Job-searching during a pandemic: local career advisors are guiding their graduates

Workshops at the Cal State Fullerton career center usually attract up to 20 or 30 participants, said Elizabeth Zavala-Acevez, the center’s director.

Their meeting rooms aren’t big enough to hold more than that.

But now that they’ve transitioned all their services online, they often have over 100 people tuning into their sessions at once.

Zavala-Acevez said the CSUF students are more engaged with their job search than ever.

Part of it is because they are sheltering in place and have fewer distractions. But it’s also because they have to be.

They are entering a job market where roughly 36 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the last two months due to coronavirus-related closures.

But career advisors at Cal State Fullerton, Chapman University and UC Irvine want to emphasize that employers are still hiring. The career centers are updating their job boards, so students can easily see any immediate openings. They are locating internships that are being offered remotely because of the pandemic. They are setting up virtual job fairs. They are inviting employers and alumni to do Zoom interviews and information sessions with students.

It will be more competitive now, but it was always competitive, Zavala-Acevez said.

“Our message is that though the nation is on pause, your career shouldn’t be,” she said.

Eric Spangenberg, dean and professor at the UCI Paul Merage School of Business, said now more than ever, the school is leaning into their tagline, “Leadership for a Digitally Driven World.”

“The philosophy of the Merage School is that we must adapt ourselves and businesses for the disruption inherent in the digital environment,” he said. “This is why we reframed our curricula to give students the frameworks and analytical skills to lead through these transformative moments.”

“Students need to be prepared that if you are actively job searching, this is the space that you’re going to be doing it for a while,” Zavala-Acevez said. “You’ll have to interview via Zoom, your offer will be via Zoom, you’re going to have to be on-boarded via Zoom, and in some cases, you’ll be working remotely.”

She emphasized that it’s important to think about how to make the best impression in a virtual space.

This includes thinking about the lighting, background and how you dress for your Zoom interviews, but it‘s also about figuring out how to network online and through social media.

“You can search by alumni through LinkedIn, so college students who want to get into an organization can easily figure out which alumni are working there,” she said. “You don’t want to say ‘Hey, I’m job searching,’ but maybe you can message ‘Titan to Titan, would love to connect’ and reach out for an informational interview over Zoom or phone.”

“You have to strategize, build out networks and find good job leads,” said Susan Chang, the assistant director of career education at Chapman University’s Office of Career and Professional Development. “Having an inside track is more important now than ever.”

Blindly applying to as many places as possible might not get you anywhere in this economy, she said.

“The fundamentals are the same,” said Cynthia Rude, executive director of UCI Merage School of Business’ career center. “Reach out to professionals to set up informational interviews to establish your network, make sure the resume and cover letter you send out are tailored to the position you are applying for, and when you are in the interview seat, have the confidence to own your story and narrative and articulate why you are you the best person for the role.”

But this might also be a good time to think about how to “up-skill,” she said, referring to pursuing certificates or trainings that will give you a leg up in the job search.

“We will all be connected through this shared pandemic experience, so when you are in the interview seat, it would not hurt to share how you leveraged the pandemic experience to hone in on specific skill sets that make you the best candidate for the role,” Rude said.

Zavala-Acevez has also seen an uptick in interest in their workshops about graduate schools.

But overall, Chang emphasized that during a pandemic, it’s important for graduates to be flexible and to adjust their expectations.

“I think a lot of students feel pressured when they graduate to have everything figured out, to find their dream company or dream job,” she said. “So we’re just relieving that pressure and encouraging them to be open. We live in a gig economy nowadays, so we know that students change jobs throughout their careers, much more than ever … So they don’t have to find their forever job, just a position that builds their skills and sets them up for the future.”

Rude agreed about the importance of students expanding the types of opportunities they are open to.

“Understanding how your transferable skills can benefit multiple industries is time well spent and one of the most important ways in which we work with students,” she said.

“You have to be realistic about what you’re looking for and your timeline,” Chang added. “If you know you’re interested in an industry that’s not hiring right now … do you want to wait that out, or do you want to look at other options? I think for everyone, that decision is going to be a little bit different.”

Zavala-Acevez, who has been with CSUF’s career center for 14 years, remembers counseling students during the 2008 recession.

During more difficult times, employers have the upper hand, and they can be very selective, she explained. But just a couple of years later, it flipped, and students started having the upper hand. Employers were telling the staff at the career center they couldn’t keep their new hires, who leave as soon as they find a better offer.

Chang hopes it’s reassuring for new graduates to understand that the economy is often in flux and everyone has ups and downs in their careers.

She has spent the majority of her career working in human resources, hiring people. She’s laid people off. She’s been laid off. She’s learned to enjoy the bumps in the road.

“Don’t feel set back by any one thing that happens to you in your career,” Chang said. “There are definitely silver linings at the end of the day, different ways of getting to your endpoint. Or you might find that you like something else more along the way ... Being able to work through those adversities and be flexible, those are valuable life skills that serve you well in just about any career that you can go into.”

Most of all, the staff and counselors at college career centers want students to know that they are there for them.

“Maintaining access and a friendly face in order to avoid isolation with our students has been a major goal for us during this time,” Rude said.

Chang said summers are usually slower because students are gone, but this summer, they are planning to ramp up their services, available for Chapman alumni of all career levels.

Zavala-Acevez said they polled their CSUF students to ask what date they preferred to have their virtual career fair.

The overwhelming response was: after finals.

“The implication behind that is: We’re stressed,” she said. “Once they finish the semester, they will probably start looking more heavily into job-searching, and hopefully that’s when things start picking up a little bit more. One thing at a time.”

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