Here’s How Students and Recent Grads Can Land a Job in 2025
Credit: damircudic / E+ / Getty Images - The job market is tight right now, but there are steps students and recent graduates can take to make their job search easier.
- Resumes should be tailored to keywords in job descriptions, said Maile Hetherington, director of career opportunities at the Pepperdine University Seaver College.
- Online networking through websites like LinkedIn is also a key way to stand out from the crowd, Hetherington said.
- While employers have indicated they want AI skills, they’ve also said that human skills like strategic thinking and communication are important.
The job market in 2025 poses unique challenges to recent graduates and students striving to advance their career prospects.
Just look at some of the data.
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The number of job postings decreased by 15% on the Gen Z-focused career platform Handshake over the past year, according to a report from the platform, while the number of applications per posting rose by 30%.
The online job board Indeed also found weakening job prospects, particularly in research and development. Unemployment also appeared to increase in May, with jobless claims on the rise, suggesting layoffs, according to Reuters.
The class of 2025 is eager to enter the job market, but those data points suggest they might face a tough time.
This means career-minded students and recent college graduates will need to be strategic in their job search, said Maile Hetherington, director of career opportunities at the Pepperdine University Seaver College.
The class of 2025 is uniquely positioned to adapt to a changing job market, given the shifts to higher education they’ve experienced during their time in college, Hetherington told BestColleges in an interview.
“The class of 2025 has certainly come across having to learn to pivot throughout their time in college, and so I don’t think the job market is any different than that,” she said.
Impersonal mass outreach and boilerplate resumes are out in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), according to Hetherington.
“The key word, really, is intentionality when you’re applying,” she said.
Early career job hunters should tailor their resumes and cover letters to keywords in job applications, Hetherington said. This will help them stand out to hiring managers reading their resumes. It will also help them get past automated filters looking for certain key phrases within a resume or cover letter.
Hetherington said focusing on intentionality doesn’t mean students should only apply to a few companies.
“I wouldn’t say just apply to five or 10 jobs,” Hetherington said. “There still is a rule of numbers here. But are you looking into the companies? Are you finding alumni and people to network with to increase your visibility and chances there? That’s really going to be a critical part of the application process as well.”
She added that making a connection is also crucial to standing out from the crowd — and that the online nature of modern networking means that remote learners can also make connections with potential employers.
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Whether that’s on LinkedIn or through a college career center’s virtual networking events, Hetherington said connecting with alumni and others who work for a potential employer is a great way for recent college graduates to elevate their applications.
“I think so much of networking actually does happen online,” she said. “So I do think that there is an opportunity there.”
The same principle that applies to outreach also applies to job interviews and inquiries themselves: Cold, formulaic interactions won’t work as well as questions and responses tailored to each job.
“Thinking about some good questions that you want to ask that person, or what is it that you’re really hoping to learn if you’re able to get 5-10 minutes of their time on the phone or on Zoom or even just through email, too. All of that is fostering connection and helping to gain industry insights,” Hetherington said.
Standing Out in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence skills are also important to potential employers, who’ve indicated in previous General Management Admission Council research that AI skills are a must for new hires. Hetherington said AI will be an important piece of students’ applications.
“It’s not going to replace the human-centered work that they do, but it will be an important part of their toolkit to help them be competitive,” she said.
But employers have said in multiple reports over the past year that human skills like communication and strategy are going to be important as AI advances.
Communicating those human skills to employers, however, can be a challenge. Hetherington said recent graduates need to be able to show examples of how they use key skills like leadership, teamwork, and critical thinking as they search for a job.
“Having examples on their resume through their work experience, volunteer experience, etc., where they’re demonstrating that skill is a key difference than just being able to say, I have it,” she said.
Hetherington said she thinks the class of 2025 is “resilient,” and added that their learning won’t stop with graduation.
“Their first job isn’t their only job, and we all have learning opportunities throughout our career,” she said.