Reply to About to graduate from the University of Michigan Ross school and still jobless

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Give him time. You can evaluate in a couple of years if his degree is useless. In these crazy times, jobs are not easy to get. Celebrate his graduation. Give him a month to relax and chill. And then have him buckle down on the job search. He will be fine. Have empathy. These are difficult times for young people [/quote]

Agreed. And blaming the school is not setting a good example.

I assume most of his friends from Michigan, as well as friends from "lesser" schools have jobs (or got into grad school), so he is stressed. Which is very understandable. The world is turned sideways right now. Lots of kids locked in jobs last fall or earlier. Now companies are uncertain about their hiring needs. But there are plenty of jobs out there. Just need to be smart about it. Often the best first jobs are one-offs at smaller places rather than being analyst #471 at JP Morgan or entry-level brand manager #87 at P&G.[/quote]

Michigan MBA here.  I agree with the PP I've quoted.  Almost everyone in my entire class had jobs by graduation.  The year following was about 80% due to a tech crash.  It was agonizing for those who were emptyhanded.  I've seen several more years like this since...when corporate employers turn the faucet off, it goes quick.

I was glad I missed the downturn because I had graduated from a different Rust Belt flagship during a big recession.  It took me about a year to get on my feet...and ironically I had to move away from home to the DMV to land.   The DMV has never been a top market for MBAs...so perhaps your kid needs to consider moving elsewhere in the US...I don't know what's healthy right now but doubt DMV is it.  Maybe look at stats for Chicago?  Where are his classmates finding opportunities?

I went to a Ross Career Center talk in spring 2024 to get general info on the market to help a friend whose husband had just gotten laid off.  The job market for prestige/known/on campus MBA jobs was bad then.  The forecast was that companies were holding their breath until the election.  Also that interest rates were slowing down the cheap money that had been sloshing into the tech job market.  One of the presenters was a MBB HR lady from the outplacement department.  They were getting rid of 1,000s of underutilized MBA consultants last year.

Frankly, most corporate people thought Kamala Harris would win.  Because that would have been the more stable outcome for companies, the stock market, etc.  So a lot of projects are frozen while companies figure out the best way to avoid wasting billions seesawing back and forth due to shifting policies.  If you're not living this existential angst at work, you are fortunate. I'm really sad to see what is happening to the federal government due to DOGE.

FYI, many of the top MBA programs were reporting problems with 2024 graduate placement last fall.  Including all the top names.

I agree with the poster above who is talking about a contact pipeline.  That is a best practice. It does take 100s of contacts when the job market is rough.  Don't let your kid sit at home filling out apps without a job, either.  Tell your kid to get a volunteer or low paying office job RIGHT AWAY that gives flexibility for networking lunches, attending public events, etc. and have him do apps in the evening.  Sitting around the house applying is depressing and leaves a big resume hole.

Now is the time to contact more alums and maybe move past Ross alums to other types of Michigan grads.  I've only gotten a few calls over the years but I've taken all of them and most times the candidate wants something unreasonable to happen (job out of season, pay level above what's reasonable, visa support, etc.).  But I'm happy to discuss why they want what they want and some alternate possible routes to that path.  I don't expect a person to understand everything about my industry or role from the outside.

I understand this is tough for a parent to watch, but there's no way out but through in this economy.  Have your kid think back to their strategy for ECs. Can they start a business?  Was there a charity that they enjoyed volunteering for?  Spend less time freaking about the sunk cost of tuition and more on the smartest path forward.

Congrats and courage to your grad. [/quote]

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