The years between 1995 and 2000 saw the largest economic boom in the history of the world. It was a time when old farts who had previously never used a computer became day-traders and seven year-olds who wanted to do something on the Internet could acquire $75 million in seed capital.
It was also a time when the tables shifted towards employees in the job market. Long unemployment lines had been replaced with enormous banners at Fortune 500 companies shouting “Help Wanted.” It was a time when young graduates were forsaking the proven training grounds of Proctor & Gamble for a better salary and stock options at www.allaboutpeatmoss.com.
Articles were written in prominent business magazines about the “new economy.” Everything was supposed to be changed forever. Talk of shifting paradigms floated about, and everyone truly seemed to believe that the economy would continue to go up forever. This was great news for those still in school, as visions of six-figure incomes and a summer house in Cannes danced through their heads. Companies were starving for people, and the job search revolved largely around picking which offer to accept. Life was good.
Then something happened. Perhaps it was Enron. Perhaps it was 9/11. Perhaps it was just that the economy hadn’t broken free of its cycle and made its inevitable downturn. But some¬thing changed. Venture capitalists began to hold on to their money a little tighter. Dot-com companies stopped folding. People were getting laid off by the thousands. It turned out the world hadn’t broken free of economic cycles after all.
The Market Changed, But We Didn’t
An unfortunate byproduct came from the boom of the late 1990’s. At universities across the country, students relaxed. They thought they could coast for four or five or eight years, and they’d find a perfect job for lots of money when they left. When things turned for the worse, many students were blindsided.
Layoffs began to occur at regular intervals. Thousands of people who were betting on stock options and 401k’s to help them retire at 40 were suddenly without work or large portfolios. The job market that once was favorable to employees evaporated seemingly overnight. Companies fired current employees and instituted hiring freezes to prevent new people from coming in. Everywhere, people were tightening their belts.
All of this was bad news for employees, and even worse news for students. Students were graduating with nothing to show for their four years but a mediocre GPA and a beer gut. They were competing for jobs with thousands of other students, as well as individuals with five years of experience, an MBA from a prestigious university, and designer cuff links. The future of tomorrow learned that they could no longer command high salaries or stock options. Many students couldn’t find work at all.
Mass Adaptation
Fortunately, university career centers were ready to help out. Counselor’s appointment books filled up, internship directories were created, and workshops were regularly held to teach resume building and interview preparation skills.
Students are now more realistic about their chances. They know that the job market isn’t stellar, and that they need to work harder than before to land a great job. The market has called for a more realistic, proactive approach to seeking a living after graduation, and students are doing their best.
Mass Marketing Yourself
There’s a problem that lingers, despite the extra effort students are putting in. A large number of them are still experiencing bad luck with their job searches. They’ve had their resumes critiqued, have completed their internship, and have done reasonably well in school. Some go the extra step and join a club, providing them with an extra slot on their resume. So what’s the problem?
I would submit that the problem lies in their assumptions about what employers are looking for. Similar to the majority of people who buy presents for their loved ones, most students adhere to the “shopping mall” approach to job-hunting, and it’s killing their chances. The typical path a student takes when looking for a job is similar, if not identical, to that of every other student competing for the same position. The result is a candidate who is a carbon copy of every other candidate employers look at.
Everyone takes the same standard classes, learns the exact same things, and gets sent out into the real world equipped with all the tools they need to effectively contribute to the business world. Students learn how to make the “killer resume” that employers drool over, complete with “action words” and “objectives” and “proficiency in Microsoft Word.” They post this resume on Internet job sites, send it out via email or snail mail to as many companies as possible, and hand it out in large quantities at career fairs. If they manage to get a first interview, they are calm and collected. After all, they’ve attended an interviewing skills workshop and know exactly how to answer the 100 toughest interview questions.
Standing Out By Doing What Everyone Does
This process is what I call the “shopping mall” approach, and, as many students who’ve used it will agree, it is largely ineffective. The problem isn’t that the students don’t care, because they do. They simply don’t know any better. Just like shopping at a large department store, students are following the crowd, picking out the same gift and hoping it will be memorable.
Think about it. If everyone is told to get good grades and find an internship, and if everyone does in fact do so, how does one student stand out? An internship at Proctor & Gamble certainly would turn heads more than an internship at Bob’s Nursery and Tanning Emporium. But an internship by itself is no longer enough to get you hired.
You must market yourself better. If your resume follows the standard formula and contains the same information that everyone else’s does, how does that make you stand out? Students need to do more. They need to have a Personal Position, one that stands out in a sea of sameness. And they need to do it now.