Tag Archives: "Economy"

The Student Employment Study

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Dan Schawbel

Millennial Branding and AfterCollege Release New Study on Student Employment

Their internships aren’t turning into jobs, they ignore LinkedIn
and want colleges to provide networking opportunities

Boston, MA – April 22, 2013 – Millennial Branding, a Gen Y research and consulting firm and AfterCollege, the largest online career network for college students and recent graduates, today announced a new report on how students are developing their careers while in college. The report, The Student Employment Study, shows that while 79% of students have had at least one internship in the past six months, 57% were unpaid and 76% didn’t result in a job offer. Although the majority of students believe that college prepares them for the working world, 44% of those surveyed only apply to between one and five jobs at a time. They aren’t using professional social networks, including LinkedIn, to brand and market themselves to employers either. As a result, 48% haven’t even had an interview in the past six months. In March, AfterCollege surveyed 600 of their registered college students covering a variety of U.S. colleges and universities.

Additional highlights from the report include:

1. They want colleges to offer networking opportunities. 57% of students wish their schools offered more networking opportunities to help them prepare for the working world. Students also wish their schools had more focus on learning how to get jobs over standard courses (46%) and more career fairs and alumni support (34%). Half of students either haven’t used their career services department, had a bad experience or feel it needs improvement. Overall, 73% of students feel that college has prepared them for the working world.

2. They spend their time on Facebook and YouTube, instead of LinkedIn. When asked about what social networking sites they use, 90% said they use Facebook either frequently or occasionally. 78% felt the same way about YouTube and 46% never use LinkedIn. The majority of students aren’t using FourSquare, StumbleUpon, reddit or Tumblr.

3. They don’t want to be entrepreneurs. When asked if they were interested in starting a company in the next few years, 62% weren’t interested and only 8% were very interested. Only 21% of students wish their school offered entrepreneurship courses.

4. They believe an employer’s website is most important when job searching. 70% turn to an employer’s website first and 65% speak to someone who already works at the company they are applying for. 61% attend a school career fair and 58% search an online job site. Only 26% turn to a social networking site like LinkedIn or Facebook when job searching.

5. When applying for jobs, their biggest turnoff is a lack of response from employers. 49% of students say that a company never gets back to them after they submit a resume. 26% say that the company makes it hard to apply for positions and 37% say that the most stressful part of the job application process is preparing for the interview.

Quotes:

“Students have to be accountable for their careers, prepare for the job market as early as freshman year and start building their networks because internships and resumes don’t turn into jobs anymore.”

- Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding and Author of Promote Yourself

“Finding the right job or internship is extremely important to college students. AfterCollege is committed to eliminating unemployment among college grads and we constantly look for ways to help students improve their prospects.”

- Roberto Angulo, CEO and Co-founder, AfterCollege

Contacts:

Millennial Branding (Spokesperson): Dan Schawbel dan@millennialbranding.com
AfterCollege (CEO): Roberto Angulo rangulo@aftercollege.com

About Millennial Branding:

Millennial Branding is a Gen Y research and management consulting firm based in Boston, Mass. Millennial Branding helps companies understand the emerging Gen Y employee by providing research, training, and advisory services. As representatives of Gen Y and advisers to management, our goal is to provide research and insights that will make you more profitable, grow your market share, help you understand your Gen Y employees, and turn you into an industry leader. As ambassadors to Gen Y, we want to give our generation a voice, support their careers, and connect them with brands that understand their needs.

About AfterCollege:

AfterCollege matches college students and recent graduates with jobs and internships based on their school and major, allowing them to explore future career paths based on their qualifications. Offering 300,000 job opportunities at 25,000 employers, AfterCollege reaches students in 19,000 departments at 2,300 colleges and universities. AfterCollege’s mission is to eliminate unemployment among recent college graduates. For more information, visit www.aftercollege.com.

The Gen Y Vote Study for the 2012 Presidential Elections

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Dan Schawbel

Millennial Branding and Internships.com Release Study on the Gen Y Vote 

15% more are voting in this election over 2008 and 58% will follow the election on social networks

Boston, MA – October 4, 2012 – Millennial Branding, a Gen Y research and consulting firm and Internships.com, the world’s largest internship marketplace, today announced a new study called “The Gen Y Vote.” The study shows how young people (age 18 to 29) will be voting in the 2012 presidential election, what issues they care most about, who influences their vote and more. This online survey of 2,236 Gen Y’s was conducted on September 14th.

More Gen Y will be coming out to vote in this year’s election compared to 2008. They will be voting for Obama, are more associated with the Democratic party and their parents have had the most influence on their vote. The issue that they care most about is the economy and after TV, social networks is where they will be following the election.

Additional highlights from the report include:

1. 75% will be voting in this election compared to only 60% that voted in 2008. Of those who will be voting this year, 64% intend to vote for Obama and only 22% for Romney. Out of those polled, 44% associated with the Democratic party, while 27% were Independents and only 17% associated with the Republican party. 54% are either considering or very interested in volunteering with a local campaign.

2. 48% believe that their parents most influence their vote (aside from themselves). After their parents, their friends were the next biggest influence, followed by their co-workers and then celebrities. When it comes to politics, celebrities don’t influence the youth vote.

3. 55% feel that the Economy is the most important issue in this election. After the economy, 14% said Education and 13% said Healthcare. Fewer than 5% said Foreign Policy, Immigration, Abortion, Same-sex Marriage and the Environment. They care most about the issues directly impacting their life situation at the moment and since many are without jobs, that’s the priority.

4. 58% will be following the election on social networks like Twitter and Facebook. TV is still the number one source of election coverage for Gen Y since 76% will be tuning in. The third most popular medium was newspapers and magazines at 55% and then radio at 23%. Only 36% are willing to share their political opinions online.

5. 61% feel that Obama will have a positive impact on the economy. Only 24% feel the same way about Romney. 63% said that the job situation  has affected their vote in this election. 50% feel that the unemployment rate is the fault of George W. Bush’s administration. 21% feel that neither Obama or Bush are at fault and 20% say they are both at fault. When asked if Romney’s business background would make him a better president, 71% said “no”.

Quotes:

“Gen Y has become a powerful force in politics with an army of 80 million strong and will have a major impact on who wins the 2012 presidential elections. Although they feel that Obama didn’t keep all the promises he made in 2008, they are willing to give him another four years to prove himself.”

- Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding, Gen Y expert and bestselling author of Me 2.0

“Our ability to extract important, timely, and topical data from Gen Y members is unmatched. We’re constantly surprised by the fast pace of attitudinal change among this demographic. Volunteerism is up, campaigns posting internship openings on Internships.com has skyrocketed, and Gen Y interest and action for the 2012 election year surprisingly exceeds 2008 by a strong margin.”

- Robin D. Richards, CEO of Internships.com

Contacts:

Millennial Branding (Spokesperson): Dan Schawbel dan@millennialbranding.com

About Millennial Branding:

Millennial Branding is a Gen Y research and management consulting firm based in Boston, Mass. Millennial Branding helps companies understand the emerging Gen Y employee by providing research, training, and advisory services. As representatives of Gen Y and advisers to management, our goal is to provide research and insights that will make you more profitable, grow your market share, help you understand your Gen Y employees, and turn you into an industry leader. As ambassadors to Gen Y, we want to give our generation a voice, support their careers, and connect them with brands that understand their needs.

About Internships.com:

Internships.com – a CareerArc Group company — is the world’s largest internship marketplace bringing students, employers and higher education together in one centralized location. The innovative, Los Angeles based company, develops a wide variety of interactive, world-class tools and services to enable every student, employer and educator to better understand and optimize internship opportunities. For additional information, please visit www.internships.com. For tips on finding internships, hot internship listings and internship advice, follow Internships.com on Twitter (www.twitter.com/internships) orFacebook (www.facebook.com/internships.com).

Despite High Unemployment Gen Y is Optimistic

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Dan Schawbel

My previous post established the overall characteristics of Gen Y as that of wavering loyalty when it comes to today’s job market—a market that is particularly challenging for this generation. The national unemployment rate among young adults ages 18 to 29 was about 12.7 percent in August (over 4% higher than the national average), according to nonprofit organization Generation Opportunity.

Why? Why are the Millennials so down, out and about?

Could it be that instead of unpredictable, at least a fraction of these Millennial workers are envisioning a more suitable opportunity for themselves? That instead of having trouble finding employment, some GenY workers are struggling to find meaningful employment—and are actually in the process of developing something better? For some, finding meaning means finding it on their own. Millennials crave opportunity, freedom and fulfillment.

According to The Multigenerational Job Search survey conducted by Millennial Branding and Beyond.com, survey, almost one third of all respondents have considered starting their own business instead of continuing their job search. And another study, found that the number of 18 to 29-year-olds in the process of setting up their own companies increased by 50% in the last year alone.

So Millennials want to explore the world on their own—but what does that mean? How will starting a new business affect your business? While I can understand why some management could see entrepreneurs as a direct hit to their human resource department, both leadership and team members must also consider that it’s an inevitable movement and it would prove to be much more beneficial to realize the positive picture for this relationship between entrepreneurs and corporate America.

The upside of entrepreneurs for our marketplace—

A chain reaction. The advancement caused by an entrepreneurial innovation will more than likely cause a domino effect. Advanced products and services push progression for innovation of technology and product development across industries—resulting in pioneering ideas and new advances that can ultimately benefit the entire market.

New business, new business partner. There are times that an employee might take on an entrepreneurial endeavor that creates a direct opportunity for the former employer. The previous business may provide a product or service that the new one needs in order to grow and develop.

Broader opportunity. Not only do entrepreneurial ventures have the potential to build a relationship and progress innovation, they have the potential to open up niches in the marketplace because of it. More businesses mean more opportunities to provide services to companies and individuals that are directly involved with these new, niche markets.

Finding a fit. Niches also create benefits for workers. There are a number of people currently working outside their passion or field of study. New opportunity means these companies often require new and/or specialized workers with focused skills to get the job done. Finally, that degree in Enigmatology might actually come in handy.

What are your feelings toward these benefits of entrepreneurship? What other advantages do you see as a result of GenY’s entrepreneurial search for personal satisfaction and opportunity?

- This post written by Carrie Bowe, an Intern at Millennial Branding

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