JFF Senior Project Manager Rebecca Ruan-O’Shaughnessy offered insights about the way the COVID-19 crisis is affecting career prospects of 2020 college graduates in a May 21 article in EdSource, a news and information site covering education in California.
With employers pulling back offers of full-time jobs and internships, she noted that finding a job in the current climate will be especially difficult for recent gradates who are from low-income or immigrant backgrounds who don’t have well-established networks of personal and professional connections to tap for referrals and tips. She also pointed out that recent graduates won’t just be competing with one another—midcareer workers who have been laid off will likely be applying for entry-level jobs as a way to get back into the market.
Graduates are “not just competing with people who are fresh out of college, but also with people laid off from middle-level jobs and are now competing for entry-level experiences,” Rebecca told EdSource, adding that the experienced workers will “have the leg-up.”
However, she also said that the COVID economy is also creating new opportunities, with careers in the public health sector and science, technology, engineering, and math fields likely to grow.
In light of that development, Rebecca’s advice to recent graduates is to be patient and think creatively. They might want to look at internships in industries they hadn’t considered in college. For example, a business major may want to apply for an office assistant position in a medical clinic, she said.
