Three strategies to take control of the job search.
Forty years ago, I sat in a corporate office and was told I was being let go.
I had spent two years working at a large public accounting firm when the hammer suddenly dropped. It was part of a massive corporate culling, and the verdict from leadership was simple: I just didn’t fit their mold. I was fired.
I was devastated. It felt like the door to my career had just been slammed shut. What was I supposed to do now? Where was I supposed to turn?
That’s why I pay such close attention to what new graduates and young professionals are facing today.
These burgeoning professionals launching their careers are inundated with bad news: “Why the U.S. job market is so hard, especially for recent college graduates,” one Washington Post headline recently warned. The Wall Street Journal took a slightly more optimistic tone, proclaiming that “New College Grads Confront a Tight Job Market but Still Have an Edge.”
Meanwhile, the tech sector is shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs in the name of artificial intelligence (AI), prompting many young professionals to question their skill sets and their long-term job security.
It’s graduation season, and the mood isn’t exactly celebratory. The anxiety is palpable, but there are steps every professional can take to reclaim control of their future. Here are three steps to take agency over your career right now.
1. Cast an aggressive and unconventional network net
Job boards and standard applications are a natural first step for job seekers. However, standing out and making an impression can be exceedingly difficult.
The math simply isn’t in your favor.
The average job posting received 250 applications, and entry-level roles can see more than 400 applications. Just a small handful will be selected for an interview, and only one will be selected for the job.
Your network significantly shrinks the candidate pool: 85% of jobs are filled through personal or professional connections, underscoring its power, and 70% of professionals say they secured their current job through networking.
Of course, networking isn’t new advice, and your inner circle might not be enough to land the job you want. Today’s tight job market requires you to cast a wider net.
Real professional opportunities rarely arrive in neatly wrapped corporate packages delivered by your most obvious reference. Cast a wide net, and accept the reality that you will probably encounter many dead ends before you find the right fit.
As the expression goes, you will have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.
Connect to the local shopkeeper down the street. Talk to the person you play tennis or racquetball with on the weekends. Strike up an intentional conversation with former classmates, professors, or internship coordinators.
You never know where an unexpected avenue will open up.
2. Align personal passion with market needs
When a job hunt stalls for a few weeks, panic inevitably sets in. That panic leads straight to career desperation, causing graduates to frantically apply for any open role with a paycheck, abandoning their actual interests in the process.
I’m not saying that “follow your passion” is particularly compelling career advice. Passions are hobbies unless you can find someone who will pay you for your time and expertise.
Instead of chasing random job titles to collect a steady paycheck, look for the specific intersection where your personal passion directly meets an unresolved market pain point.
I know a young man in his twenties who didn’t want to follow a standard corporate job track, but he had a passion for tennis.
He wasn’t going to be a professional tennis player, and sporting retail wasn’t the peak of his career ambitions. Instead, he identified a market need in high school tennis players who were struggling to get noticed and evaluated by college recruiters.
He developed a digital platform dedicated to helping those high school athletes get recognized, coached, and recruited. Today, his business has completely exploded, and he’s more professionally fulfilled by his work than a corporate job could ever provide.
He took something he cared about and used it to solve an unaddressed market demand.
Tennis may not be your passion, but look inward and find a market fit for the skills you bring to the table.
3. Widen the lens
Feeling like you have to follow a prescribed career path paved by your college degree is a self-imposed trap that limits your potential. Widen the lens.
For example, if you walk across the stage with a degree in economics, the linear career ladder tells you that your only next step is to head straight into banking or corporate finance.
Failing to find a job in this narrow field can feel like failure. It’s not.
That same economics training can make you an incredibly sharp, data-driven asset in digital marketing, product management, or operational logistics.
Whatever your field, reject rigid restraints. Keep your career horizons broad. Be willing to pivot, dust yourself off, shake up the original blueprint, and try something completely different.
4. A new generation influences taste and consumer trends
Gen Z is shaping tastes and consumer trends in their image. By the end of the decade, Gen Z shoppers are expected to wield $12 trillion in spending power.
Their shopping trends look more familiar than you might expect. Vinyl records are back as a real consumer category. It’s an example of the visible pull toward analog experiences, physical products, and tangible ownership in a generation that grew up as digital natives.
Simultaneously, Gen Z shoppers are looking for value, willing to purchase store brands, and are embracing discounted deals. In a bit of a paradox, they are also willing to spend big on beauty, skincare, wellness, and health categories. One recent consumer report found that 59% of Gen Z shoppers are willing to pay a premium for these products after trading down in another category.
The implications of Gen Z entering their prime buying years extend well beyond retail. This new generation isn’t outright turning away from digital products, but they are rejecting the idea that everything has to be mediated by a screen.
For leaders in product development, marketing, real estate, hospitality, and just about every consumer-facing industry, this is a loud signal worth taking seriously.
Move past the setbacks
When I was let go from that public accounting firm forty years ago, it felt like an absolute catastrophe.
It’s fine that I felt that at the time. You may be feeling that way, too.
Looking back, it’s also clear that it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I never would have discovered a lifetime of entrepreneurial freedom and success. It turned out that a closed door just put me on a different path that ultimately led to a far better destination.
Don’t wait for an algorithm to pluck your resume out of a digital stack of thousands of submissions. Take action that absorbs anxiety. It could lead to the best thing that ever happened to you, too.
This article was written by Richard Ross, CEO of Quinn Residences for Fast Company
