Finding a Job After Graduate School in Record Time
2/16/2021 HIGHERGRAD
If you don't have a job, you spend all your time thinking about how to get a job. Conversely, if you have a job, often you are thinking about how to get a better one. The point is, a job is important. What is even more important is getting a good job fast. Finding a job after graduation can take months (or longer) for some graduate students. We can help you speed that up.
How Long Does it Take to Get a Job After Grad School?
It takes grad students up to a year to find a job after graduating. A graduate degree does not guarantee you a job on graduation day. Plan to spend at least 2-4 months either unemployed or underemployed before you land a career position related to your graduate degree.
Finding a job after a masters degree or doctorate program varies related to your chosen career choice. Those in higher-demand fields such as nursing tend to find immediate openings. On the other hand, doctoral degree holders looking for college teaching opportunities may find a highly competitive job market. The bottom-line, however, is graduate degree holders tend to see below average unemployment rates overall. That's a good thing and a great reason to pursue a graduate degree. It may take longer to find your career job, but in the end, the benefit of having a graduate degree certainly outweigh the time it takes to find a job.
5 Faster Ways to Get a Job After Graduation
Adding to the already mountain of stress with being a graduate student, you have to start looking for a job. What if you are nearing graduation and you start to realize you may not be able to find a job after grad school? The anxiety can be softened by using proven strategies to find a job. You are reading this not to necessarily figure out how to find a job but to learn how to speed up the process. For that, we propose five specific ways to do just that.
1. Seek Out an Internship While in Grad School
Graduate programs are intensive and require a tremendous amount of time and commitment. Classes, graduate school study time, research, and even a part-time job all reduce the hours you have available in a day. Although, there are opportunities where you can receive credit for working at an internship. An internship is the best way to get your foot in the door. Almost every program has opportunities for internships, which can be completed during a semester or over the summer. More often than not, an internship translates into a full-time job right after graduation. A company would rather hire a person who they are familiar with and someone who has already proven they can be successful in their organization. An internship provides that opportunity.
2. Lean on Your Advisor
Your graduate school advisor is more than just there for support to get you through the program. They can be the next fastest way to secure a job after graduation. Your advisor has connections to companies through research and past graduate students who directly work in the field. Their connections allow you to survey the job market and see what companies and organizations are hiring. Start those conversations from day one. In particular, ask your advisor these questions:
3. Network On and Off-campus
Many times throughout the year a university will host job fairs and employer visits campus. Larger and more prestigious colleges frequently have national and international companies on campus for research and business collaborations frequently. Seek out college centers and research arms the university has related to your graduate program. See if they may have opportunities to join a corporate visit or if company representatives may be looking for future job candidates. Try to make contact with one or more industry professionals while on campus. Many times these contacts, if you can make one, can lessen the time it takes in finding a job after grad school.
4. Find a Niche to Stand Out
A great example is an MBA degree. If you are going for an MBA, find a niche that makes you stand out. We have already outlined the advantages of getting an MBA degree, but consider how well you stand out with an MBA degree coupled with a specialization. Using this example, consider taking an additional course on supply chain management or business analytics. Having additional courses or a research niche makes you stand out. You now go from a sea of MBA applicants for a position to the only one that has a unique specialization. This works for almost any field too. Find a niche or additional skill that makes you more valuable to an employer.
5. Talk to Employers
Finally one of the fastest ways to find a job after grad school is to already be talking to employers. Have conversations with people at companies as much as possible. This includes networking like we described in our third point above, but taken to another level. Find companies where you may have interest in working with and seek out contacts to talk to. Go directly to the companies and speak with recruiters or their talent management team. All large companies have these professionals whose job it is to find the best employees. Why not preempt their search by offering up yourself? The benefits are they already know you, which helps to get contacted when a position that may fit your skillset opens up. Don't be afraid to pick up the phone. Emails are easy and everyone is sending them out to companies. Few, nowadays, are actually talking to someone, which quite honestly impresses people. It is hard to stand out and reduce the average time it takes to find a job after graduate school if nobody knows you.
How long does it take to get a job after grad school? There is no straightforward answer. Many factors play a role in the average time it takes to find a job after graduate school. The best thing you can do is work to reduce any length of time to land a job. The longer it takes, the more stress you find yourself under and the hard it may get to find a good position. Put into these five tactics and you should be able to secure employment right after you graduate.
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