College Graduate- 17 Years of Education but no job experience or skills (degrees, school)
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My nephew graduated from college in the Spring and is sitting at home with his fancy History Degree trying to figure out what to do now. He was a great student. Nearly a 4.0 all the way through school and college. His parents told him that getting a high GPA was the most important thing in life and so he never worked any type of part time job or internship ever. He only knows how to study and take tests and write papers.
Once he graduated he wrote a letter to every large company in his hometown and asked for a job as a "management trainee" He is still waiting for a reply.
Do you know many young people in their early 20s like him? Great students with no work experience at all or any grasp of the world of work?
Did he participate in any extracurricular activities? Anything relating to his major? Maybe he should try to get an unpaid internship in something relating to history just for the work experience. Then that could potentially turn into a full-time position, or at least make his resume look better for other opportunities. Also, it's almost always more difficult to get jobs with liberal arts degrees like his.
To be honest, that was pretty terrible advice from his parents. I'm surprised his advisors at school didn't tell him to get involved to have a more well-rounded resume. I just graduated college and my advisors ALWAYS pushed us to get involved in extracurricular activities. We were required to have an internship to graduate. Everyone always said that while grades are important, a B student with internships and leadership positions in extracurricular organizations is a more appealing job candidate than a straight A student that did nothing but go to class and study.
My nephew graduated from college in the Spring and is sitting at home with his fancy History Degree trying to figure out what to do now. He was a great student. Nearly a 4.0 all the way through school and college. His parents told him that getting a high GPA was the most important thing in life and so he never worked any type of part time job or internship ever. He only knows how to study and take tests and write papers.
Once he graduated he wrote a letter to every large company in his hometown and asked for a job as a "management trainee" He is still waiting for a reply.
Do you know many young people in their early 20s like him? Great students with no work experience at all or any grasp of the world of work?
History degree and no work experience. There's his problem. And no I don't know anybody in their early 20's like this. That's terrible advice from the parents, by the way. First of all, he needs to broaden his job search beyond "management trainee." Right now, he just needs to get job experience period. Therefore, he needs to take any job he can find, even if it's not his "dream job." Secondly, he needs to network, network, network. Getting jobs these days is more about who you know than what you know. Networking is crucial. Believe me, I wish I would've this when I graduated from college. Lastly, somebody needs to teach him how to job search because he is approaching it the wrong way. With most companies these days, especially large companies, the only way to apply for jobs is online. His letters are probably getting thrown away before they even reach HR. On a related note, I've applied for jobs where the company explicitly states that they will NOT accept anything by mail.
History degree and no work experience. There's his problem. And no I don't know anybody in their early 20's like this. That's terrible advice from the parents, by the way. First of all, he needs to broaden his job search beyond "management trainee." Right now, he just needs to get job experience period. Therefore, he needs to take any job he can find, even if it's not his "dream job." Secondly, he needs to network, network, network. Getting jobs these days is more about who you know than what you know. Networking is crucial. Believe me, I wish I would've this when I graduated from college. Lastly, somebody needs to teach him how to job search because he is approaching it the wrong way. With most companies these days, especially large companies, the only way to apply for jobs is online. His letters are probably getting thrown away before they even reach HR. On a related note, I've applied for jobs where the company explicitly states that they will NOT accept anything by mail.
And in order to apply for jobs online he needs a resume. But since he only ever focused on getting good grades, he doesn't have anything to put on the resume.
did he go to career fairs and recruiting events his junior and senior years? if he's just starting to look for jobs now its way late. he should consider going back to his campus when they have their fall career fair.
... while grades are important, a B student with internships and leadership positions in extracurricular organizations is a more appealing job candidate than a straight A student that did nothing but go to class and study.
Damned straight! As a small business owner-manager myself, I hired dozens of kids just graduating from college -- often recruiting at colleges and always talking directly to the deans. For most positions a B average was fine. A 3.5 gpa got you fast tracked to middle management positions. But if you had no experience at all -- not in the private sector, not as an intern, not in extracurricular organizations -- your chances of being hired by me was nil. I wanted well-rounded employees, not geeks.
Your nephew needs to pound the pavement and find a way to talk to business owners/managers/HR departments. Waiting for an answer may not be enough in today's marketplace. And he needs to work. He can volunteer to work for nothing for a couple weeks if it'll get his foot in the right doors. Or he can work for MickeyD. He's at a disadvantage and needs to forge ahead a little harder than most, who have *some* work experience.
HISTORY? Most of the students with parents that have the foresight to guide their children through higher education also tell them that a history degree will not get mega job offers.
Reminds me of the article where the writer screamed that even in this economy Ph.Ds are having tough times finding jobs. What was the featured Ph.D in? History.
it is going to be tough, very tough and somewhat similar to me. I graduated with a super useful English degree and some internship expereince- though not much.
If he has trouble writing up a resume, use the career consulers at school, get that in order. Yes even if he has no internship or job expereince at least having a decent resume is step one.
Broaden his search- Kudos for not being stuck too "I studied history I only want to do history". Many of these managmenet trainee programs will only take you if you had some prior expereince (believe me I know), cashier, retail etc... Still keep applying for the managment trainee jobs but don't wait months for that job to come in. Look into yes I know every college grad hates it, look into minimum wage work, the Target, Best buy etc... Just something, something he can put on his resume.
Beleive me Job+Degree, even if the job is minimum wage looks a lot better than Degree alone. If he is having no luck finding the minimum wage job then look into volunteering. However unless the volunteering opportunity is really top notch-still keep looking for work whilst volunteering.
Because of the disservice your nephews parents did to him they now must shoulder the burden brought about due to it.
He most likely will have be living at home searching for a job, any job to bring in money.
The companies your nephew wrote to are most likely overburdened with applications from those that have years of experience.
These 20 to 40 somethings will be given hiring preference first before a history graduate with absolutely no work experience.
I have a feeling he's going to be at home for awhile.
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