Updated June 4, 2026 at 12:44 PM EDT
It’s a low-hire job market right now, which makes being a new college graduate bittersweet.
Host Peter O’Dowd shares what listeners have been telling us about their post-graduation job search experiences, and gets advice from Judi Umali-Rajkumar, director of career programs for full-time masters of business administration and masters of business administration direct at Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business in Dallas, Texas.
5 questions with Judi Umali-Rajkumar
How would you describe the job market for new grads?
“Frustrating… especially post-pandemic, as the market has been evolving. The thing that [makes] the biggest difference now is the intention that someone has in implementing and executing a career strategy. I think that people go into their degrees, [as aspirational], which is what they always should do.
“What’s changed though is that the degree alone is no longer going to get you the job. It is the degree, plus experience. And so that is what makes it challenging in this particular job market.
“Let’s make sure that the people out there who you want to work with. Do they know you? And how do they know the type of experience that you bring from your degree? And also, what you were doing before you were in your program?
“Technology today has made applying a lot easier, but technology has also made it noisier. And if you’re just getting into your job search, it’s going to feel bleak when you get started if your only strategy is, I’m going to throw out some applications. And now, the intention means having an actual career strategy, plus a network to back you up.”
Should job searchers be going out in person or calling people to find work?
“Yes. But the challenge today is people think of networking as going to an event and handing out business cards. And that is not the reality. Networking is truly about relationship building.
“As an example, I was talking to one of my contacts at a Fortune 100 organization. They might have an application cap of 1,500 applications, and they’re hitting that within 72 hours. And so in order for you to really stand out, it is getting somebody to pull that resume out of the stack. And the challenge is that if you’re not speaking to enough people, you’re also missing out on opportunities to figure out, like, what are those particular employers looking for in their job and their job today? That might be different from the job posting.”
Artificial intelligence has upended the way that employers screen job applications and even the way that interviews are done. How do you adapt to that?
“Know your values first. You’ve got to know yourself. You’ve got to have a very clear destination. So, for example, think of a certain role you want. Build your resume, your profile, the people that you’re communicating with around that particular role.
“I know people assume that they’re competing against AI. They’re actually competing against people who know how to use AI tools more effectively. And so something that I would challenge our listeners on is, with all the different AI tools that are available right now, use it to your advantage. But, it can’t replace you. So what I mean by that is, yes, you’ve got a resume, but sure, you can use an AI tool to be able to help you decipher the hidden language of a job description and make sure you’ve got the keywords in that resume and build it into your own language.
“I work with students who use tools to be able to help simulate potential interviews to prepare them for jobs as well. And again, it’s not replacing the human experience. It’s helping them to practice and to prepare for potential conversations.”
We recently spoke on the program with Joshua Beach, an Air Force veteran from Roseville, Calif. He went back to school to study engineering, graduated last year, and he tells us he’s worried about job hunting at his age and the mental toll that it can take. And he’s just 36. What do you think of Josh’s situation?
“Yeah, I hear what Josh is saying. I would also compare that to anybody right now who, probably around the same age, that have been laid off and have to re-enter into a completely new market and don’t know how to approach a job search.
“I would consider Josh as a great example of someone who should be able to hone in on all of their experiences, make sure that they are speaking about it. How are they branding themselves publicly? Is he on LinkedIn? Is he sharing some of the thoughts that he is learning or the insights he’s learning from his classes and presenting himself as a potentially new thought leader?”
We’ve been hearing from a lot of people who are watching this unfold in their families. Maybe they have a loved one who’s struggling to find a job right now. Do you have advice for those people who just may not know how to help if their child or their spouse is struggling?
“What I would say is allow the person to have a pity party, give them a time limit to say, ‘OK, you’ve struck out. You just went through a six-round interview and didn’t get the job. What we’re going to do is we’re going to celebrate this weekend regardless, because you went through a really long process and I know you’re going to get back to work next week. It’s fine, but today we’re not going to talk about it. … Let’s have fun together, because we haven’t had fun in a while.’ I think those things go a long way.”
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Ashley Locke produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Catherine Welch. Locke also produced it for the web.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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