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Douglas Arthur Falkner J.r.
Tau Kappa Epsilon

For the past few years, America’s youth have been barraged with bad news like the unemployment rate reaching 18.1 percent for 2011, which included rising education costs, shifting market demands and declining middle-class jobs. The latest economic reports now describe the economy as slightly positive with signs of improvement, that unemployment rates will drop, and certain small businesses sectors will hire again. However, competition for the 2012 job market will be fierce since the U.S. unemployment rate is still nine percent, with many more people being under-employed in terms of finance. So, if your graduation is coming soon, how do you set yourself above the competition and secure yourself a job in 2012? Well there is no sure answer; however, internships and improving your social media skills with a combination of your current job-searching techniques will greatly improve your chances.

Your first step is to see yourself as others will see you, or to manage your digital networking. Most employers see your profile as an online resume. However, at some point in the process, your future employer is going to do a Google search on you. Your goal here is to maximize your presence online and represent yourself in the most positive way. Remove anything you can that you don’t want an employer to see on social media sites like Facebook. Changing the privacy settings to private will help remove this content from the public as well. A website that I have recently started using is LinkedIn. LinkedIn can be described as your Facebook with a tie. This is the main place where most employers will find you. Start looking for opportunities, follow your top five companies and read their updates on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc. Do those companies have a need for a professional like you? Employers are looking for the best person who is the easiest to find. If you land a coveted interview, then you need to research the company and the people you will be interviewing with in order to be ready. Visit their LinkedIn profiles and see what they are reading, their backgrounds, and their roles because they are most likely doing the same thing about you. Since you have worked on your digital persona, you know what they think of you. Be prepared to answer questions on the “pros” and “cons” about yourself. Check your network to see if they have some perks where you can ask for additional training or conferences to attend. If you can leverage these steps as “career development” you can find most employers will be willing to negotiate with you about being hired.

Focusing on joining LinkedIn groups or sites that are in your area or discipline of work will be beneficial. Focus on the areas which have relevant conversations in your area of expertise and give advice when possible. Start answering questions, posting or sharing ideas, or promoting great content for others to see about your accomplishments. Many employers are in these same communities and will see what you have to offer long before you face them in an interview. Create your network with pride because most of the time you have to help your employer help you. “Even better than using social networking reactively when applying for a position is to use the tools to build a broad, proactive network,” says John Decker, Executive VP of TMI Executive Resources. Use your groups and communities to search for former colleagues and connect with them, whether on LinkedIn or other social site or community. Tell them your situation and what type of job you are looking for, and then provide them with a list of companies you would like to work for.  Give them an indication that you would like to set up some time to discuss this with them. You need actionable steps and you want these employers to start connecting you to other people in order to improve your network.

Remember: just because the economy is bad and you may just “need a job,” it doesn’t mean you need to be hired. Also, remember that you have nothing to lose so try for any open job out there and if one opportunity doesn’t work out, it is not the end of the world. So much of being successful is wrapped up in never quitting. Of course, we all get worn down and think about giving up. Therefore, it is important that we identify wisdom to keep us motivated when we feel like stopping before we have reached our goal. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent won’t, nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius won’t, unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education won’t, the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are key and essential components to being successful. Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether or not you avoid this failure, because it is very likely that you won't at first. It’s whether you let it strengthen or weaken your abilities, and whether you learn from it, whether you choose to persevere through the odds and go for that dream job after you graduate from college, or accept failure in the rough economy and start work at McDonalds just after receiving your college degree. To all of the Coug’s graduating this semester and heading out in search of a job in a terrible economy, good night and good luck.