to stand out once hiring is tremendous in many cases. They are harder to find but if you’re targeting companies and not spray and pray resumes all over job boards with no luck, this gives you a better chance. It’s easier to talk to people than engage the large company machine.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

It’s all about your personal brand and what you deliver to employers

Personal branding takes time, but it has the best return on investment of your time.

I thought you might be interested in a few job search articles around the web:

If you fail to treat everyone well, there will be doubt how you’ll treat others. This principle applies to your job search.
Preparing for difficult or even tricky job interview questions is hard. This article does an excellent job in helping you prepare for them.
College grads seem to heed preparation advice many of us have shared over the last few years. USAToday reports this is the strongest entry-level job market in years.

New podcast schedule is starting the fall:

I will be going to a new schedule for the fall. I will publish bi-weekly shows instead of weekly ones. However, I will be posting on the blog three times a week instead of twice.

As a reminder, you’ve heard me say recently on the show my podcast summer hiatus is from July 19-Sept. 12. I plan on to enjoy my summer, but I get lots of work at this time too. I have some projects scheduled to need more of my attention. I will continue to publish the newsletter but will every two weeks.

The Job Lab

This past Tuesday night, I conducted the second Job Lab workshop for the Greater Ashburn Community Development Corporation “Aim to Work” initiative. There were five attendees this session and asking about future offerings. We are looking to expand this effort in the future. I hope soon we can do a Facebook Live so we can provide content for those not attending and reach folks who will want to attend live.

Your Degree is not a Golden Ticket

Just because you got a degree doesn’t mean things will just happen. This is the beginning. This is an article I wrote for Job2Careers that tells why and practical things you can do to make the most out of potential opportunities.