There is a stunning amount of job loss out there and many of the victims are the Baby Boomer fathers and mothers whose children are still in or are about to graduate from college.
And there's a stunning lack of job opportunities out there. Very, very few companies are growing. In fact, they're looking for every opportunity to shed expense and people are a big expense.
I've looked at and applied for several jobs since being retired from newspapers eight months ago. I've looked at full-time and part-time, none related to the newspaper business. I can tell you it's a dry well.
I wrote a piece this week for Examiner.com about what advice Baby Boomer parents might give their graduating seniors. And I got some great advice from Peter Wallace, associate professor of business at Stonehill College in Massachusetts. He has written "Life 101: Real-World Advice for Graduating College Seniors."
He has four key points:
- Consider graduate school;
- Network;
- Look at temporary employment;
- Volunteer to use your time effectively.
Networking is a big deal in these days of LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Digg and the rest. Who you know was always an important factor of the job hunt; who you know on Facebook might be as well.
Wallace suggests that the networking be a cooperative effort.
"I recall a story from the recession in the early 2000s, where a father who was out of work, found a good job networking with his daughter’s college roommate’s father," he said. "Networking is the most effective form of job hunting; why not make it a family affair."
My son David will graduate in May with a history major from Boston College. He's smart and motivated, and there's no doubt he'll face some job hunting challenges.
It's not like we'll be competing for the same jobs, but we'll be swimming in the same labor pool, probably giving each other advice on how to swim faster than everyone else.
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