On average, new grads are making almost $50k right out of college — not too shabby in this down economy of ours, right? I know I certainly would have been thrilled with that kind of “first job” salary offer back when I graduated. Here are the deets…

NACE’s [National Association of Colleges and Employers] Summer 2009 Salary Survey report shows that the average starting salary offer for new college graduates now stands at $49,307. That’s off less than 1 percent from the average $49,693 that 2008 graduates posted last year at this time…

Seems like a good sign that things may be on the upswing. Of course, job openings may be a little harder to come by, which means that grads need to work slightly harder to edge out their competition.

Start with these tactics:

• Top 5 Tips for Job Seekers
• Social Network Your Way Into a Job
• How to Turn Your Internship Into a Job

Grads: We want to hear from you! Tell us about your job hunting experience, and if you’ve been happy with salary offers.

You recently graduated. You’re still unemployed. You continue the job hunt. Here’s what you need to know…

The Good >> The more schooling you have, the less likely you are to be unemployed. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in May 2009 (the most recent month of reporting available), the national unemployment rate was 10 percent for adults over 25 years of age who only had a high school diploma, but just 7.7 percent for those with an associate degree, and 4.8 percent for those with a bachelor’s degree. In other words, your degree was worth all of the effort, even if you are having trouble finding a job at the moment.

The Bad >> Less people are hiring grads this year. The survey stats are in and, yes, 2009 grads are worse off than 2008 grads when it comes to getting hired, according to the Job Outlook 2009 Spring Update survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). Employers reported that they expect to hire nearly 22 percent fewer graduates from the Class of 2009 than they hired last year. Not surprisingly, the 2009 NACE Graduating Student Survey indicated that 63 percent of college seniors were worried that the economy would hurt their chances of finding a full-time job. But really — aren’t all grads worried about landing that first job? Keep at it, and eventually, it’ll happen.

The Promising >> If you do get hired, your starting salary will probably be respectable. By respectable, we mean that it won’t be too far below salary expectations. According to the Spring 2009 issue of NACE’s Salary Survey, the overall average offer to 2009 bachelor’s degree graduates stands at $48,515 – down just 2.2 percent from the average of $49,624 posted in Spring 2008.

So now you know the deal. Are you facing a tougher job market than past graduating classes? Sure. But you’re still in better shape having earned your degree. The key is to keep your options opened, remain optimistic, and find ways to set yourself apart from the job applicant pool.

** Share your job hunt story… has it been hard to find a job? Leave a comment here, or message us on twitter: @collegesurfing.

These days it seems that all people are talking about are lay-offs and reduced hiring rates — so much so that they ignore an important factor in every industry: the retirement rate. While many professions may reduce the amount by which they hire on a yearly basis, the truth is that a fresh crop of employees is always necessary in order to takeover the jobs of workers who have reached retirement age.

It’s an economic factor that is sometimes overlooked, but many in the media are taking notice in light of a new report on the education industry. According to the report by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, a nonprofit research advocacy group, a third of the country’s 3.2 million teachers may be retiring during the course of the next four years.

Unfortunately, there’s another problem that adds to this anticipated teaching shortage: the high attrition rate that occurs amongst newly hired teachers. Research has shown that a third of all new teachers choose to leave the teaching world within five years of being hired. Combined this with the cushy retirement plans that many teachers enjoy and you get a high turnover rate.

There is, however, hope for the education industry in the form of a new generation of college graduates eager to get into the teaching game and reap the perks that the profession’s hours, work demands, job security, and health benefits offer. Of course, as with any other career, you should only consider it if it coincides with your passions and goals in life – otherwise, you’ll be amongst that one third of new teachers.

*The original NYTimes article for more stats and info on the matter.

– Genevieve M. Blaber

In the digital age, cover letters are as antiquated and unnecessary as thank-you notes.

WRONG! (Thank-you notes are important too, but that’s another post.)

It does show some extra effort when you submit a cover letter. After all, anyone can make a bazillion copies of their resume and fax ‘em out to every agency that may or may not be hiring. A customized cover letter, on the other hand, conveys your interest in a particular company and can push your resume to the top of the pile.

Don’t believe me? Check out this excerpt from a recent New York Times article:

Ms. Piotrowski recently had a job opening at her small company, Career Solutions Group, and she was dismayed when about a quarter of the 200 applicants did not send cover letters. Most were within five years of graduating from college, she said, reflecting a more informal mind-set among younger people.

So consider this a mini-course in how to make your cover letter work for you:

>> Get a name.
How hard is it to Google a company and get the decision maker’s name to put on your cover letter? The extra few minutes it takes to procure that info can save your resume from the recycling bin with all the other “To Whom It May Concerns.” Take it from Katharine Hansen, Ph.D., creative director and associate publisher of Quintessential Careers, who wrote: “The largest employer in Central Florida tosses cover letters in the circular file if they are not addressed to him personally.” Wow!

>> Keep it simple.
Three or four paragraphs should suffice. In your first paragraph, explain why you are writing. In the middle paragraph or two, highlight why you are a good candidate for the position, convey a clear story about your career, and detail what you can do to help the company reach its goals. Your closing paragraph should indicate how you will follow up on your submission.

>> Send it twice.
Submit your letter once in the body of your e-mail (with your resume attached), and then go double-duty by mailing a hard copy of your letter and resume. It’s a proven strategy for success:

Attach a handwritten note that says, “Second submission; I’m very interested,” Ms. Piotrowski said. “I’ve had clients double their rate of interviews simply from doing that,” she said.

With a little effort (and lot of proofreading), you can write a cover letter that dazzles potential employers and gets you an interview. Best of luck!

-Robyn Tellefsen

Corporate America is in a tailspin, and if you’re one of the unfortunate who is paying the price by losing your job, you’re certainly not alone. The unemployment rate is now at 7.2 percent –- the highest rate since January 1993, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Yikes! What now? Just because you’re laid off doesn’t mean things are totally hopeless. If you act quickly and keenly — employing these 7 steps for starters — you may be back to work before you know it.

1.    Mourn your loss.
As anxious as you may be about all that lies ahead, stop and take a breath. Losing your job can feel like losing a friend, family member, or lover. You have the right to be hurt, sad, angry, and everything in between. Don’t deny the place your job had in your life. Acknowledge it, and then move on.

2.    Get your social network on.
If you haven’t had time to investigate the online social networking scene, now is your chance. Hit up LinkedIn, Twitter (follow us: @collegesurfing), and Facebook, and let the world know you’re back on the market. Start a professional blog. You’d be amazed how fast opportunities open up via cyber connections.

3.    Hit the gym.
If ever there was a time you needed the endorphin rush that comes with exercise, that time is now. Laying on the couch can make you paunchy, pessimistic, and pokey -– none of which will motivate you to make critical career moves.

4.    Take a class.
Use unemployment to your advantage by taking a class to update your skills. You might want to pursue a computer certification, or even a communications course. Then, when you’re ready to dive back into the workforce, you’ll be even better qualified than when you left.

5.    Volunteer.
Volunteering is a fantastic way to fill your newfound free time. It can take your mind off your own concerns for a while and focus your attention on the people around you. Plus, volunteering may also provide an inroad to a new job — remember, it’s all about networking and making new connections.

6.    Change careers.
Why not try your hand at something that’s always interested you? Sign up for a class or two in a new field and find out if you have what it takes to make a go of a new career. To increase your odds of finding a job fast, consider getting into a high-growth industry like IT or health care.

7.    Work for yourself.
I have a super-talented friend who used her layoff from a graphic design job as motivation to start her own event design business. It wasn’t an easy transition to make, but she has been steadily building her brand and her client base. The result? She’s able to do what she loves on her own terms.

As for all my hard working readers who are plugging away everyday, remember no job is layoff proof. Now is a good time to start socking away some emergency fund money just in case, get back in touch with your networks, update your resume, and work extra hard on the job.

As hard as it may be to see when you’re going through it, a layoff could often be an opportunity in disguise.

-Robyn Tellefsen

Readers, any other layoff surivor tips to share? Shout ‘em out in the comments section!

With all of the unemployment statistics out there, there’s a good possibility that you’re reading this in fear of losing your job, or not being able to find one once you finish school. There’s an even greater possibility that one of your parents or older relatives was laid off or took a buyout. What you don’t often hear about, though, is that for the younger workforce, the climate isn’t necessarily as bad as news reports would have you believe, as recently pointed out by fellow blogger, the Brazen Careerist herself, Penelope Trunk:

What I’m saying is that young people shouldn’t be thrown by the bad news that old people are pushing. Things are not that bad if you’re beginning your career. Think big, ask a lot of the world, demand respect and fun and a high learning curve.

In other words, stay positive — your future looks bright! That’s because, as the boomers are offered packages to opt out, or simply asked to leave, many companies are turning to new grads to fill those slots at a cheaper salary than they were paying their longtime loyal employees. Of course, it seems an unfair way to land a job, but it’s the inevitable circle of life these days, so you might as well take advantage of it. Some things to keep in mind…

Companies are still hiring, it’s true: Employers say they will hire about as many new college graduates from the Class of 2009 as they did from the Class of 2008, but plan to keep a watchful eye on those hiring needs, so they can shift gears if necessary, according to the Job Outlook 2009 survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). In such an environment, says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director, “students need to use all the resources available to them to conduct a successful job search, starting with the campus career center.”

Think inside and outside the box. In this case, the box is referring to your computer. You need to diversify the way you market yourself, whether it’s online at job boards, or at social network sites like Twitter (follow us: @collegesurfing), or LinkedIn; or offline at campus recruitment opportunities, job fairs, networking events in your field, or spreading the word to friends. The more you get the word out, the more potential jobs you’ll hear about.

Big opportunities have less to do with salary than you think. I haven’t heard much about students landing six figures and signing bonuses out of college, have you? In other words, keep your expectations down to Earth, and the job offers will come. The most important thing to think about is what a prospective job can do for you beyond your paycheck. Will it get you close to a mentor in the field that you can learn from? Does it serve as a jumping off point to something else you’d like to do down the line? Is it your dream company, and you don’t care how low on the totem pole you start?

Consider both short- and long-term. Despite the last point, money does of course count — let’s be real. The idea is not to think so much about the starting salary offered, that you overlook what that salary has the potential to become over the course of time. Would you rather start off making $35K knowing that the next level up makes $40K and takes a couple of years to reach, or will you take $30K with the promise of a performance review every six months and a better benefits/vacation package? The point is, listen carefully to all offers and then make your decision based on the big picture.

Feeling a little better? I hope you do.

What are your biggest fears about the job market?

I’ll be the first to admit that job hunting is no fun, especially when the economy has gone south. The last time I was between jobs was right after 9/11 — not the best time to be looking for work.

I thought I was doing everything right. I updated my resume, wrote some lovely cover letters, and spent hours upon hours surfing online job sites. The return on my investment? Nada.

That’s hard to understand, since it looks like there are so many opportunities on the Web. In fact, the Conference Board, a business research organization, estimated that 4,833,700 job vacancies were posted online last month. Surely someone must be getting those jobs. (Side note: Does anyone know how many vacancies are actually filled by online job site surfers? It would be interesting to find out that ratio.)

Anyway, back in 2001, social networking sites hadn’t yet made their way to the Internet, so I didn’t have the option of using my Facebook account to meet all the right people. Now, according to the members of the Society for Human Resource Management, recruiters use social networking sites to fill vacancies, verify resumes, and screen applicants — and they’re doing it 23 percent more now than they did in 2006.

Social networking would certainly be a more fun and targeted way to get work. Just last week, in fact, a Facebook friend noticed my “freelance writer & editor” description and wrote on my wall for suggestions on breaking into the freelance market. Michelle, I hope my advice was helpful!

I ended up getting a job in early 2002 through some face-to-face social networking, though I wasn’t even the one doing the work. While at a young adult Bible study, my husband mentioned that I was having a hard time finding a job. The next thing I know, my friend Mike is approaching me and chastising me for not talking to him about my employment situation. He was a graphic designer and I was a writer, but I never saw the connection. Turns out he worked for a magazine, I got an interview, and shortly thereafter I was gainfully employed.

Though online job sites are probably not a total waste of time, personal connections seem the better way to go. Ask around your circle of friends, and don’t forget about alumni and professional associations. Alumni associations in particular have a vested interest in seeing their own succeed; you’d be amazed how helpful they can be for you to make professional connections.

Because, in the end, anonymity won’t get you work. You need to be known. Remember Chris Gardner, Will Smith’s character in “The Pursuit of Happyness”? He landed a spot in the competitive internship program at Dean Witter by paying a visit to the office and creatively scoring face time with a hiring manager. It was unconventional, but it worked.

Share your story: How did you find your current job?

-Robyn Tellefsen

Just read an interesting study about Gen Y that I thought was worth sharing. In a nutshell, 50 percent of Gen Y workers give employers six months or less to “prove themselves” before they move on to a new job. I guess being from Gen X, I find this concept bizarre. After all, I was always from the school of thought that is was the new employee that had to do the proving. But today’s workplace is far different, even from 10 or so years ago when I entered it. Says the press release:

“Gen Y’s are the most technology-savvy generation and grew up with immediate access to whatever they needed such as information or connections. They are able to identify new opportunities much more easily than any generation before them, so they tend to be impatient when told they have to wait and pay their dues.”

That from Executive Consultant Tim Vigue of Novations Group, a global consulting organization based in Boston who released the study. OK, I’ll buy that, but I think part of the phenomenon may have something to do with a feeling of entitlement that some of the younger generation’s workers graduate with. Of course, if a job or career doesn’t feel right you shouldn’t feel obligated to stay, which is why many people go back to school to try something new. But I think it’s fair to say that some people’s expectations are a little over the top.

For instance, I have a relative who was offered a near six-figure job right out of college. (Yes, I’m a tad jealous!) Just three weeks in, he started complaining that they’re working him too hard because he’s in the office until 8 p.m. every night. But what he neglected to mention was that he doesn’t start his work day until 11 a.m., and goes out for an hour-long lunch everyday with his bosses, on the company’s dime. Yeah… must be rough.

Vigue goes on to advise employers to let a new hire know that during the first several months, while the focus is on learning a job, mistakes are expected and may be viewed as opportunities for learning. “Reassurance such as this can go a long way to improving the likelihood that your Gen Y employees will stay.”

Come again? Maybe I’m too old school for my own good, but I just can’t picture my CEO apologizing in advance to an entry level worker for potentially hurting his feelings when he’s told he screwed up. New workers shouldn’t expect high-level executive decisions to get run by them either. Sorry, it just doesn’t work that way in the real world. At least not in my experience.

I was lucky that I found my fit and stuck with it. But I’m pretty sure my tolerance level and flexibility to go above and beyond my job description — even back when I was an intern — had something to do with that. And believe me, the nature of my work has dramatically evolved over the years. Incidentally, even after 10 years, I still try to prove myself everyday.

With today’s rough and tumble economy, choosing a school just got more complicated. It’s not just about course offerings, location, affordability, and reputation — you need to find out how they’ll help you after you graduate. In other words, imagine that part of that big fat tuition check is an investment into free career services later on, and use that as a factor in determining which school is right for you.

Check out what CareerJournal.com has to say about it:

Not-so-recent college graduates are demanding more career assistance from their former schools as they face tougher employment markets.

“This spring, I personally received more calls and emails from alums seeking job-hunting help than at any time in the past four years,” says Aspasia Apostolakis Miller, an official of the Northwestern Alumni Association.U.S. universities have begun to respond by creating job-search programs.

Nearly 20% now offer full-fledged efforts for alumni, up from just 5% five years ago, according to alumni-service specialists interviewed. And business schools in particular are stepping up aid for their graduates. Matthew Temple, Kellogg’s director of alumni career services, says he and fellow coaches handled 2,160 appointments with M.B.A. graduates during the eight months ended on April 30 — 45% more than the year-earlier period.

The good news is that schools are upping their efforts to help alumni. I know from personal experience, that my husband broke into the technology field thanks to a job placement program at the career school he attended. And my own alma mater has a career coaching program in which alumni make themselves available to mentor recent grads.

While finishing a program you’re just starting to research may seem like a lifetime away, you need to think ahead and ask questions like these:

• Does your school offer an on-site career center?
• Are resources like career aptitude tests available there?
• Are there resume/portfolio review services and/or mock interview sessions?
• Is there on-campus recruitment and interview opportunities?
• As an alumni, do I still have access to career services?

Essentially, going back to school is not just about learning a skill; it’s about leveraging a new network.

It’s cap-and-gown time again, and for college grads, that means it’s time to face the job market. (Cue eerie music.)

But is it as bad as they say? That depends on who you’re listening to.

Here’s how the Economic Policy Institute –a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank — sees it:

College grads are confronting a more inhospitable job market than their predecessors faced in 2001, the beginning of the last recession.

With persistent job losses and rising unemployment expected, there is little evidence to suggest that the job market will improve for recent college graduates in the near future.

Talk about doom and gloom. The U.S. Labor Department has been the bearer of negative news as well, announcing that April was the fourth straight month that non-farm employment was down from a year earlier.

But there’s another side to this story. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers Job Outlook 2008 Spring Update survey, employers plan to hire 8 percent more new college graduates from the class of 2008 than they hired from the class of 2007. OK, that’s some good news.

Here’s more: according to a recent survey by Experience Inc., a company that provides software and services for job recruiting to colleges and universities, 31 percent of college seniors graduating this spring have already received job offers, compared with 22 percent a year ago.

It’s hard to say who’s got it right and who’s got it wrong, but here’s a bit of free advice: ignore the national job market statistics (especially the depressing ones). Instead, focus on what you need to do to get a job.

Along those lines, Alexandra Levit, author of “How’d You Score That Gig,” made some interesting quotes in a recent issue of The Wall Street Journal:

“College graduates today have very high expectations of their first job,” she explains. But in a sour economy, “you might have to settle for a situation that’s not 100% ideal.”

Broaden your search to lesser-known firms and less glamorous roles. “Just because you’re not going to fall in love with a job doesn’t mean you can’t learn something and make some money, too,” Ms. Levit says.

I have mixed feelings about Ms. Levit’s comments on lowering our employment expectations. While it’s true that we need to be pragmatic sometimes so the bills get paid and our bellies get full, I also think it’s a mistake to settle for too much less than the life we were hoping for. Your job may not be “100% ideal,” but it shouldn’t be something you hate, either. Nothing is worth that kind of misery.
It may be hard to ignore the bleak job market stats and doom-and-gloom commentary out there, but try. After all, you don’t need an entire market full of jobs. You just need one.

-Robyn Tellefsen