There are far too many college students who believe that it will be easy to find a good job after graduation. They think that they will simply submit ten or twelve resumes, take a few interviews and somebody will offer them a good paying job. These students are wrong.

Many students may also have unrealistic ideas about the starting salaries they will receive, their job duties and responsibilities or their status within the organization. They may imagine a short commute, a luxurious apartment, a new sports car and plenty of money for vacations, entertainment and electronics. These students may even turn down job offers that require them to relocate, work long hours or start at the bottom.

Students like this can’t imagine sending out one hundred or more resumes and being disappointed every time. They don’t see themselves accepting a low paying job, living at home with their parents and struggling to make payments on their student loans. However, students with unrealistic expectations will be disappointed more often than those who understand their prospects in a tough job market, are willing to make some tough decisions and are ready to fight to succeed.

Realistically, there will always be a finite number of good paying jobs with the most respected employers, within any field of interest. In tough times, there will be even fewer jobs. Within the hardest hit industries and the hardest hit regions of the country, there may be few or none at all. That’s why wise students use their junior year to investigate and try to understand the employment picture in their field of interest. That early research will enable them to anticipate employment problems, modify their job search strategies and adjust their senior year expectations and plans. Importantly, the most proactive students usually adopt an “I’ll do whatever it takes” attitude.

When students have unrealistic beliefs and expectations for their job search results, they can fall into one or more of the following traps.

They:

- Don’t do their best in their classes.
- Fail to participate in campus, work and community activities
- Fail to build an impressive list of accomplishments
- Don’t understand that they have to compete for good jobs
- Ignore the need to research employer needs and expectations
- Fail to prepare an impressive resume
- Don’t bother to practice their interviewing techniques
- Don’t find a way to differentiate themselves
- Fail to devote enough time and effort to their job search
- Ignore their network
- Fail to obtain enthusiastic references and recommendations
- Wait too long to get started

Unfortunately, when these students are unable to quickly land the job that they expected, they typically:

- Develop a long list of excuses
- Complain that they didn’t know how tough it was
- Try to explain why something was unfair
- Place the blame with others
- End up in dead end jobs, or
- Give up

The only time that it can be somewhat easier to land a good job is when students have:

- A CUM that puts them in the top quarter of their class
- A major that is in demand
- An impressive list of accomplishments
- Great references and recommendations
- Effective communication skills
- A great network
- An impressive resume
- Outstanding interviewing skills
- A clear way to differentiate themselves
- A positive attitude and great personality
- An enthusiastic, powerful and comprehensive job search
- A willingness to be flexible

All students should take a careful look around to assess their own degree of readiness for their job search and do some research to determine the employment climate in their own field of interest. Then, with the assistance of the Career Services Office, students can lay out a comprehensive plan that will lead to greater success.

Since the best employers have tough standards and the competition is stiff, it’s not easy for students to find a good job. That’s why savvy students begin to prepare for their senior year job search from the very first day they enter college. They know that it starts with a goal and a plan that carries them from semester to semester, one that gives employers exactly what they need and expect from students.