St.Louis Business Journal
YOUNG AND JOBLESS? DON’T GIVE UP ON FINDING WORK

By Anna Navarro November 2009  

Examples in this column are fictionalized to protect privacy.



Unemployment among young people has hit crisis proportions. Nearly one in five workers aged 16 to 24 is out of a job, double the overall employment rate.

If you are among the legions of these young job hunters, it can be tempting to retreat into Mom and Dad’s basement. Don’t go there. There are things you can do to improve the odds you’ll land a job.

Pick a clear focus for job hunting. Myra was a recent graduate of a good journalism school. She was scared she’d never find work in a newspaper so she applied for all kinds of jobs. She got nowhere.

When we started working together, I explained that clarifying her job hunting target was essential. It would enable her to research the needs of employers in the field and tailor her resume and oral self-presentation to those needs. It would also make it easier to figure out who to network with, what filter to use when scanning job listings, what to say in cover letters and emails, and much more.

We wrestled with the issue and she concluded she wanted to go for journalism, despite the problems in the industry. She liked it and it was what she had prepared herself to do, even though she had been too scared to pursue it initially.

Be Flexible. If this sounds like a contradiction, read on. I don’t mean not having a focus. I mean being willing to let go of cherished expectations of what you thought working would entitle you to.

Myra’s pitch to employers was that she’d be glad to do anything, including sweeping the floors and fetching lunch. And she could also research and write a story, take pictures, update the website and edit copy. She also said she’d be willing to work for low wages. That’s a wonderful deal for an employer, especially since she had great credentials and terrific work samples.

She made this sacrifice of pride and money in order to get in the door. She was betting she’d get a chance to use her skills and advance in the organization.

Network. Networking isn’t about putting people on the spot for a job. It’s about getting advice from insiders about how to sell yourself.

Myra networked with journalists and editors she knew through school. They gave her very valuable insights about how to position herself, and suggested some improvements in her oral and written presentations. Many also agreed to talk to her for a few minutes if she had questions as she job hunted.

Cold call on employers in your field. The advice Myra got from people she networked with was that small newspapers in the Southwest might offer the best opportunity for entry level jobs. I suggested she cold call them in person.

Her parents agreed to fund her traveling if she budgeted carefully. Before starting out, she researched publishers and managers of newspapers, rehearsed her five minute pitch and mapped out contiguous areas she could drive around in a single day.

She would visit a newspaper and ask if she could talk to a specific person for five minutes. Using her well rehearsed pitch, she got in to see about 25% of the key people on her first call. By doing repeat visits a second and third day, she was able eventually to talk to about 55% of those she targeted. Then she’d move on to the next geographic area.

She called on newspapers every weekday for about two months, keeping in touch by phone and email with those who were good prospects. She landed a job in a small city newspaper within two months of launching this intense campaign.

(Note: This cold calling technique is best suited to entry level workers. It does not work as effectively for higher level jobs where employers have more at stake.)

You can do it. Myra was able to find a job in a small city newspaper using the four techniques described above. She was 22, just out of college, looking for work in a struggling industry in the midst of the deepest recession since the Great Depression. It was an uphill battle. She succeeded because she had focus, a good strategy, the intestinal fortitude to stick with the plan, and support from her parents and the people she networked with. That’s what it took to pull off a goal that at first seemed impossible.

Anna Navarro is the founder of Work Transitions, a nationwide career consulting firm that works with clients on an individual basis to help them find more satisfaction and fulfillment in their work-lives. She can be reached by phone at (314) 367-0008 and her e-mail address is email@worktransitions.com. For more information visit the worktransitions.com website.

This column was originally published by the St. Louis Business Journal. The actual title of the column and date in which it appeared in the Business Journal may be slightly different from what appears on WorkTransitions.com.