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In college regardless of major how quickly did you get employed?

Usually the purpose of going to college is to get educated in order to qualify for some sort of job/interest you have. However how long did it take to get employed in your field? #job #job-search #career #college

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Roger’s Answer

Armani, I have seen just about everything.  Can I give you a few examples from my own family?


For me, I graduated from the University of Southern California and I immediately had several job offers. But, I was holding out... waiting for the "dream job." I got the dream job seven months after graduating from USC. And I am still in that job today. Love it. Took me 7 months to land the dream job after college.


My oldest daughter graduated from Arizona State University in 2010. Double major... incredible resume and background for a college kid.  She could not find a job!! The US economy was really lousy 8 - 10 years ago with the financial crisis. At the time, my 22-year-old daughter was competing for entry level jobs against 30 year-olds who were laid off in 2009 - 2010. She could not land a job out of college losing out to much more qualified older workers who were willing to take entry level professional jobs. My oldest daughter went back to Arizona State University to get her Masters Degree in Public Administration in a 2-year program. She got her Masters in 2012 and found a job right away. The economy was much better and employment opportunities were much better in 2012.  She went right from a Masters Degree immediately into a meaningful (but not ideal) job. 


And, finally, I have a younger daughter who graduated from Arizona State University in May 2018 with degree in Broadcast Journalism. She spent the summer going to the Indy 500, visiting friends in the Mid-West, going to the beaches in Southern California, visited Texas, camped at Lake Powell/Grand Canyon, and went to France. She is now finally getting serious about looking for a job. She has also received job offers... but she is also holding out for the right opportunity. The economy is fantastic right now. Jobs are plentiful. 


I hope my younger daughter lands something meaningful by the end of the year. I got to get this kid off my payroll.


So, landing a job can happen quickly (especially through internships !!)... or it can take several months. And, depending on the economy and job market -- a meaningful job immediately out of college may not happen at all.  Thus, plan "B" is getting a Masters...

Thank you comment icon Firstly, congratulations on such a great legacy from your children and yourself. Since one of your daughters double majored what advice do you have there? Armani
Thank you comment icon Just texted my oldest kid with your follow up question. She double majored in "Communications" and "Spanish." Here is her response: "Do it. You get to cultivate two interests. You can never be too educated. And never again in your life can you simply focus on learning and exploring academic disciplines." Roger Hancock
Thank you comment icon This is a great response! Love the dialogue here including from your daughter. Jordan Rivera, Admin COACH
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Monica’s Answer

I was an accounting major at Bentley University and I signed a contract for full time employment in the fall semester of my senior year. From my experience at Bentley, I would say that it is pretty common to be able to sign a full time offer during your senior year, before graduating. Best of luck on your job search!

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Ken’s Answer

The amount of time that it takes to get employed is directly related to the amount of interpersonal networking that you do after you determine which is the most appropriate career area for you based upon your personality traits.


Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .


Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
Here are some good tips that will shorten the time it takes to find a job: Job Hunting Tips: https://www.themuse.com/advice/lessons-learned-career-coach-job-searching?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20180202&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20180202&bsft_eid=cd4ef5e1-6246-4e74-957a-ca94ba0a6241&bsft_clkid=84dfbdf1-6fc1-4531-8f74-3b37e4538aef&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=4cb6c9a8-3932-460f-ad22-e80afad9b8c6 Job Search Tips https://www.themuse.com/advice/6-job-search-tips-that-are-so-basic-people-forget-them?bsft_eid=d52278c6-e9fa-4084-bf99-238600f30439&bsft_pid=f11ef5e8-7432-4713-9c56-f8c387057fea&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171013&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171013&bsft_clkid=088dd-aea-b7a7-431a-9ed4-81cbb4a9bf71&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=e1b9cb11-b25f-4859-82bf-14db88934d06&bsft_pp=1 Information Interviewing https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-ask-for-a-jobwithout-asking-for-a-job?bsft_eid=1031335a-60e8-481a-9075-bf57b79c2dc7&bsft_pid=6a015767-7654-4a34-a41a-4d2d1154130e&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20170929&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20170929&bsft_clkid=d3c74cb4-86e9-4f1d-aa80-d46849aeefd7&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=715eb508-8fa0-476f-9193-4d3c143abd3f&bsft_pp=3
Thank you comment icon Here are some tips as to why someone might not be hearing from their applications, These tips will shorten the time it takes to get employed. ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/why-arent-i-hearing-back-about-jobs-im-applying-for?bsft_eid=ce69fe67-a25b-6f0f-46a7-3ca16b93938e&utm_campaign=daily_20180604_full_post_22746&utm_source=blueshift&utm_medium=email&utm_content=daily_20180604_full_post_22746&bsft_clkid=d7ab3c79-d530-4bc5-b220-c198c70827ca&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=e099f609-6470-4917-8466-da23de939177 ## Ken Simmons
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Katie’s Answer

Hi Armani! Before telling you my major, I received my full time job offer coming straight from an internship that I did the summer after my Junior year of college. I signed that offer on September 1st of my senior year. This allowed me to relax during my Senior year in college, as I felt confident that i had a path for myself. Some of my friends took longer due to their major. I was an accounting major, and joined with PwC. Accounting majors happen to have job offers up to a year before they graduate college. Marketing majors on the other hand tend to receive offers later in the year, or in the spring time before they graduate. This being said, normally if you were a solid student in college, and spent your down time and summer connecting with businesses and building your network, you have a good chance of having a full time job offer before you graduate college. I hope this helps!

Katie recommends the following next steps:

Use your summers in college to build your professional network. Apply to internships in fields that you are interested, and hold onto those connections even when the internship is over!
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Megan’s Answer

It all depends on what job you want to pursue after college.

You can very easily find a full time job after graduating, it just may or may not be exactly what you want.

Some people go straight into the workforce, while other decide to go to graduate school, professional school, etc. if that's what their intended career path required.

I would suggest thinking about what field you may want to go into, and from there do some research into how many years of school that job will require.
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