The Job Market for my Seniors: How you can help your business!

The headlines are clear: Gen Z is entering one of the toughest job markets in decades.

For graduating seniors, the path from campus to career looks very different than it did even two years ago.

Here are the facts, and why your help matters both for students and for your own business!

The Reality for Gen Z Job Seekers

• Entry-Level Roles Are Shrinking: Postings for entry-level jobs have dropped 25%-30% since early 2024 with steep declines in tech, logistics, and finance.
• Competition Is Wicked: Applications per job have doubled, fueled by AI tools that make mass applying easier but also make standing out harder.
• Every job now receives almost double the applications compared to last year.  Last January, I was telling my seniors that they needed to make 100-120 top-of-funnel "reachouts" in applications or networking connections. The number I am giving today is 250!
• Financial Pressure Is Real: Unemployment for recent grads sits at 7.4%, higher than older workers.
• What They Value: meaningful work tops the list! 

Why should you care 

Gen Z brings fresh skills, adaptability, and AI fluency...qualities every business needs. This isn’t just a challenge for them; it’s a missed opportunity for management seeking innovative thinkers at entry level jobs.  Think about the short-term impact to your business of hiring a student who has been using...or developing...AI solutions in Sales or Marketing in class for the past three years!

How You Can Help

At Tufts, our seniors have spent years solving real-world business problems through consulting projects, internships, and hands-on coursework. They’re ready to contribute from day one.  Let me give you an example:

• I've had the privilege of teaching Marketing and Sales at Tufts in The Derby Entrepreneurship Center for 20 years. In both courses, we provide marketing or sales content based on semester-long projects which require significant time outside the 3-hour weekly classes working directly with the management of six project companies who provide 40% of the semester grade.  Real work!  Real life!  Many of my alums go into rewarding careers in sales and marketing.  
  
  On an ROI basis, the cost of hiring an entry-level Sales BDR or a marketing person steeped in analytics, SEO, social media implementation and a variety of other disciplines including primary and secondary research pays for itself in less than 12 months.  If you're interested, just connect with me at any time at jack@derbymanagement.com.  I post all the jobs that I hear of at the beginning of every Wednesday's class.
  
  Also, if you're interested in being one of our six marketing projects for the spring semester, let me know right away, and I will send you the instructions!  The syllabus with the named companies goes out December 1st. 

But far more important than my own courses are multiples of hundreds of job opportunities throughout our 10 schools ranging from engineering to nutrition, medicine, dentistry, music, veterinary, poly sci, economics, and 100's of other disciplines.

Of course, I would love to help my own students get full time jobs or summer internships, but if you're more focused on supporting your own college or university, connect directly with the related department head of your school and ask to be connected with the professors who are job-focused...and then just connect with them directly.  Don't bother with Career Services unless you personally know someone there.  In the majority of cases, they're overwhelmed, plus if you want direct references, go to the professors. They will know the best and most engaged students. 

Closing Thoughts on this

The job market may be tough, but together you and I can change the trajectory for these graduates. Email me, message me on LinkedIn, or share this post with someone who’s hiring. Let’s make sure the next generation of leaders gets the start they deserve. In that thought process, think back to that person/that company who helped guide you to your career.  

On the flip side, if you know of seniors who are struggling with finding a full-time job...or an internship, send them a copy of my free ebook- "The Marketing of Me". It's a detailed playbook of what it takes to find the best jobs in this economy.  

Have a great selling day this Monday and all this week!   Only 28-maybe 29-days left in the Q to sell!
For my students, the count is down to just 10 days before their final presentations to management.

Now is time to begin your business planning for what lies ahead in 2026!

Think about taking a full day in the second week of January to polish your detailed business and sales planning process for 2026. Here's our free how-to ebooks for a few ideas:

"Writing the Winning Sales Plan"
"Writing the Winning Business Plan"
"Writing the Winning Marketing Plan"
"The Marketing of Me"

We outline ideas on structure, models, process funnels, productivity tools and how to recruit, hire and onboard the best people.  A few hands-on guides for sales, marketing and business managers written by heavily experienced line managers with your titles and responsibilities.   

Connect with me any time at jack@derbymanagement.com and let's discuss your own 2026 planning!