Tips for navigating a tough job market

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Support for Here and Now Anytime comes from MathWorks, creator of MATLAB and Simulink software, to design and develop engineered systems, accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science. Learn more at mathworks.com.
WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

**Sarah Carruthers** (0:22)
Do I need to be the person that will call you and show up in person and be like, I'm a real person, I promise. Like, please just talk to me. I feel desperate.

**Chris Bentley** (0:33)
Job hunting is rarely, if ever, fun. And it's never been easy. But these days, it can be especially bewildering. Today, we've got career advice aimed at recent college grads, but which is really applicable to anyone. It's Friday, June 5th, and this is Here and Now Anytime from NPR and WBUR. I'm Chris Bentley.
College graduates have a lot to celebrate this time of year, except the job market most of them are walking into.
The unemployment rate for people in their 20s is significantly higher than it is for the rest of the workforce. We've been asking recent grads to share their job search experience with us. Here's Addison Hinkle of Boston, who recently graduated with a master's in writing and publishing.

**Addison Hinkle** (1:30)
I already feel behind, and I think that the most sad, disappointing thing is when I tell people I graduated with my master's in writing and publishing, and they get a confused look on their face, like, why would you do that? Or how are you going to find a job? And it makes me sad because I spent the last two years studying something I really love and am passionate about, and I wouldn't trade it for the world, even though I am struggling to find a job right now. I think that there is still hope to be had.

**Chris Bentley** (2:03)
We heard from lots of listeners, like Addison, and we put some of their questions to Judi Umali-Rajkumar. She's a career coach at SMU's Cox School of Business in Dallas, and she told Peter O'Dowd she would sum up the job market for young grads right now with one word, frustrating.

**Judi Umali-Rajkumar** (2:22)
Oh man, hearing Addison's story, this is something that we see all the time, and I've been observing especially post-pandemic, as the market has been evolving.
It is a reality and the things that make the biggest difference now, it is the intention that someone has in implementing and executing a career strategy, and that is something different. I think that people go into their degrees, aspirationally, which is what they always should do. What's changed this time though, is that the degree alone is no longer going to get you the job. It is the degree plus experience. That is what makes it challenging in this particular job market. Hearing someone like Addison, something that I would say is like, let's make sure that the people out there who you want to work with, do they know you and how do they know the type of experience that you bring from your MA degree and also what you were doing before you were in your master's program.
Technology today has made applying a lot easier, but technology has also made it noisier. So straight applying and if you're just getting into your job search, it's going to feel bleak when you get started if your only strategy is, I'm going to throw out some applications. Now the intention means having an actual career strategy plus a network to back you up.

**Peter O'Dowd** (3:44)
Let's go on to our next listener because I think she's getting to this very point. Sarah Carruthers of Kansas City, Missouri, has a master's in learning experience, design and technology. She tells us that her job search has been mostly online. She's had no interviews and she wonders if it's time to hit the pavement.

**Sarah Carruthers** (4:02)
I'm kind of at the point where I'm like, do I need to go back to that? Do I need to be the person that will call you and show up in person and be like, I'm a real person, I promise. Please just talk to me.
I feel desperate. It really is coming to that point. I know other people are feeling that too. But maybe we do need to go back to in-person, knocking on those doors and making those calls.

**Peter O'Dowd** (4:29)
And Judi, if I'm hearing you correctly, the answer is yes, absolutely. You need to be doing those things.

**Judi Umali-Rajkumar** (4:35)
You are correct. The challenge today is people think of networking as going to an event and handing out business cards. And that is not the reality. Networking is truly about relationship building. And as an example, I was talking to one of my contacts at a Fortune 100 organization.