My kid has a master's in public administration but is unemployed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A career coach to see why the resume and interviews aren't going well for him.

How do I find a reputable one? We have had his resume professionally revised.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A career coach to see why the resume and interviews aren't going well for him.

How do I find a reputable one? We have had his resume professionally revised.

DP, but you could try this McLean coach: https://www.dclifecounseling.com/career-coach-mclean-va/ (I'm assuming you are in the DMV -- the job market is unique here, so I'd go with someone local if you can).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it too late for him to apply to PMF, presidential management fellow? Google.

Sorry but he likely needs to intern. Some internships pay now, at least minimum wage.

I hope you are not paying for extras for him and that you are not doing his laundry etc.

Yes we are covering all his expenses, car, healthcare and sometimes even his laundry. Both his father and I have drive. What a spoiled lazy egghead it appears we’ve raised

I don’t know if you can jump to that conclusion when you say his dad “thinks he’s too good to go back to service industry!” Are you giving him mixed messages? Is the goal to find the right/best career step or just start making $$? I agree that you are way too involved and it’s fine to set a “we need you to contribute xx to household expenses by this date” and then stay out of how he does that.

He may need to find a paid internship or be underemployed and live at home a little longer, getting a masters without significant work experience does not pan out well for many people, they come out looking for the same entry level roles and internships that they would have sought prior to the masters.

Thank you. Yes PMF deadline was September, and he claims he didn't find out about it until October. It's hard and puzzling to me to have a child who is very bright, got amazing grades, but is unable to monetize his education. What's the point of getting high grades in college if you don't do something with them? Very confusing.

some people are just pure academics, and don't/can't do much else, including figuring out common sense things.

[Anonymous]

State or local government but he can't act like he's too good for that. We can smell that attitude from a mile away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fundraise for a politician

Terrible idea. Plus this has nothing to do with public administration.

lol. Who hires vast majority of administrators for public offices????!?? You win the prize.

[Anonymous]

I' M a career director at a local university. Son needs to:

* reach out to career services office at his grad and undergrad - most colleges provide access to " Handshake Jobs Portal" even for alums
*attend Northwestern Alum events in DC
*Write to every professor he has ever had to ask for advice
* scope out careers related events at your local library + schedule meeting with librarian to review resources to use in career search
*Become active on Linkedin + join all relevant groups on LinkedIn, including his universities' alumni pages
*Search for jobs on LinkedIn on " Jobs" bar
*Search "Northwestern MPA" on Linkedin search line + then connect with those alums
*Idealist is a free job site for jobs in non-profits
*ASAE jobs free association job site
*Search job leads for free on "The Hill"; " Roll Call", and Public Affairs Council (PAC), "Tom Manatos" + "Traverse Jobs" newsletters have small subscription fees
*Google job banks for US House of Representatives and US Senate
*PMF! ( how on earth did he miss deadline)?
*Politemps (as someone wrote...generally for Dems)
*Get a host job at a place like Old Ebbitt Grill or a place on Capitol Hill to meet people
*Set up job alerts on places like indeed.com + Linkedin
*Tutor or be a sports or music coach at a private school or nice suburban public school to meet influential/connected parents
*Keep going until he gets something. Job search is not for the faint of heart. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fundraise for a politician

Terrible idea. Plus this has nothing to do with public administration.

lol. Who hires vast majority of administrators for public offices????!?? You win the prize.

Not politicians

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I' M a career director at a local university. Son needs to:

* reach out to career services office at his grad and undergrad - most colleges provide access to " Handshake Jobs Portal" even for alums
*attend Northwestern Alum events in DC
*Write to every professor he has ever had to ask for advice
* scope out careers related events at your local library + schedule meeting with librarian to review resources to use in career search
*Become active on Linkedin + join all relevant groups on LinkedIn, including his universities' alumni pages
*Search for jobs on LinkedIn on " Jobs" bar
*Search "Northwestern MPA" on Linkedin search line + then connect with those alums
*Idealist is a free job site for jobs in non-profits
*ASAE jobs free association job site
*Search job leads for free on "The Hill"; " Roll Call", and Public Affairs Council (PAC), "Tom Manatos" + "Traverse Jobs" newsletters have small subscription fees
*Google job banks for US House of Representatives and US Senate
*PMF! ( how on earth did he miss deadline)?
*Politemps (as someone wrote...generally for Dems)
*Get a host job at a place like Old Ebbitt Grill or a place on Capitol Hill to meet people
*Set up job alerts on places like indeed.com + Linkedin
*Tutor or be a sports or music coach at a private school or nice suburban public school to meet influential/connected parents
*Keep going until he gets something. Job search is not for the faint of heart. Good luck!

DP but this is an absolutely fantastic list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I' M a career director at a local university. Son needs to:

* reach out to career services office at his grad and undergrad - most colleges provide access to " Handshake Jobs Portal" even for alums
*attend Northwestern Alum events in DC
*Write to every professor he has ever had to ask for advice
* scope out careers related events at your local library + schedule meeting with librarian to review resources to use in career search
*Become active on Linkedin + join all relevant groups on LinkedIn, including his universities' alumni pages
*Search for jobs on LinkedIn on " Jobs" bar
*Search "Northwestern MPA" on Linkedin search line + then connect with those alums
*Idealist is a free job site for jobs in non-profits
*ASAE jobs free association job site
*Search job leads for free on "The Hill"; " Roll Call", and Public Affairs Council (PAC), "Tom Manatos" + "Traverse Jobs" newsletters have small subscription fees
*Google job banks for US House of Representatives and US Senate
*PMF! ( how on earth did he miss deadline)?
*Politemps (as someone wrote...generally for Dems)
*Get a host job at a place like Old Ebbitt Grill or a place on Capitol Hill to meet people
*Set up job alerts on places like indeed.com + Linkedin
*Tutor or be a sports or music coach at a private school or nice suburban public school to meet influential/connected parents
*Keep going until he gets something. Job search is not for the faint of heart. Good luck!

DP but this is an absolutely fantastic list.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmm. Many of these careers start out as internships or fellows in local government. I assume he has pursued that?

He can't afford an internship, and he's 24, not a kid.

Many so-called internships these days require 2 years of experience. Don't let the word "internship" be a hang up. It's he new entry level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmm. Many of these careers start out as internships or fellows in local government. I assume he has pursued that?

He can't afford an internship, and he's 24, not a kid.

Many so-called internships these days require 2 years of experience. Don't let the word "internship" be a hang up. It's he new entry level.

Yup -- " internship" or " fellowship" (college career director again from earlier post)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If he doesn’t have super relevant experience and little or no internships while in school, his first job out of school may be a little bit lower on the pay scale and will start to give him the experience he needs. 220 applications with nothing to show for it means something is not tracking. Some kids who are good at stats and coding can get entry level analyst jobs. But they have to be willing to put the time and hours into it. May not seem glamourous, or what they did a Masters for, but it’s the way to start building.

Unless he can come in as an intern, he's not getting a job in the federal government with no actual skills. Any generalist position is going to a veteran.

There's the pathways program.

This. I work at a federal agency and the majority of people we've brought on have been interns, either pathways or PMF. Very hard to get hired otherwise. Our entry level jobs for master's degrees are GS-9 with a ladder to GS-13 (automatic promotion every year).

[Anonymous]

21:22 again. Forgot to include " Politico" as a source to look for job postings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:State or local government but he can't act like he's too good for that. We can smell that attitude from a mile away.

Govtjobs dot com or other source? He’s talked to his supervisor from his college internship at a city job.

[Anonymous]

Best way is to volunteer or intern somewhere in a desired place for free. Better than sitting at home waiting. While he’s volunteering, keep applying to jobs and put the volunteer/internship on the resume.

This is what I did when I went back to work after being a SAHM with a bachelors. Eventually the nonprofit I worked for offered me a paid PT job. I worked there for a bit and then got a full time job. From there I moved up. Your 24 year old Masters kid can do it too.