3 Tips for recent College grads on How to land a Job Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic.
(HBO's award winning show WestWorld)

3 Tips for recent College grads on How to land a Job Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic.

“There will be road blocks but we will overcome it.”-DJ Khaled ??

DJ Khaled's words ring true to college graduates in 2020 who have entered into one of the most challenging career marketplaces in modern times. A quick glance at the job market can be dizzying for working professionals, needless to say for the freshly minted graduate.

Here are 3 tips to help new graduates navigate the job market:

  • Level-Up
  • Connect
  • Create

Level-Up:

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Recent graduates have the opportunity to Level-Up their skills and immerse themselves in the almost infinite amount of free content and conferences that have become available during this age of Zoom.

I call this the choice of Binge Watching vs. Binge Learning. The runtime of Netflix's popular show "The Tiger King" is 7 hours versus the average time of a course on LinkedIn which is 2 hours. While many recent graduates are not just watching television, I do think time acquiring new skills is a high ROI for a job seeker. The amount of offerings from LinkedIn, Coursera, EdX and others is almost limitless. Here for example is a free course on Machine Learning from Stanford University --> https://www.coursera.org/learn/machine-learning

In addition to free courses, there are now a plethora of extraordinary free summits. One great free summit recently was hosted by ASU/GSV on digital learning - link here https://www.asugsvsummit.com/ - similarly the Aspen Institute and the Atlantic Festival have made their conferences free of charge. Many of these conferences also have free digital networking events.

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In addition to the free content and conferences that are available online, a number of universities and colleges are offering their recent graduates free career development courses. Our Florida International University has a course called, SDS 4340 Career Development. SDS 4340 is not your typical course in that it is designed to help recent grads prepare for a successful career. It's fully-online, lasts 5 weeks, and best of all, it's free. Just enroll the semester after you graduate.

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Link to SDS4340 here --> https://acs.fiu.edu/initiatives/success-courses/post-graduation-course/index.html

Connect:

In today’s Covid-19 landscape, job seekers must master the art of digital connection. Fortunately, building a network has never been easier/cheaper/faster than today. Networks are not merely supposed to be 'Clout' they must be based upon authenticity.

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Do anything for clout
They do anything for clout (Anything)"
-Offset

The most important pillar of being a power digital connector in the age of Covid-19 comes from mastery of LinkedIn. There is ZERO excuse for not taking the time during this pandemic to explore all of the features of LinkedIn. This piece has a solid line-up of tips. https://www.lifehack.org/articles/work/10-tips-master-linkedin-way-you-never-imagined.html.

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Success in the career hunt also requires the ability to connect with local digital networks. One such network here in Miami is our Talent Development Network of Miami-Dade which connects students from all 7 academic institutions with businesses looking for paid interns. TDN is funded by the Helios Education Foundation and operated on the behalf of the 7 academic institutions by our FIU. https://tdnmiami.com/home.htm. New job seekers in South Florida can connect with potential paid internships and future employers on platforms like our TDN. Earlier this year we held a "CEO for a Day" event that gave students and job seekers an opportunity to acquire a local CEO as a mentor - pictured above is a Miami-Dade College Student, Paul Douillon meeting his mentor, Marlins CEO, Derek Jeter.

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In most communities around America there are free digital networking events on weeknights. These are often held at co-working spaces and are frequented by successful people that are open to serving as mentors and potential employers. In the age of Covid-19, many of these platforms have gone digital VentureCafe held at the Cambridge Innovation Center in downtown Miami. Every Thursday evening somewhere between 200–600 people gather to hear speakers and also network for gigs and collaboration - all curated by the extraordinary Leighann Buchanan and her wonderful team. Venture Cafe has gone virtual and you can still log-in every Thursday evening here --> https://www.venturecafekiosk.org/event/fdc5fd1d-83af-4af0-9f98-c176ba4422e9/. I can't underscore how important these types of digital convenings can be in building your professional network and can contribute to helping you land a job.

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The final point of digital connection I want to highlight is for job seekers to be on the lookout for company specific digital career days. Recently for example on 9/6/20, Amazon held their annual Career Day. Attendees had the opportunity to learn about the 33,000 corporate and tech jobs currently available across the country, and the thousands of additional hourly positions in the company’s operations network to be announced soon. Amazon also mobilized 1,000 of its recruiters to provide 20,000 career coaching sessions to attendees in a single day. For any job seeker - you have to keep these types of events on your radar. I personally know of several recent college graduates that have gotten job offers coming out of actively participating in these types of digital connection events.

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It isn't just recent college graduates that can benefit from the power of connection - there is also a world of opportunity for folks that might be economically displaced and looking to get up-skilled via a micro-credential for non-degree requiring jobs. One great example of this type of connection is our FIU UpLabs program underwritten by JP Morgan Chase, Microsoft & BAC Florida Bank that provides an opportunity for learners to get up-skilled over 14 weeks for a good job in healthcare. https://uplabs.fiu.edu/curriculum/index.html

Create: 

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In a 21st century economy that has been seized by a pandemic -- another key piece of career competitiveness for recent graduates is to embrace a strategy around becoming a creator.

Specifically what I mean by this, is finding a way to write, present, produce content that can showcase your skills as an emerging professional. I constantly share the advice to new graduates to consider writing short pieces 150-400 word pieces on LinkedIn and Medium to demonstrate their competency and thought leadership on a particular topic -- sadly very few take me up on this vital piece of career competitiveness. That being said --- here is spectacular piece that an undergrad named Simran Anand wrote: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/how-stop-comparing-ourselves-start-thriving-simran-anand/?trackingId=h8zaVQCSRVqHenJfRcn7aw%3D%3D

One person that I frequently think about when I encourage people to create content, is my friend and FIU Alum, Jefferson Noel. Jefferson is an accomplished author and motivational speaker -- but he started cultivating and creating his personal brand during his time as a student. Today Jefferson is a successful educator and entrepreneur. https://jeffersonnoel.com/about/

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Take the time during this unusual economy to build up your freelance portfolio. In the current job climate, there are a number of companies that are taking pieces of their budget for full-time employees and putting out gig related work on platforms like UpWork and Fiverr. As you are looking for full-time employment, it might wind up being a good strategy to also try your hand at going after gig economy opportunities. While gig related work can seem daunting --- most recent college grads have marketable skills from graphic design, to editing, to even meme creation that someone on the free market is willing to compensate you for. Here is a quick piece with advice on how to get started as a freelancer --> https://www.celarity.com/blog/7-tips-freelancers/

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Conclusion:

The ability for recent college graduates to compete in the changing career landscape will come down to their ability to channel resilience and adaptability to change. The pandemic environment might have removed the ability to physically connect in the form of in-person networking opportunities, but it has opened up the opportunity for all of us to focus on leveraging technology to build deeper forms of authentic human connection with mentors, colleagues and prospective employers.

Leveling-Up, Connecting & Creating are natural extensions of the human attribute of a "Growth Mindset". Job seekers that are willing to reimagine how their skillsets can be applied to the job market will ultimately find long term success in this turbulent marketplace. Whether you are a recent college grad trying to navigate the first step in your career, an economically displaced non-degreed worker, or a seasoned professional looking at the career horizon --- each one of us must embrace the notion of lifelong learning as the only guaranteed way of competing and thriving.

"In the future, we might not all be students...but we must all become learners."-Florida International University -President, Dr. Mark B. Rosenberg
Monikaben Lala

Chief Marketing Officer | Product MVP Expert | Cyber Security Enthusiast | @ GITEX DUBAI in October

2 年

Saif, thanks for sharing!

回复
Umer Rahman

Associate Director at University of Arkansas - University Graduate School & International Education

4 年

A timely piece!

Mili Maldonado Agusty-MA, PHR

#LifelongLearner | Continuing Education | Professional Development | Executive Director

4 年

Excelente! Thanks so much for sharing - I've shared with my kids!

Felecia Hatcher

CEO at Black Ambition | Genius Jam Author | Top Requested Personal Transformation Speaker | White House Champion of Change Honoree | Co-Founder Black Tech Week & Center for Black Innovation | Featured in Forbes, INC,

4 年

Great post! Sharing with our interns

Amira Ishoof

Reaching for the stars every single day. ??

4 年

Fantastic piece!

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