Navigating the Job Market through a Pandemic
The pandemic has changed the job market drastically. But the class of 2020 has shown resilience and perseverance in their career search—and so will the upcoming class of 2021. Photo by Israel Andrade via Unsplash
It is no secret that navigating the job market as a recent graduate isn’t easy, even under ideal circumstances. For many members of Marist College’s 2021 graduating class, finding a job might be more challenging this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, many students who had jobs lined up after graduation found that their offers were rescinded or delayed. They also had to adapt to a new landscape of interviewing and career networking in a remote environment. Laura Grevi, Associate Director for Career Coaching at Marist’s Career Services office, said that the office worked to provide as much support as possible to alumni from the class of ‘20, and will do the same for the class of ‘21 this May.
“We reached out to graduates frequently through phone calls, reminding them they could schedule remote appointments with a Career Coach and offering strategies and resources for searching for a post-graduate position,” Grevi said. “No matter the situation, we always tried to help the graduates maintain a positive outlook and offer strategies that would continue to help them move forward with achieving their career goals.”
Grevi noted that many major industries have been impacted during the pandemic, including leisure and hospitality jobs, the motion picture and music industry, personal services, self-employment, and manufacturing jobs. However, despite all of these new roadblocks, Marist alumni in their post-graduate endeavors proved resilient in the fresh onslaught of adversity brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marist Class of ‘20 alum Chris Gladden captures this spirit of resilience. “[The job search] was challenging at first, with pretty much every college graduate in the country trying to find a job,” Gladden said. His dreams of going to law school after graduation were put on hold after his LSAT (Law School Admission Test) was canceled due to the pandemic. However, Gladden remained undeterred and used a headhunting agency to help find a job. “They worked on putting my resume out there, and customizing a profile for me that was tailored towards what I was looking for in an entry level position in the finance/accounting field,” he said. Eventually, he secured a job in the Corporate Actions Division of Bank of New York Mellon (BNY).
Gladden was far from the only Marist student who showed resilience to persevere despite the pandemic.
Career Services Executive Director Mary Jones said that Marist students have taught her resilience, positivity, and perseverance. “This is not the journey that we wanted for our students but I am very impressed by how they have adapted to an unprecedented situation,” She said.
Stephanie Graham, Career Services’ internship coordinator, echoed this sentiment, stating that her office in the Fall of 2020 saw a 50% increase in students participating in internships for credit, which are tracked through their office, when compared to Fall 2019. Graham also highlighted Marist perseverance by stating that during the current Spring 2021 semester, seniors are interning at a variety of major companies including Oscar de la Renta, NBC Universal, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the New York State Public Defender’s Office, to name a few.
This vast amount of success shared by both alumni and current students despite the erratic nature of the current job market is a testament to the student body.
Some things that both recent Marist graduates and current graduating students can do to increase their success in navigating the job market includes the potential use of head hunting agencies, thinking outside the box by pairing ideal jobs with some intermediary complementing jobs, and continuing to show the immense levels of resilience that have become trademarks of Red Foxes.