Loren Dean graduated from Mississippi State University last year with a concentration in public relations, confident that she would find a job because of her high grade point average, networking connections, leadership positions and involvement on campus but was sadly mistaken.
When she moved from Starkville, Miss., back to her hometown of Memphis, she had no connections and an uphill journey looking for a job.
"I sent out résumés left and right and didn't get much of a positive response-if I got any response at all," Dean said.
According to a 2012 Johns Hopkins research survey of 450 graduates, only 50 percent were employed full-time, and 60 percent of those who were working were only receiving an hourly wage.
Dean interned with Relay for Life her senior year of college and held a resident assistant position in her dorm, but most employers wanted at least three years of experience outside of the university.
According to a 2014 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the average employment rate for college graduates has dropped by 1.4 percent since the first quarter of 2013.
"Internships and planning for your future are huge, but many students don't start focusing on that until senior year," Erin Willis, Internship Coordinator and assistant professor in the Department of Journalism at the University of Memphis, said.
After much futile effort in looking for a job, Dean decided to take any opportunities she could to get some experience and to begin to create connections with Memphis professionals. She landed an internship at Obsidian PR that eventually led to a full-time job.
"I work to help my students cultivate relationships with alumni and local professionals because that is how you get jobs," Willis said.
Many students don't know where to look for these relationships because they are not involved in their community or their university.
"Involvement and your résumé are crucial because that is what you have to show for the last four years of your life," Willis said.
Stephanie Tynes, a junior dietetics major at the U of M, is part of the Emerging Leaders program that requires involvement in the community, the professional world and at the University.
"I feel like a lot of students don't understand the importance of networking and making relationships with people in their field because they haven't been taught to do that," Tynes said.
Tynes holds leadership positions in multiple organizations such as Student Dietetics Association and Pursue Memphis. She is interning at St. Jude and planning for another internship during graduate school.
"In our economy, relationships are everything and a degree is just expected," Tynes said.
Erin Moore graduated from Rhodes in 2007 with a Bachelor's in Business Administration and in 2009 from Union University with her masters. Despite her education, she struggled to find a job after college.
"I am now a firm believer that most of the hiring is done through word of mouth and knowing the right people," Moore said.
Moore now works as a public relations practitioner for a local bank, not because that was her major but because of a networking connection she cultivated.
Amanda Doyle is a nurse at Methodist Germantown on the cardiac telemetry floor. During her undergrad, she worked an externship, volunteered at community outreach programs related to her major and upheld a high GPA.
"I think that my externship definitely set me apart from other nursing students and helped me get my current job," Doyle said.
Externships are not readily available for nursing students and often require lots of extra effort and connections with people in the hospitals.
"The reason a lot of students don't get jobs is because they are afraid to call people and get out of their comfort zone," Willis said.
The fear of talking to and being honest with high level employers often leads graduates to become underemployed which means working a job below their education or qualification level.
According to 2014 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, underemployment in recent graduates was up to 44 percent in 2012.
"I think students are underemployed because they lack negotiation skills, but more than that, they don't know their value," Willis said.
Many students get desperate after they graduate and take any job available. They lose their motivation or simply don't know how to sell themselves.
"It usually takes about three months to find a job; students just need to be willing to be patient and push for the best fit for them," Willis said.
Lindy May is a junior English major at the U of M.
"I don't know exactly what I want to do after school, but I am learning that it is all about connections," May said.
May recently began an internship in the Intensive English for International office at the U of M.
She was offered the job by someone she met volunteering with the department.
"I think the most important thing when it comes to getting a job is the people you know and the experiences you have," May said. "For me, that means teaching and studying abroad-but for other people it can be anything that they are passionate about, they just need to be strategic."
