Where Are All the Great Entry-Level Jobs Hiding?

 A few signs may point to a pick up in entry-level hiring for college grads, but there’s also plenty of anecdotal evidence supporting hiring pessimists, with most of us knowing a well-educated 20-something or two who has been fruitlessly combing job listings for months or even years after graduation.

These frustrated grads have skills, and the experts say there are a few jobs out there, so what’s the problem? According to Willy Franzen, founder of start-up entry-level jobs site One Day, One Job, most of these grads are taking the wrong approach — obsessing about positions posted on job boards rather than bettering themselves as candidates and targeting the companies they actually want to work for. Recently Franzen talked to Entry-Level Rebel about why he feels his approach is the right one and what grads should do to find that elusive dream job:

What advice would you give grads to improve their job hunt?

So many college grads are misguided. They don’t have a full understanding of employers. So I think one of the biggest things that job seekers can learn to improve their job search is empathy. It’s being able to put yourself in an employer’s shoes. Think about the hiring manager. What do they need? What is going to get them to hire you? How are you going to make their life easier? I think so many people fail to do that. They think, “oh, I’m entitled to a job. I have these great credentials. I have a college degree. Someone should just give me a job because I’m really impressive.” And it doesn’t work that way.

What are some other common mistakes you see entry-level job seekers making?

Spending time on your job search is typically a really bad idea. I’ve seen so many job seekers who are six months or a year and a half out of college, and they haven’t had any success. And the biggest problem with that is they’ve spent that time looking for jobs. They haven’t made themselves any better over that time. They might have made their resume better. They might have made their cover letter better. But them, as a candidate, is the same exact candidate that came onto the market six months or a year ago.

So first of all, you have this signal that no one wanted to hire you as you were. Second, you’re stagnating. You’re showing people that you don’t have the initiative to invest in yourself. So I am really pushing students now to start working on a project. Find something, whether it’s volunteering, doing something on your own, starting a website. Whatever it is, create a project, do it, get real life work experience for yourself and use that to get a job as opposed to using all your time on the job search.

And another thing I’ve already mentioned is don’t worry about jobs. Focus on the companies and the jobs will work themselves out. It doesn’t always work, but if you find a company you really want to work for and you target them hard and you network, even if they don’t have a job posted for you, if you’re a good fit, things can work out and you can get a job.

http://www.bnet.com/blog/entry-level/where-are-all-the-great-entry-level-jobs-hiding/4354