College grads enter tough hiring market: Some tips to help with the job hunt

It’s graduation time for many college students and that means going into the real world and fulfilling that one daunting yet exciting task that comes with becoming an adult – getting a job. 

You may have seen videos on TikTok and reports about how this generation of young adults is experiencing one of the bleakest job markets in years.

Unemployment rates among college graduates ages 22 to 27 saw an uptick over the last three years, according to a 2025 analysis conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

What they're saying:

"The appetite for hiring is definitely decreasing," Alli Goossens, the assistant director of employer engagement at North Dakota State University, told The New York Times.

But how did we get here? 

Post-COVID bubble 

Transitioning from campus to career has been complicated by the lingering impacts of the pandemic, Barry Garapedian, CEO and president of a consulting firm that caters to mentoring high-school and college-aged students, told FOX. 

Students were stuck in a "three to four-year bubble" that greatly impacted their "emotional intelligence." 

While younger generations often possess high technical proficiency, they frequently lack the relationship-building skills that are essential in almost any career. 

Dig deeper:

A report from The Wall Street Journal highlighted that younger generations appeared to lack the interpersonal office skills such as making small talk, navigating in-person meetings, understanding corporate hierarchies and having difficulty navigating conflict resolution. 

As a result, they are woefully unprepared to survive or thrive in their jobs, which then leads to more turnover. 

What’s more, these 20-somethings leave their jobs without a clear idea of why it didn’t work out, so the problem doesn’t get better. 

Big picture view:

While many employers find young people are ill-prepared to enter the workforce, whether it’s lack of experience or emotional intelligence, those same employers are the ones setting the unrealistic barriers they require when hiring, according to a 2025 report by The Schultz Family Foundation and Harris X titled, "America’s School-to-Work Crisis."

"Despite identifying a lack of experience as a major barrier to hiring early-career talent, few employers offer the kinds of opportunities that could close the gap. Just 38% provide internships, and only 14% offer job shadowing experiences," the report said. 

The other side:

Some companies are offering younger hires training to help them become more resilient and better handle office politics. 

PwC U.K. rolled out its "resilience training" program in 2025 to help Gen Z hires handle workplace criticism and help develop their "communication skills." 

Be confident and use AI to your advantage

What you can do:

Garapedian insists that devising a plan and sticking with it can prove massively successful when building up a young person’s self esteem, work ethic and, eventually, determination when entering the job market. 

According to The New York Times, the mental health crisis among young adults has reached a peak, often manifesting as "job search burnout."

Garapedian’s advice to "start with wins" every morning or every day, serves as a psychological buffer against the rejection inherent in the market. 

What they're saying:

"It really comes down to one thing, it’s the "I believe button," building self esteem, building that you believe in yourself. It starts there. How do you get that? You have to have accomplishments, you have to have daily wins," Garapedian said.

And as artificial intelligence becomes integrated into our daily lives, using that technology to your advantage will not only teach you valuable skills, but it could be the thing that helps you get hired. 

Take it a step further by using AI to "personalize your approach" to the companies you’re most interested in, recommends Daniel Chait, CEO of recruitment firm Greenhouse. 

You could, for example, get AI to read all of a company’s reports for the past year or analyze its job openings to "help you improve your cover letter or the wording of your resume in very specific ways," he told The Associated Press. 

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