{"id":9971,"date":"2026-05-28T04:04:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T04:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9971"},"modified":"2026-05-28T04:04:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T04:04:53","slug":"how-are-college-grads-navigating-the-tough-job-market-heres-what-some-are-doing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9971","title":{"rendered":"How are college grads navigating the tough job market? Here\u2019s what some are doing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Ariana Perez-Castells, The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/strong><\/p>\n

PHILADEPHIA \u2014 Matthew Soesanto wrapped up his undergraduate biology degree at Drexel University in March and spent weeks applying to research, coding, and pharmaceutical industry jobs this spring. But he wasn\u2019t hearing back from hiring managers.<\/p>\n

Read more Garden Grove to compile \u2018after action\u2019 report as residents question handling of chemical threat<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt just feels like I\u2019m sending applications to a black hole,\u201d said Soesanto, who will walk in Drexel\u2019s graduation in June.<\/p>\n

It left him wondering, \u201cAm I doing something wrong?\u201d he said. \u201dThere\u2019s no feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soesanto is one of Philly\u2019s many graduating college students mapping out their careers in a tough job market. Budding professionals are trying to stand out from huge pools of job applicants. They\u2019re embracing the virtual aspects of a modern workplace by showing they can use AI, while also trying to make an impression in-person at networking events.<\/p>\n

The hiring rate is down in the past two years, even flirting with Great Recession lows in recent months. Fewer employers are signing up for career fairs, and the unemployment rate for recent graduates is higher than the overall rate for all workers \u2014 that\u2019s been the case for a few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung people are having a challenge right now entering the workforce,\u201d said Jennifer Kebea, president of Campus Philly, which works to keep students of Philadelphia colleges from leaving the area after graduation.<\/p>\n

Employers are still hiring, said Kebea, but they\u2019re being more selective. They are increasingly looking for candidates with AI fluency and proven experience.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThis is not a Gen Z issue. It\u2019s a changing labor market,\u201d Kebea said. \u201cRecent grads are entering a market that\u2019s more competitive, it\u2019s more skills-focused, it\u2019s more uncertain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working a job while trying to launch a career<\/h4>\n

Drexel senior Maggie Jiang felt discouraged about the job hunt when she first started applying to positions several months ago. The marketing and organizational management double major is more optimistic now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hearing back from more jobs,\u201d said Jiang. \u201cThere was a period where it was like, just me sitting here, hoping.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jiang is working as a server at a Malvern restaurant, 30 to 40 hours a week, while she looks for a full-time position. She\u2019s worked in service jobs on and off since she was a freshman.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Students like Jiang who worked while completing school have a better chance of landing a full-time job post-graduation, a recent ZipRecruiter survey found.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just really thankful that a lot of the service industry hours don\u2019t start until later in the day,\u201d she said. She finished homework during breaks between classes.<\/p>\n

Jiang completed high school online during the pandemic. The virtual setting sapped her motivation. So she would prefer a job with some in-person work and opportunities for direct feedback, where she\u2019s not just messaging colleagues online.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally can\u2019t function just being remote only,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019d rather be surrounded by a more lively environment with my coworkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Temple University graduate Jaiden Charles said \u201chybrid is the golden option,\u201d although she\u2019s open to jobs with other setups.<\/p>\n

Charles, who studied public relations and digital marketing in school, works remotely 20 hours a week with 1824, Universal Music Group\u2019s marketing and content strategy arm. She\u2019s been doing the job since her junior year, juggling it with school work.<\/p>\n

After applying to some 10 to 15 jobs and internships, Charles had heard back from a few places by mid-May, and got interviews with some of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does take some time going through the process,\u201d she said. \u201cEspecially when you\u2019re trying to graduate from college.\u201d<\/p>\n

The value of meeting people IRL<\/h4>\n

Temple senior Mario Pacheco, who studies mechanical engineering, hopes networking will make him stand out from other applicants. He has one course to finish this fall, but plans to ramp up his efforts to get a full-time job by the time he\u2019s done.<\/p>\n

Read more West Coast chemical emergencies raise questions about the safety of massive industrial tanks<\/a><\/p>\n

In-person networking is all the more important right now, said Kebea from Campus Philly, partly because hiring managers are flooded with applicants.<\/p>\n

Pacheco is also working on getting an engineer certification to beef up his resum\u00e9.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to stay as positive as possible, and trying to do as much as I can to distinguish myself from other graduates,\u201d said Pacheco.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s spending the summer interning with the Philadelphia Housing Authority, as he did last year. For 30 hours a week and $17 an hour, he worked on HVAC systems at PHA sites.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always buildings going up that need HVAC systems designed,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a chance for there to be plenty of work in that field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking for AI competence<\/h4>\n

Employers like IBM and McKinsey are hiring more entry-level positions this year, but those roles are changing with the adoption of AI. The technology is also making some young workers rethink their career paths.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI can automate tasks, but it doesn\u2019t develop people and the talent that we need,\u201d said Kebea. If AI leads to fewer entry-level opportunities, Kebea noted, that means fewer people are getting trained in those early jobs, creating a talent shortage in the long term.<\/p>\n

For the time being, employers are looking to hire people who know how to use AI and can hit the ground running, said Kebea.<\/p>\n

Jiang, the Drexel senior, has used AI in past workplaces, with her employers\u2019 blessing, to help create prompts on social media including LinkedIn. She also used AI to refine her resum\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Some college students have trepidations around how AI is being used to screen job candidates, Kebea said, but she noted that employers have been using hiring technology to screen applicants for some time. While young people may be tempted to apply to many more jobs in the age of AI, she recommends against it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a numbers game. It\u2019s a quality game,\u201d said Kebea.<\/p>\n

Students are both ambitious and anxious in today\u2019s job market, said Kebea, but many are rising to the occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cGen Z is so pragmatic,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re absolutely still ambitious about their potential in the workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the offer comes in<\/h4>\n

In April, Soesanto, the biology graduate at Drexel, got an offer he couldn\u2019t refuse.<\/p>\n

He was running on the Delaware River Trail when he saw an alert on his phone: He was the recipient of a Fulbright award \u2013 the prestigious grant to work or teach abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just mind blown, really stoked, really happy, euphoric,\u201d said Soesanto, who in early May was planning to accept.<\/p>\n

In September he\u2019ll start 10 months of research in Indonesia studying the symbiosis of a species of fish and their bacteria. The project \u201cis what I\u2019ve wanted to do for the longest time,\u201d he said, but he\u2019s also accepting the offer because of the challenge of landing a job right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a while to get a job,\u201d said Soesanto. \u201cThere\u2019s an open door for me, and I\u2019d rather take that one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a92026 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Visit at inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/p>\n

Read more Skateboarding icon Marc Johnson dies at 49: \u2018A genius and a tortured soul\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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