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Nearly half of college grads who left school year ago still looking first jobs

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Posted at 4:53 PM, May 06, 2021
and last updated 2021-05-06 17:53:17-04

Nearly half of all college grads that left school one year ago are still looking for their first job.

Monster and Wakefield Research surveyed young adults who graduated last year. Three out of four college grads or students who are about to graduate have accepted a job that may not have been at the top of their list. That includes entry-level, freelance and temp jobs.

But career experts say this shouldn't be discouraging.

“There's really no such thing as a bad job. So, you will learn the skills, even if you have a bad boss, and you learn how not to be that type of boss. So, you're always going to learn something from that job that you can include on your resume and include as talking points,” said Vicki Salemi, career expert at Monster.

An entry-level job will not have a negative impact when looking for a higher-level job. Just make sure to be factual and accurate about the skills you used in this position. And think about what type of job you want to land when mentioning these skills in your application.

“If you're doing something that's retail and you want to get into something like marketing, think about your customer service skills, and think of the overall skills that you can highlight in your current job that can lead to your career,” said Salemi.

Salemi says above everything else, it's important to remain optimistic in your job search and focus on the skills you're learning, no matter the job.