The College Job Hunt

After reading a post in the NY Times, it’s about time I told you about my job hunt this past summer, and why it’s not that 20-somethings don’t want to grow up, but why it’s damn-near impossible for us to do so.

I spent the entire 2010 summer passing out resumes, interviewing with companies large and small, and working my butt of to try to find just an internship. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like for people with entire careers under their belts trying to find new jobs.

A while back I came across this video by Max Radi at Ignite Portland 8.

The sticking point for this video is at the 4:25 mark. Max explains that our generation is in a bind because we’re looking for Jobs to give us experience, but we are often denied jobs because of a lack of experience. We’re caught in a place where expectations by companies are set in a way that college students seeking internships sometimes what we want to do isn’t necessarily our field of study.

I love social media, I’d love to work in marketing. My problem, I’m an International Business Major…It’s possible I might come out with a minor in marketing, but most people looking for social media people are looking for communications, or PR…That’s not me. But as Max mentions, why not hire someone and mold them, train them to be the person that you need them to be and from then on you have someone exactly qualified and right where you want them.

In today’s economy chances can’t be taken in hiring the wrong person, and that’s understandable. What we study in college doesn’t guarantee we’ll know what you want us to know when you hire us. The training you give us has little bearing on our past experience, or what you expect us to know.

Remember, we need the experience too. If you’re hiring someone for an internship, why not hire the person with the least experience, and give the person with more experience the opportunity for an entry-level position. This will let you mold the intern to the way you want them.

What do you think? How is your company hiring interns?