Help Your College Graduate

PeopleHirePeople received a phone call from a baby boomer mother. She was referred to PeopleHirePeople by another area recruiter. Despair was in her voice. My husband and I feel we have done all the right things and contacted everyone they knew. We did not anticipate our two grown college graduates living with us after graduation. Mom has two twin sons who graduated in December and now seven months later one is still unemployed.

The employed twin wanted to go to law school but was encouraged to work at a law firm first. Dad had that connection. The other twin graduated with a business degree from a state university.

PeopleHirePeople asked what the son was doing to gain employment. Mom said he is online making applications. PeopleHirePeople responded “That is his first mistake.” Next PeopleHirePeople asked how the university was assisting. The response was that the university sends announcements of job fairs. The twin attends the job fairs and comes home to inform his parents, “The companies tell you to apply online so there is no reason to attend.” For US Gen Yer’s unemployment rate is 17% which is the under 25 population.

What kind of job would be of interest to the twin? The response was marketing and his real interest is photography. In these recessionary times, companies are looking for the best bang for their buck so many companies hire smaller local marketing/pr firms. This is one avenue for the twin’s niche hunt. Secondly the hunt can combine the areas of marketing, films and photography. PeopleHirePeople encourages mom to assist her son in the research and suggest the following activities starting with professional associations for contacts.

Activity #1: A first online search engine with the words: film plus the twin’s state of residence. Once on the state film’s commission website, refer to the state commissioner who is named on the website. The twin should call and visit with the commissioner for referrals and to learn the key player companies. There is also a form to fill out in order to receive the film commission’s e-newsletter. Receiving the e-newsletter will give the twin industry companies and names within those companies to contact directly for job leads.

Activity #2: A second online search engine uses the words: marketing awards plus the state of the twin’s residence. This produces the state’s chapter of the Business Marketing Association. The twin can start by reading the latest articles and press releases about the association’s events. Local guest speakers, attending members and even photos of those in attendance are featured. He can pick up the phone and call these industry contacts mentioned selecting the smaller firms first as 7 out of 10 jobs are created by small businesses.

Activity #3: The Business Marketing Association’s state chapter directory is accessible on the website by business type, company name and association members’ names. The twin should study those businesses in his geographic area. Each business listing has their address, marketing specialization and the company contact. Simply call into companies in niche markets.

Activity #4: The Business Marketing Association’s state chapter website has latest list of key sponsoring members, new members, and trustees. All can be contacted with phone calls.

Activity #5: For face to face industry networking opportunities the event scheduled should be research. On event “MeetUps” looks promising which is the 7th Annual Summer Toast as students can attend for half price admissions at a local club/restaurant. Other events listed are roundtables, seminars, auctions, awards, golf and webinars. The twin might volunteer for events listed in activity #5 in order to meet members in an official capacity.

Activity #6: Pursue video production companies that specialize in the infomercials a fast growing trend focusing on entertaining through interviews and paid programming. New “docu-drama” infomercials feature before and after case scenarios. A search engineer key word search: Infomercials, state name and companies produced a local directory ProductionHub.

First, it is important to make sure your child is enrolled in the best program, whether it is one of the many online degree programs available, such as UOPX or an on-campus program, so to set them up right for their future careers.  After graduation from their program, college or university, PeopleHirePeople then suggests parents encourage their new college graduates to become proactive in direct people connections. 85% of jobs are not advertised and the only means to find out about them is conversing with industry professionals “in the know”! Assist your new college graduate to be a Peoplefinder versus a job board surfer.

Kathleen Conners specializes in people connections for job search. She developed PeopleHirePeople “where to hunt”, “who to contact” & “what to ask” strategies. Kathleen is a full time recruiter and a guest lecturer to MBA programs at major universities. Her book, The Thrill of the Hunt: Get Real in Your Job Search can be directly purchased from www.authorhouse.com. Additional information and articles: http://www.peoplehirepeople.com/ and blog: http://www.peoplehirepeople.com/PHPBlog/ Copyright 5/09

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