When Gina Petersen graduated along with her affiliate diploma from Kirkwood Neighborhood School two years in the past, she described it as “the most important accomplishment I’ve ever accomplished.”
As a returning grownup school scholar, she had struggled to suit her research partially time, on-line, whereas working as a coach for a tech firm. She had gotten that job by connections, and she or he hoped {that a} school diploma could be an enormous assist if she ever wanted to discover a new job sooner or later.
We instructed the story of Petersen’s school journey — which took her greater than seven years and a few false begins to finish — as a part of a three-part podcast sequence we did in 2022 known as Second Acts.
For this week’s episode of the EdSurge Podcast, we checked again in with Petersen to see what the diploma has meant for her skilled and private life.
And we discovered that the credential has not opened as many doorways as she had hoped.
Just a few months after we final talked to Gina, she acquired laid off from her coaching job after 10 years on the firm. And at first she rapidly discovered a undertaking supervisor place by her networks. However she felt the job wasn’t a superb match, so she give up after somewhat greater than a yr, hoping she’d rapidly discover one other place.
What she encountered, nevertheless, was a job market that all of the sudden felt way more daunting.
“I’ve despatched my resume to, I’d say, 150 completely different locations for 150 completely different roles, and but, nothing,” she says, even after getting skilled assist crafting her resume.
What’s worse, she says, she has been ghosted by employers when she does get preliminary curiosity. “I’ve had two individuals attain out for cellphone interviews and say, ‘Sure’ and make sure, after which I actually don’t get known as,” she says.
Petersen just isn’t alone, in keeping with labor market specialists.
Man Berger, director of financial analysis on the Burning Glass Institute, notes that as a result of it has grow to be simpler to use for jobs, due to one-click functions on firm web sites and the expansion of platforms like Linkedin, job seekers have extra alternatives than ever. However in addition they must work more durable to search out the appropriate match consequently. Whereas as soon as it is perhaps frequent to use to fifteen jobs, now it’s common to have to use to greater than 150, he says.
“Now, you’re making use of to much more issues – you’re getting extra cracks on the bat — however you’re simply getting much more rejections,” Berger says.
That may really feel demoralizing to job candidates, he provides, whereas additionally laborious for employers as they battle to sift by a flood of candidates.
In the meantime, Berger says that the variety of jobs for latest graduates has fallen in recent times, and simply having a level just isn’t as assured a “meal ticket” as prior to now.
“School graduates nonetheless get usually better-paying jobs than individuals who don’t have a university diploma, and there’s a wider vary of alternatives accessible to them after they’re in search of a job,” he says. “However for those who’re taking a look at how a lot of a lift it gives, in all probability it’s smaller than it was prior to now.”
Even so, Petersen says she is glad she acquired her diploma, as she realized worthwhile expertise in school that she put to make use of in her job. However she isn’t trying to return for extra increased training at this level.
Hear extra about Petersen’s search, tendencies in hiring and what schools can do to reply to this altering panorama on this week’s EdSurge Podcast.
Take a look at the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or on the participant under.
