The Student Employment Study

Millennial Branding and AfterCollege Release New Study on Student Employment

Their internships aren’t turning into jobs, they ignore LinkedIn
and want colleges to provide networking opportunities

Boston, MA – April 22, 2013 – Millennial Branding, a Gen Y research and consulting firm and AfterCollege, the largest online career network for college students and recent graduates, today announced a new report on how students are developing their careers while in college. The report, The Student Employment Study, shows that while 79% of students have had at least one internship in the past six months, 57% were unpaid and 76% didn’t result in a job offer. Although the majority of students believe that college prepares them for the working world, 44% of those surveyed only apply to between one and five jobs at a time. They aren’t using professional social networks, including LinkedIn, to brand and market themselves to employers either. As a result, 48% haven’t even had an interview in the past six months. In March, AfterCollege surveyed 600 of their registered college students covering a variety of U.S. colleges and universities.

Additional highlights from the report include:

1. They want colleges to offer networking opportunities. 57% of students wish their schools offered more networking opportunities to help them prepare for the working world. Students also wish their schools had more focus on learning how to get jobs over standard courses (46%) and more career fairs and alumni support (34%). Half of students either haven’t used their career services department, had a bad experience or feel it needs improvement. Overall, 73% of students feel that college has prepared them for the working world.

2. They spend their time on Facebook and YouTube, instead of LinkedIn. When asked about what social networking sites they use, 90% said they use Facebook either frequently or occasionally. 78% felt the same way about YouTube and 46% never use LinkedIn. The majority of students aren’t using FourSquare, StumbleUpon, reddit or Tumblr.

3. They don’t want to be entrepreneurs. When asked if they were interested in starting a company in the next few years, 62% weren’t interested and only 8% were very interested. Only 21% of students wish their school offered entrepreneurship courses.

4. They believe an employer’s website is most important when job searching. 70% turn to an employer’s website first and 65% speak to someone who already works at the company they are applying for. 61% attend a school career fair and 58% search an online job site. Only 26% turn to a social networking site like LinkedIn or Facebook when job searching.

5. When applying for jobs, their biggest turnoff is a lack of response from employers. 49% of students say that a company never gets back to them after they submit a resume. 26% say that the company makes it hard to apply for positions and 37% say that the most stressful part of the job application process is preparing for the interview.

Quotes:

“Students have to be accountable for their careers, prepare for the job market as early as freshman year and start building their networks because internships and resumes don’t turn into jobs anymore.”

– Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding and Author of Promote Yourself

“Finding the right job or internship is extremely important to college students. AfterCollege is committed to eliminating unemployment among college grads and we constantly look for ways to help students improve their prospects.”

– Roberto Angulo, CEO and Co-founder, AfterCollege

Contacts:

Millennial Branding (Spokesperson): Dan Schawbel dan@millennialbranding.com
AfterCollege (CEO): Roberto Angulo rangulo@aftercollege.com

About Millennial Branding:

Millennial Branding is a Gen Y research and management consulting firm based in Boston, Mass. Millennial Branding helps companies understand the emerging Gen Y employee by providing research, training, and advisory services. As representatives of Gen Y and advisers to management, our goal is to provide research and insights that will make you more profitable, grow your market share, help you understand your Gen Y employees, and turn you into an industry leader. As ambassadors to Gen Y, we want to give our generation a voice, support their careers, and connect them with brands that understand their needs.

About AfterCollege:

AfterCollege matches college students and recent graduates with jobs and internships based on their school and major, allowing them to explore future career paths based on their qualifications. Offering 300,000 job opportunities at 25,000 employers, AfterCollege reaches students in 19,000 departments at 2,300 colleges and universities. AfterCollege’s mission is to eliminate unemployment among recent college graduates. For more information, visit www.aftercollege.com.

Icon Color_2

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS CONTENT, PLEASE SHARE: ↓

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Receive our exclusive insights every week to stay up-to-date on the latest workplace trends impacting your business and career.​

Sign up and receive your first premium workplace article PLUS a bonus white paper!​