How to Navigate an Uncertain Economy as a Career Starter

July and August are big transition points in the labor market as many people enter the workforce. New graduates are landing jobs. Some people are re-entering the workforce as their kids leave home. Here at LinkedIn, we call these people career starters and we take an annual look at how the job market is shaping up for them.

LinkedIn News Editor Gianna Prudente is one of the lead authors of that report. She joined the latest episode of the Get Hired podcast to review the findings and share the lessons she learned from her reporting.

You can read a transcript of the conversation below. You can also listen to the episode above or by clicking here .

TRANSCRIPT: How to Navigate an Uncertain Economy as a Career Starter

Andrew Seaman: May, June and July bring a lot of transitions. The weather changes, kids are on school break, business slows down, and a whole new group is trying to enter the workforce. Here at LinkedIn, we call them career starters, and we take an annual look at the work landscape for these people. We're talking all about it on today's episode. From LinkedIn News, this is Get Hired, a podcast for the ups and downs and the ever-changing landscape of our professional lives. I'm Andrew Seaman, LinkedIn's Senior Managing Editor for Jobs and Career Development, bringing you conversations with experts who like me, want to see you succeed at work, at home, and everywhere in between.

Okay. Many people are trying to enter the workforce right now, recent college graduates, high school graduates, people whose children are leaving the house and many others. Each year, LinkedIn dives into our data to find out what the world of work, especially when it comes to hiring, looks like for these career starters. Gianna Prudente, who is my colleague here at LinkedIn News and writes about the world of work for Gen Zers, is one of the lead investigators for that report. She joined me to talk about what we found and what she learned from the data. So why don't you tell us, first of all what the career starters report is?

Gianna Prudente: Absolutely. Each year, LinkedIn puts out our data backed Guide to Kickstarting Your Career, which highlights the fastest growing jobs, industries, and regions to launch your professional journey. And this year we looked at two different data sets. We looked at data for people with bachelor's degrees and then also for those without, so a non-bachelor grad is somebody who maybe received an associate's degree as their latest form of training or an apprenticeship.

Andrew: We're not just talking about recent grads. It could be people who maybe their kids have gone off to college or graduated and now they're reentering the workforce. It's pretty much for anyone who wants to get back into the workforce, right?

Gianna: Absolutely. You could be a mid-career professional who just went to college and received your bachelor's degree, we classify you as a career starter.

Andrew: Obviously it's not an ideal time to be entering the workforce like it was maybe a year ago, but it's still better than 2020 when all these people basically graduated during the height of the pandemic. So what did the report find when it came to where there is actually growth? Like where can these people find jobs?

Gianna: So we looked at job functions, industries, and regions. So for job functions, the fastest growing roles for bachelor grads were product management, consulting and purchasing. Those were the top three fastest growing jobs. Industries, we saw professional services industry, which includes fields like accounting and management consulting. That industry hired the most bachelor grads in 2022, followed by healthcare and manufacturing. And then for regions we saw growth in Seattle, Washington, Houston, Texas, and Hartford, Connecticut.

Andrew: Wow, that's really interesting. And when it comes to actually getting a job, what are employers looking for?

Gianna: It's not just the work experience you've had, whether it be internships, you really need to open up that and think about volunteer work, coursework. Everything you've done on and or off campus or in your personal life through volunteering is applicable experience for any of these industries or job functions. So broadly, looking at experience is important, but also skills those can be gained in volunteer work, your courses, internships, and really looking at soft skills. So when you think about product management, somebody in that role really uses critical thinking and analytics skills, problem solving skills and communication. And those are in demand across industries. So what's really great about the job functions is you could be, let's say a product manager in healthcare and then pivot in a few years to product management and tech if that's what you're interested in. So a lot of transferable skills are in demand for these industries and job functions.

Andrew: And I think that's something that people need to be aware of because sometimes it just takes a different frame of mind to say, "I'm not going to work in that industry right now, but I could still do my job function somewhere else." And that opens up a whole new avenue of job opportunities.

Gianna: Absolutely. And I think that relates to industries and also the type of company. You could go to be an accountant at a startup and then you can go join a large employer. So there's a lot of opportunities with these job functions to explore different company sizes and industries.

Andrew: For the people that you've heard from when they've looked at this report, is it resonating with them, do you think? Is this sort of what they're seeing on the ground too?

Gianna: Absolutely. We speak to career starters for the report. One of the career starters who I spoke to wanted to be a PM in healthcare and was targeting startups in healthcare when she was graduating, but they weren't recruiting at the time she was looking for work. She's like, "I'm not risk averse. I don't want to graduate without a job." It was still pandemic era. So she wanted to have a stable job when she graduated. And so she started looking for PM jobs in the tech and financial services industry and ended up landing a job as a PM at Capital One. So we're seeing that there's career starters who are actually in these roles, who are making those early career decisions to already pivot their job searches before they're even in the workforce.

Andrew: We'll be right back after this break.

Andrew: We're back with my LinkedIn News colleague, Gianna Prudente, talking about ways to kickstart your career.

Okay. So we're talking about LinkedIn's career starters report, and obviously, we use LinkedIn data to compile this. And then one of the things that you do and you do so well is you try and find real world experiences to match with the data because obviously it's one thing to tell people that there are jobs and healthcare and all these other industries, but it's another thing to actually tell them how to get a job there. There were two things that you picked up on that were really important and the first, we talk about all the time in the Get Hired universe, which is networking. So what did you find out about networking when it came to career starters?

Gianna: When you're thinking about where to launch your career or the industry you want to launch your career in, networking with people in that desired industry or who already have made that move just makes you feel so much more comfortable doing it yourself. So somebody who I spoke to was applying to PM roles at a company that had a very intense program and spoke to people who made the move. They had to relocate for this job and were in the program speaking to women and products so she could get that perspective of what was this transition like for you after college? And it made her feel really comfortable going after that role. And so when she landed the job, she already had a supportive network at that company. Somebody else I spoke to was relocating from Canada to Seattle, Washington. Seattle, Washington was the fastest growing region for bachelor grads.

And he was so apprehensive. He's like, "I barely have ever been to the US. I went maybe a few times for vacation, never lived there." So he networked with people ahead of time online to build up that network to support him once he arrived. So networking is important in building a community, but of course also when you think about going after a job, you have to network and reach out to people who are in those positions that you want or higher up at a company and get your name out there. I think what really holds a lot of Gen Zers back from reaching out to, let's say a VP at a company that you really want to join, is this idea of, "I have nothing to prove to this person," but right now, and we've seen this over the last few years, is that every employer wants to know what Gen Z wants out of work. And if you're early in your career, you have that perspective.

Even if you're a mid-career starter, you have that perspective. You're coming into the workforce with fresh eyes. So I think when you're reaching out to people at a company who maybe you don't feel qualified to speak to, ask to learn more about their role and say, "I'd also love to share my unique perspective as a job seeker around what I'm looking for in an employer."

Andrew: Yeah. Now, the other thing that you found out about, and we've been hearing a little bit about that is skills. So what should career starters do when it comes to upskilling and working on their skills?

Gianna: Yeah, I think when you're applying to jobs, showcasing your skills is incredibly important because we know recruiters are searching for candidates by skills amid the rise in skills based hiring. So I think in today's climate where there's not as much stability, it's really important to demonstrate that you can work independently. Two, use your own resources and three, take initiative. And so rather than just listing those as qualities on your LinkedIn or on your resume, think back to coursework, volunteer experience and internships that you might have had fellowships and think, "When have I had this skill and actually put it into practice," and share that example. We know that metrics are important on a resume, so if you can quantify something, quantify it. So really just focus on building your soft skills, which are transferable across industries, and then showcasing those in a quantifiable way.

Andrew: That's great. And obviously part of this report and part of what you do is you write for people your own age, but at the same time, you also reach out to people who maybe have more experience or more time in the workforce to learn what their advice is. So what are the two things that you really found out from people who are maybe in hiring positions, recruiters, and what is their advice for Gen Zers and career starters?

Gianna: So a career coach who I spoke to gave great advice on networking. They recommended reaching out to your alumni network where people who work at your desired companies. And when you're doing this and you start to network, create a list of 20 people you'd like to meet and schedule just 15 minute calls or coffee chats. And she recommends when you go into this networking conversation, bring a one pager that you can leave with the person that covers who you are, what you want to do, and who else you would like to be connected with. So I think that's a really great way to show up to a networking meeting prepared, obviously, this depends. Peer-to-peer networking, you likely don't need this one pager, but if you're going after somebody who's more mid to senior level, going in with a document that shares who you are, what you want to do and who you'd like to be connected with after, is a really great way to show how serious you are about that position.

Andrew: And also the other thing to keep in mind is your mind. See how I did that?

Gianna: I loved it.

Andrew: It can really hold people back in their job search. So what were people saying about that?

Gianna: Yeah, I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to land my dream job. I think we all get very caught up in that. And I've quickly realized no matter how much you love your job, no job is going to be perfect. Sorry Andrew. It's true. Everybody has their bad days. No job is going to be sunshine and rainbows. Accepting the fact that there is no dream job or no job is going to be 100% perfect, really takes a lot of pressure off of ourselves to just take a step back and take a deep breath. When you're graduating college, there's so much pressure coming from your family. I remember my school sent a letter in the mail to my family saying, "She's graduating in the communications field. A lot of people don't graduate with jobs in this field."

It was scary, but they were like, "Don't put pressure on your kids," because it is such a time where everybody's like, "Well, what are you doing next?" And you might graduate and enter the working world without that plan. So I think being open-minded is really important. The first job doesn't need to be exactly what you thought you had to do. Your career is very long. There will be opportunities to go land that job at some point. It's all about getting your start. And what's really important is figuring out what's most important to you at that moment. Is it pay? Is it a purposeful job? A company that gives you flexibility, and that's really what you should use to guide your job search.

Andrew: And then the last thing, obviously it is a weird economy and there are people who maybe they had internship opportunities, they had those pulled back, maybe the hiring process was stopped midway. What was the advice from experts on how career starters should handle those situations?

Gianna: Yeah, it's likely in this time that job offers could get rescinded. Your start day could get pushed back, or even a hiring process might just get cut off while you're in the depths of it. So if your job offer is rescinded, the career expert who I spoke to recommends still including that company on your resume and noting that your offer was withdrawn because of economic conditions. I think this is particularly important. If you're landing a job, let's say at a big name company, you were considered a quality candidate and then the economy took that job opportunity away. Having that big name employer on your resume still and noting, having your offer rescinded is really important.

If you have your start date pushback, obviously that's not ideal, but what you can focus on is making the most of that time, developing new skills, taking courses and making sure that you're best prepared when you do start. And then if your hiring process gets shortened, always keep in touch with that hiring manager because they can help you make new connections down the road. And if it was one of your top companies and they're no longer hiring, that's going to change at some point. So maintaining that relationship, not burning a bridge is really important because an opportunity can come your way down the line if you maintain that relationship.

Andrew: The one time I interviewed with an organization and basically we mutually agreed to stop interviewing halfway through because the salary just wasn't there and there was no wiggle room on that. And what was nice is that I would periodically get people reaching out to me saying that they had these opportunities. And what I found out it was actually the hiring manager from that sort of shortened hiring process because they still thought I was great at what I was doing, and they would just pass my name along if they had friends or something like that in the industry. Just those connections, not burning bridges is really important. Well, thank you so much for joining us, Gianna.

Gianna: Thank you for having me. This was so fun.

Andrew: That was LinkedIn news editor, Gianna Prudente. You can follow her newsletter for young professionals at lnkd.in/ktb, that's lnkd.in/ktb. You can also find that link and the link to the whole career starters report in this episode's show notes. Remember, it's up to you to put our advice into practice, still, you always have a community backing you up and cheering you on. Connect with me and the Get Hired community on LinkedIn to continue the conversation. Also, if you like this episode, take a moment to leave us a rating on Apple Podcast because it helps people like you find the show. And don't forget to click that follow, subscribe, or whatever other button you find to get our podcast delivered to you every Wednesday because we'll continue these conversations on the next episode right here, wherever you like to listen.

Get Hired is a production of LinkedIn News. This episode was produced by Alexis Ramdaou. Rafa Farihah is our associate producer. Assaf Gidron engineered our show. Joe DiGiorgi mixed our show. Dave Pond is head of news production. Enrique Montalvo is our executive producer. Courtney Coupe is the head of original programming for LinkedIn. Dan Roth is our fearless editor-in-chief at LinkedIn, and I'm Andrew Seaman. Until next time, stay well and best of luck.