This is a reasonable question, and it is time to address it. How do most college graduates get jobs? Once again, it seems best to ask the experts. Placement counselors at colleges and universities throughout the United States were given a list of traditional job sources, and asked to comment on their effectiveness. What follows are their comments on the most commonly-known job sources.
Q: What is the effectiveness of college/university placement offices in locating job sources?
"A service that is convenient for the student/ alumnus, and it should certainly be investigated. Different offices have different tools or services. De pending on the fields of interest, it can have concrete vacancies or, at least, information on leads. Career counseling should be utilized by the student in addition to on-campus interviewing."
Q: How effective are private employment agencies in locating job sources?
Private employment agencies seem to be helpful only where the new college graduate can articulate his or her career objective very specifically in terms of the type of entry-level professional position wanted, and the skills the individual brings to the job market. For this reason, we find that the graduates who need the most help because their skills are not specific or widely marketable receive the least satisfaction using private agencies."
Q: How effective are executive search firms in locating job sources?
"Executive search firms do not, in our experience, provide or seek to provide services which are applicable to the level of the position typically sought by new, inexperienced college graduates. However, this is not as consistently true in specialized disciplines where the demand for new graduates exceeds the supply."
Q: How effective are want-ads in locating job sources?
"The pits!, My biggest gripe in this resource is with the 'blind ads'. It is very dehumanizing, especially when you're discouraged anyway, to write a letter to an unknown person at a box number with an unknown company."
Q: How effective are personal contacts in locating job sources?
"These contacts seem to be one of the most effective ways a person can job hunt or at least identify possible career sources. Talk to friends, relatives, their associates. Hope that there opens up a network of people who refer you on, if they're not aware of a job."
The five job sources isolated here are the ones that most college graduates know about. To generalize, the college placement counselors interviewed here uniformly agree upon the effectiveness of the first and last sources: college placement offices, and personal contacts.
They are not big on employment agencies, as a rule; they don't think that most executive search firms are geared for recent college graduates; and they do not feel you should rely on want-ads.
This is a realistic outlook. Depending upon traditional job sources for employment can be harmful because most job-seekers' expectations are so unrealistic. You are sure you will get a job by visiting the campus placement office each week. When you don't, because the success ratio is in fact slim, you blame yourself. You feel there must be something wrong with you, rather than questioning the process.
You may not realize that only one in five jobs is likely to be advertised anywhere; that employers often publicize openings only if the jobs are hard to fill or are undesirable in some way; and that many employers fill jobs with their friends, people recommended by their friends or col leagues, or with people who have contacted them directly.
Be that as it may, since a small percentage of people do find jobs using traditional sources, these sources have been included in this book. And in fact, there are a range of sources that most students are not familiar with, and that counselors agree can be quite productive. The more sources a job-seeker knows about and utilizes it, the more effective their job search campaign will be. With that in mind, let's look at the list of traditional sources.
COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY JOB SOURCES
If you've got a bachelor's degree, colleges and universities are a rich source of information, contacts, and opportunities. Most people - employers and job-hunters alike - feel very comfortable about dealing with educational institutions. Somehow, there is a feeling that you will not be taken advantage of. Not only should you consult with your alma mater regarding available resources, but you should also check with all of the educational institutions in the area. Most will provide you with some assistance, the least of which may be library resources.
Placement offices
Generally, the placement office is the best source of career information and job opportunities. When employers are seeking a college graduate to fill a position, they are most likely to list the openings with the college placement office.
