Emily Griffith Technical College instructor Marisol Espinoza, left, watches as one of her students, 19-year-old Joey Guerrero, cuts a flat-top for customer Kevin Prentice during barbering skills training in Denver on May 30, 2024. Technical schools like Emily Griffith can help young people find pathways into careers.
Starting a career after college is a much different ballgame than it once was, experts told The Denver Post during the height of Colorado’s graduation season. The job hunt, like most things, has moved online. Whereas a firm handshake used to be the pinnacle of impressing a prospective employer, the new trick of the trade is learning how to stand out among heaps of digital applications that zip through automated screenings before ever encountering human eyes.
Salter, 22, graduated a few weeks ago. Her family’s Thornton home has transformed into her career headquarters, where she updates an Excel spreadsheet tracking the status of the more than 200 jobs she’s applied for since the beginning of the year. Only about half of bachelor’s degree holders in the United States lock down a college-level job within a year of graduation, according to a, which researches the future of work. The other half end up underemployed, meaning they work in jobs that don’t require a degree or make use of their collegiate-level skills.
There were 1.7 job openings per unemployed person in Colorado in the first three months of this year, the fourth-highest rate in the country. The national average was 1.4. Plus, rapidly changing technologies constantly disrupt industries, prompting the need to innovate and adapt. “We know that’s not creating the talent pipeline that businesses need,” she said. “We’re trying to create more work-based learning opportunities in high school and postsecondary education. Apprenticeship is a big part of that and helps people learn skills while they earn money. It helps employers shape the talent they need.”
Career coaches go into Emily Griffith’s classrooms within the first week of courses to introduce themselves and the services they offer. They go back mid-way through the program to create skill-based resumes with the students. A few weeks before graduation, they come back once more to see who has a job and who could use a resume refresher, interview preparations and application help.
If an applicant is only relying on uploading their resume and sitting back awaiting a response, career coach Skredynski said it’s going to be a tough job market for them. Applicants should be researching the hiring manager, the recruiter, peers in the organization and trying to connect with them via the networking site LinkedIn, she said.
“It’s not just networking on LinkedIn,” Skredynski said. “It’s using your alumni, family, friends, people in your community. It’s going to conferences, webinars, any professional networking groups you can. It’s getting out there and talking to people and letting them know this is who I am and what I’m looking for.”