December Grads: An Overlooked Source of Talent?
This article originally appeared on the ReadySet Blog.
The typical yearly hiring cycle focuses on recruiting entry level talent during the Fall months — just in time for a Spring graduation and June 1st start date. However, too many employers overlook a large number of students that graduate in the December time period, missing out on an untapped source of fresh talent ready to work in the New Year.
Graduates in December and January face a common challenge that deserves more discussion. Fall graduates glide into the job market on a tide of encouragement from career counselors who promise flush job prospects due to the lack of competition, only to encounter a grim reality: a frozen and sluggish job market. As someone who has experienced the winter job hunt and who has witnessed many peers and friends struggle to find jobs after a December graduation, I have wondered why more companies don’t recruit from the substantial pool of December grads?
Although there is little data on winter graduates, the number of students who graduate early has been rising consistently. A 2015 Forbes article reported an increase in winter grads at individual colleges — with 20% of Johns Hopkins students completing their degree early and a 30% increase of early graduates from Duke University between 2010 and 2014. Of course, some graduating in December might also be going past their 4th year and graduating ‘late’. Students who take a non-traditional path do so for many reasons. For example for some — including many of the grads I know — ending a semester early means saving financially on tuition. It’s no secret that student loan debt has been on the rise, hitting a high of $1.5 trillion total in 2019 according to Forbes. A college student graduating a semester early from a private college in 2019, would save upwards to $18,000-$25,000, according to tuition estimates by US News. For those who graduate early to save financially, the difficulty of finding employment over the winter has harsher implications. When faced with a frozen job market, top candidates might settle for the first role they can find instead of waiting for the job market to ramp up again.
From an organizational perspective, the routine of hiring cycles that cater to a spring graduation does seem to make sense — at least at first. The majority of students graduate in spring, so investing in fall recruiting efforts in time for a June 1st start date is a sound targeting of resources. Companies tend to view winter recruiting as ‘off season’ because of the lull of the holidays when many hiring managers take time off and Q4 budgets are limited. However, taking advantage of this untapped stream of talent doesn’t require a massive redistribution of resources. Surely the benefits of a motivated and under-served talent pool is compelling enough to warrant more attention?
Companies can take advantage of the December hiring lull by posting new openings earlier and presenting at job fairs or campus events before winter break to let prospective graduates know about job opportunities that are available. Providing visibility into upcoming openings at your company keeps your brand in the sights of winter job hunters — even if the interview process doesn’t begin till January or February. It would certainly be encouraging for students to see hiring managers and brand ambassadors acknowledge and prioritize soon-to-be December grads.
An even more effective way to reach out is to actively post job openings on social media — Facebook, Instagram or Twitter — as people tend to be active on social media during the holidays. Forbes reported that 68% of the Class of 2018 were finding out about companies and job prospects not just through LinkedIn but also through other social media outlets. It was from a Facebook post that I landed an internship that would shape the direction of my own career.
For winter grads — don’t be discouraged! Here are a few thoughts on how to get ahead of a winter job market.
- Network meaningful and intentionally. Try and connect with friends, alumni and representatives at fall and winter networking events to stay on their radar so recruiters will remember you when they begin their hiring process in the new year.
- Consider internships to get a foothold in a company so that the company can get a ‘trial run’ of your capabilities, delivery and fit before they commit to a formal offer. It’s an opportunity to see if there is a cultural fit and if the work is of interest to you.
- Use social media to follow companies you might be interested in and identify potential openings.
- Set up informational interviews. It’s a soft networking strategy to get to know key decision makers and hiring managers and sometimes to unearth jobs that may not be public.
To all the new grads for whom this advice applies, good luck!
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