In 2023 about 1.98 Million People will earn their bachelor’s degree, and while the unemployment rate in the United States remains low, it is not an accurate indicator of what many recent graduates are experiencing as they compete for the same sought after roles.
55% of recent college graduates feel that college did not prepare them with practical skills that can make them competitive in the workforce, and even though a bachelor’s degree is still a critical signal for employers, many students are questioning the price tag of an education that no longer guarantees results or even development of the most practical, in demand skills.
But for ambitious graduates that want to stand out to employers in today’s job market, the approach to getting their foot in the door to an opportunity needs to be different than most of their struggling peers. Fortunately, there are multiple ways to be competitive by taking the opposite approach of most job seekers.
Build modern skills that fewer people have
Speaking at a recent event on The Future of Work in The Era of AI, hosted by TechDinners, a rapidly growing community for founders, investors, and business leaders, the question of being competitive in the workplace with the advent of Artificial Intelligence was at the top of everyone’s mind, even amongst experienced technical leaders.
The main takeaway from the panel of experts present at the event was simple. AI is a tool, just like Excel or PowerPoint, and an easy way to become competitive when a new tool emerges is to learn how to use it to solve some kind of problem.
With AI today that usually means a form of process automation. Many organizations are proactively starting to think about how to leverage AI tools to create efficiencies, whether it’s marketing teams looking to scale content campaigns, or business executives trying to use AI to analyze large sets of data.
By spending time understanding the underlying business problems, studying some of these tools, and creating mini-projects to showcase how a particular tool can save time or money, you can start creating competitive skills in a nascent field that is still fairly unknown. One that is easier to compete in.
These projects can then be referenced on a resume, on LinkedIn, or even in an interview conversation which can help you stand out from most college graduates.
Focus on Creating a Personal Brand
Your resume is no longer the most important asset that you have when competing for interesting roles. Most hiring managers will also look at your LinkedIn profile and other public social media profiles to understand what you have to bring to the table.
Most college level students don’t spend a lot of time thinking about their social media profiles, making it a simple way to stand out.
If you’re already passionate about some subjects related to the career you want, it can help to start writing about it publicly. Advanced written communication skills are in incredibly high demand because most people never formally learn how to write professionally.
Even publishing a few posts that showcase your writing abilities can catapult you to the top of a recruiter’s list.
Hack the system by prioritizing targeted networking
The best way to compete is to avoid competition all together. It’s an important lesson that Peter Thiel shared about entrepreneurship in his book Zero to One, and it applies to anyone looking for new opportunities in competitive fields.
Most people don’t prioritize networking when looking for employment. It’s easier to apply from behind a screen than to learn how to navigate professional relationships to get introductions to opportunities.
But some of the best opportunities are never published on job boards and many roles don’t get filled or even prioritized until the right candidate comes across the desk of a leader or hiring manager.
The best workaround to simple job applications is targeted networking. This can include both warm outreach and cold outreach, but the key is identifying people that are likely to resonate with your story and background, thereby being more likely to respond to you and offer you direct introductions into opportunities.
If you had a customer service internship in healthcare and want to break into tech, try targeting customer success managers at health tech companies. If you’ve leveraged AI to automate cold email campaigns for a friend’s SaaS startup, target new account executives that are going to want to learn from you.
Free classes like this can teach you the fundamentals of professional networking in less than an hour and it doesn’t have to take months for you to start seeing results from your efforts. While this technique requires focus and consistent output it can help you get in front of decision makers quickly, while your peers are stuck slowly moving through recruiting processes that may lead nowhere.
College degrees have long been table stakes for individuals looking to get access to the most lucrative opportunities and careers, but they are no longer enough if you want to truly compete in today’s saturated marketplace.
For any role or sector it’s important to stay ahead of rapidly shifting trends, and while this may seem overwhelming it’s actually a tremendous opportunity for those willing to put in the work. In the past you needed years of experience to stand out from the crowd. Today new technologies, tools, and business best practices enter the conversation at an increasingly faster rate creating an opportunity for almost anyone to become an expert seemingly overnight.
By learning modern skills like Artificial Intelligence or viral content marketing, you can more easily differentiate yourself from your peers to build a strong profile that employers seek out.
