By JOE POPIS, Solutions News Bureau
According to The Permanent Detour Underemployment Report, “For the four in 10 college graduates underemployed in their first job, the cycle of underemployment becomes progressively more difficult to escape. Workers who were initially underemployed were five times more likely to remain so after five years than those who were not underemployed in their first job.”
While postgraduate students get their degrees, finding a full-time job that utilizes their skill sets is another aspect. The “real world” comes at postgrads fast, and if they’re not ready for it, it can be a challenge to overcome.
The Report also mentioned, “Overall, women are significantly more likely to be underemployed in their first job: 47% of female college graduates are initially underemployed, compared to 37% of male college graduates.” The outlier of students who have the least chance of being underemployed initially gained degrees in the field of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
What can students do outside of college to decrease their chances of being underemployed? The solution is called networking. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines networking as “the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions.”
Emily Cutlip, a career consultant at Oakland University, dives into the benefits of networking and what it can do for students looking to maximize their value in the marketplace. Not all job opportunities can be found on traditional job sites such as LinkedIn, Handshake, and Indeed.
“Networking allows you access to what some called the hidden job market,” Cutlip says. “Some jobs never go posted, and it’s all about who you know and the connections that you might have to different professionals. I would also say that just being able to network allows you to build your professional brand to be known for certain skills and competencies, and you’re just a little bit more well-known in your field.”
Cutlip mentions that students who develop a network have a better understanding of what is for them. These types of students have more clarity in terms of their careers.
“The skills and experiences you have are certainly very important,” Cutlip says. “I’m not endorsing nepotism by any stretch of the imagination. What I am saying is that students and alumni who have built relationships in their chosen field or fields tend to have a better understanding of their strengths, areas of opportunity, their likes, and their dislikes. They tend to have a clear picture and a clear vision of what they want their future career to look like. So that’s number one.”
“Number two, they’re more visible,” Cutlip says. “They have people who will go to bat for them. They have people who will vouch for them. They have people who will advocate for them and get their resume on the desk of a hiring manager. Referrals are huge when it comes to job and internship searching. That doesn’t mean that you can’t land a great job or internship without a
referral, but it does mean that people who have someone who can speak positively on their behalf tend to have a better shot at that.”
As of December 2021, 41% of college graduates ages 22 to 27 were underemployed, compared with 34% among all college graduates, according to data collected by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Underemployment rates for recent college graduates rose in 2020 as the
COVID-19 outbreak strained the job market, but have since returned to pre-pandemic levels, reported by the Pew Research Center.
Brendan Madigan, a graduate of Wayne State University and current full-time project engineer at Barton Malow, highlights his experience with networking and how it helped him land the career he desired. While attending his high school alumni football game, he interacted with a former teacher, which then helped him set his career in motion.
“I had a conversation with a former teacher regarding my college degree and my goal to work in the construction industry,” Madigan says. “During the conversation, he mentioned that an individual within the alumni network had great success working for Barton Malow. This individual happened to be the father of a current football player and one of my former teammates. In the week following, I reached out to my former teammate and asked if I could speak with his dad regarding internship opportunities and a career in construction. We met for lunch later that month, and I was offered to intern with Barton Malow shortly after that.”
When talking to employers, there is a way to approach it that is more effective than others.
“I think it’s about showing genuine interest in the other person, right,” Cutlip says. “You’re not going to message someone on LinkedIn and be like, ‘Hey, do you have any internships and jobs’? Just straight off the bat, you have to have a little bit of emotional intelligence and read the room and think about how that sounds. So maybe messaging somebody on LinkedIn and saying, ‘Hey, I came across your profile. I’m currently seeking opportunities in the world of PR, and I’m just starting my professional journey. I’m really impressed by your career path. Can I pick your brain’? A nice compliment is not going to hurt anyone.”
Building relationships can happen in various ways. Utilizing social media networking platforms and engaging with others can be another route students and postgraduates can take.
“Another key element of networking on LinkedIn is being visible,” Cutlip says. “So again, networking refers to that broad idea of building relationships in a lot of different ways. That’s what social media is. You can build relationships by seeing people like, comment, react, and share certain content. You get to know them that way. So interacting with other people’s posts and commenting on them like insightful things too. Also, when you’re reacting, you are posting things that people can engage with. That’s another way to build your brand and have that piece of the networking.”
Networking is not a foolproof solution when it comes to escaping underemployment. Cutlip explains it has to be done the right way to be effective.
“For example, cold reaching out to somebody on LinkedIn who you don’t know and just immediately asking for a job is not the right way to network,” Cutlip says. “That’s not building relationships. That’s doing what we talked about before and making it feel slimy. Networking is also not just about that one touch point.”
Cutlip emphasizes keeping relationships going and continuing the relationship after you have connected with individuals.
“You want to keep the relationship alive,” Cutlip says. “It is about sending thank you follow-ups after you meet with somebody. It is about reaching out to somebody when you see something online, or somebody comes into your head and reminds you of them. It’s about keeping those relationships warm. It’s about being intentional as well. That doesn’t mean that you can work with people outside of your field. That’s a good thing as well to help broad network, but there needs to be an intention behind it.”