KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Students and recent graduates are struggling the hardest to find work these days.
According to the U.S. Labor Department, the unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds in August was 18.2 percent. That’s the highest since January 1983. This summer was the worst since the department started keeping numbers for that age group in 1948.
Career experts say 16-24 year olds are now competing against an older, more experienced age group and that makes it tougher for them to find work.
Here are six tips to getting ahead in your job search, gathered with the help of Morgan Hunter Recruiters and recent graduates.
- Take advantage of social media sites like LinkedIn – employers use them to find talent and post jobs.
- Try to pick a specialized major like accounting or law so your skills can be easily transferred into the workplace.
- Network with alumni.
- Work while you are in school – whether it is a paid, part-time job or internship. Just make sure the experience is applicable to your desired career.
- Check out the Workforce Partnership program Opportunities 2009 – it runs until December 31st 2009. The programs offer eight week paid internships. There are 800 available in Kansas and 1,000 in Missouri. The program is for 16-24 year olds. For more info on the program, you can go to the Opportunities 2009 Job Fair on Tuesday or visit http://www.workforcepartnership.com/.
- Don’t just rely on major job boards like Career Builder. Go to individual company Web sites for job postings.
The nation’s overall unemployment rate for August was 9.7 percent.
