The survey included 378 students graduating from either a four-year (78 percent) or two-year college program.
“It’s actually what we have continued to see over the years, regardless of the economy,” she said.
“A lot of college students are in a bubble and don’t even think about jobs until two weeks before graduation. Some of them are still trying to figure out exactly what they want to do.”
For business and finance majors, they are definitely late to the party, as recruiters typically visit campuses to seek out potential job candidates during their junior year. Those fields are usually the first to hire, noted Toothacre, as well as anything in the health care and engineering industries.
Toothacre is also a career coach and has spent many years in college career offices, designed to help students navigate their way from college to the working world. She said that many of them either don’t realize how the career offices can help or are just too busy with classwork.
“A lot of them are focused on trying to get through final exams and are not thinking about next steps,” she said.
Despite a lack of preparedness, one in five students say they expect to earn $70,000 or more in their first job out of college.
“While that number is realistic when you’re talking about the cost of living, it’s not the reality when it comes to starting salaries,” added Toothacre. She said graduates should probably expect more in the $45,000–65,000 range, depending on where the job is located. Major metropolitan areas tend to offer higher salaries, but rents are also substantially higher.
Some roles, such as sales or real estate, offer unlimited earnings.
“I’ve had some students who want to work in real estate and make a quarter of a million dollars the first year,” Toothacre said. “They have a ‘sky’s the limit’ mindset. Then there’s the political science majors who say they’d be happy with just $50,000 a year.”
For business and communications majors, the salaries are slightly less at $65,276 and $60,353, respectively.
The top five degrees in demand in today’s marketplace are finance, computer science, accounting, business administration, and information sciences.
Most Graduates Won’t Seek Fully Remote Jobs
The ResumeTemplates.com survey indicates nine in 10 graduates will not seek fully remote positions.Numerous published reports have continually recognized the love of remote work by Generation Z (ages 13–28).
“This population missed out on internships during the pandemic, so I think most of them are now eager to get back into an office,” Toothacre said. “I think they want the experience, the human interaction, and they want to learn by observing.”
Stacey Cohen, founder and CEO of Co-Communications, a public relations and marketing firm in New York, has written two books designed to help college graduates market themselves and stand out with their own brand. “Brand Up: The Ultimate Playbook for College & Career Success in the Digital World” and “Brand Up 2.0: Propel Your Early Career Success” were inspired by her daughter’s college journey and the intense competition in admissions and ultimately securing a job.
“Right now, it’s a difficult market out there, and college graduates need to have the best approach and mindset to get their foot in the door,” Cohen told The Epoch Times.
“They need to be able to answer that million-dollar question, ‘Why Choose You?’ so they can get to the top of the list.”
In her books, Cohen walks graduates through a three-step process of “discover, develop, and deliver,” which involves a self-audit and determination of unique values.
“A lot of people step over the discover stage, but it’s just like marketing a product,” she said. “Personal branding is finding out your biggest asset that you can offer for a job.”
Cohen noted that the next step is to broadcast the information to the right people.
“A lot of kids I’ve talked with send out hundreds of resumes but just aren’t getting the results they want,” she said.
“The competition is fierce, and today, you’re dealing with AI bots that are reviewing those resumes. You want to be sure to customize both your cover letter and resume, using key words listed in the job description.”
Including any part-time work or volunteer experience is key to being considered for a job, Cohen said. She suggests potential job candidates create their own simple websites to showcase their work.
Regarding interviews, Cohen believes in-person meetings are always better than virtual ones. If the job is located far away and virtual is the only option, her tips include having a clean background, dressing professionally, and looking directly into the camera at the interviewer.
“The most important thing is to be personable and create some common ground with the interviewer,” she said. “You can’t go in there like a robot.”
Cohen also recommends sending a “thank you” email within two hours after the interview.
“You want to be that one in 100 people—you don’t want to be in the pack of 99,” she said. “Enthusiasm and curiosity are always key.”
Of those surveyed who have begun the job-seeking process, 41 percent have found a job. Of the students who have secured a job, 81 percent landed full-time roles, while about 20 percent will be working part time.
More than 22 percent of the jobs were found through LinkedIn, 20 percent through their colleges’ career centers or academic networks, and 17 percent through personal connections.
