March 25, 2009
"Job Squad" Help Leads New Grad To Gig!
Early Show Experts Lend Hand After Post She Had Lined Up Falls Through In Battered Economy
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Kelsy Nova found a job, after the Job Squad showed the way (CBS)
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Play CBS Video Video Tough Timing For Grads Recent graduate Kelsy Nova had trouble getting a job after college. The Job Squad stepped in and revamped her look and her search. Susan Koeppen reports.
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Our series features experts offering advice to four real-life job-seekers.
Stories
Kelsy Nova, a recent graduate of New York University and media marketing major, thought she had a job waiting for her when she graduated, only to learn the economy had obliterated it.
In Part 3 of the "Job Squad" series, consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen told of the major makeover Kelsy needed in her mindset and her approach to looking for work -- a makeover any job-seeking grad could learn from.
"The Early Show Job Squad" is profiling four very different job hunters this week, chronicling their efforts and the pointers given them by our experts -- pointers that apply to anyone seeking employment in this economy and this day and age.
Kelsy announced on the show Wednesday that she's found a job -- and one in her field, to boot.
But, as Koeppen explained, it was far form easy.
Kelsy was working as a babysitter and house cleaner to help pay the bills, and staring an unexpected challenge straight in the eye.
Businesses are hiring 22 percent fewer recent grads than in years past, as the recession continues to take its toll, so grads have to work harder to stand out.
For Kelsy, Koeppen observes, graduating from NYU was a dream come true.
"I thought that, the minute I graduated, that I was gonna be this major executive. Of course, it wasn't realistic -- but (I thought) I was gonna get a position."
She thought wrong -- and wound up on the unemployment line, instead.
"I didn't think that I would graduate from NYU and still be babysitting and cleaning houses or doing other odd jobs. But I guess that's what I need to do in the meantime," she told Koeppen at the time.
The bleak job market for new grads not only has fewer of them being hired -- salaries are flat, and it's taking them longer to find work.
Trudy Steinfeld, executive director of NYU's Wasserman Center for Career Development, says, "In this economy, it's taking about six months. Previous to this, two-to-three months -- so it's at least doubled."
The number of students who are coming into her office looking for help finding a job has quadrupled during walk-in hours alone, Steinfeld says.
An estimated 1.5 million grads will be looking for jobs this year, meaning they'll all have lots of competition.
"Right now, I'm pretty much living off the little savings that I do have, which are soon to most likely just run out. So I need a position as soon as possible," Kelsy observed when her prospects seemed poor.
To help her on her mission, The Early Show sent Kelsy her very own contingent from our Jobs Squad:
Steinfeld reassured Nova, "I don't care how bad it is -- there's always room for talented people."
She sat down with Kelsy to give her some insider's tips on how to make connections and land a job; "The average resume is looked at for 30 to 60 seconds. ... I ask students to send out a minimum of 25 resumes each week. ... This year, 35 percent of our graduates got their jobs through networking. ... One of the secrets I do is that, if I have trouble reaching somebody, I will call after five, because their assistant is usually gone, but they're gonna pick up their own phone, sometimes, and therefore, sometime you get people. ... You have to be a polite and professional squeaky wheel."
Kelsy's strengths, Steinfeld says, include being "incredibly hardworking" and "quite articulate."
But, Steinfeld added, "She was naïve to think that things were like they were a few years ago. So, we've had to work hard to sort of give her a great reality check."
Enter Job Squad mentor Radman, who quickly noted to Nova, "You're not going to get your dream job right off the bat. You know, do a little expectation management here. ...If you keep believing in it, it will happen. It will happen. (But) not without the hard work."
Looking the part is also part of finding a job.
Which is where Thompson came in, to pump up Kelsy's wardrobe with new interview clothes, courtesy of Fashion Bug.
Posture counts when you go into an interview, she stressed to Kelsy, saying, "You want to look confident. ... Shoulders back. ... But you need to exude something that's gonna make you stand out more than anyone else. And most importantly, when it comes to clothes, you don't want to spend a fortune before you even have a job."
With her three-month-long Job Squad intervention complete, Kelsy was rewired to get hired -- and hired, she was!
"I definitely would say networking and just getting out there" were the most critical elements in her finding something, she told co-anchor Harry Smith on The Early Show Wednesday, "letting people know you're looking for employment. Basically, doing your own publicity campaign."
Koeppen said new grads have to realize the first job they get is going to pay the bills, and doesn't have to be what they'll be doing the rest of their lives. It "gets your foot in the door," Koeppen concluded.
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