--- title: Worst Job Market for College Students-Today's WSJ description: "WSJ article this morning: Companies Predict 2026 Will Be the Worst College Grad Job Market in Five Years" image: https://www.derbymanagement.com/hubfs/VT%201st%20snow%20111525.jpg --- [![Derby Management](https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/file-2618089236-png/derbymanagement/derbylogo.png) ](https://www.derbymanagement.com/)                                                  [![Social media-LI logo](https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Social%20media-LI%20logo.jpeg?width=26&name=Social%20media-LI%20logo.jpeg) ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackderby/)[![Social Media-Twitter ](https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Social%20Media-Twitter%20.jpeg?width=25&name=Social%20Media-Twitter%20.jpeg) ](https://twitter.com/derbymanagement)[![Social Media-Facebook logo](https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Social%20Media-Facebook%20logo.jpeg?width=27&name=Social%20Media-Facebook%20logo.jpeg)](https://www.facebook.com/derbymanagement/) **Working with you to create success in 2026!!!  ** # Derby Management's "Competitive Edge" Blog # Worst Job Market for College Students-Today's WSJ Posted by [Jack Derby, Management Coach, Tufts Professor, Entrepreneur, Author](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/author/jack-derby-management-coach-tufts-professor-entrepreneur-author) on Sat, Nov 15, 2025 ![](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/26cd8d7f79473708399ec213226dad66) Find me on: [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackderby/) [Twitter ](https://twitter.com/JackDerbyTEC) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ![VT 1st snow 111525](https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/hubfs/VT%201st%20snow%20111525.jpg?width=249&height=187&name=VT%201st%20snow%20111525.jpg) Just woke up to the first snow on the ground in Vermont this AM...it's official:  Winta's Here!   I also woke up to read this WSJ article...which although it's not new news to me...it provides a factual story of what's happening on every college campus right now. Companies Predict 2026 Will Be the Worst College Grad Job Market in Five Years [https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/2026-graduates-job-market-7928bcd7?st=k9S3sx](https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/2026-graduates-job-market-7928bcd7?st=k9S3sx) People ask me all the time, what's teaching at Tufts and MIT like, and my responses are always the same: - It's extraordinary!  Every semester, I learn more than I teach - I feel privileged every time I step on campus and hear the words, *"professor, have you got a minute?"* - It keeps me young and always thinking what could I do better both in teaching and at the firm. What I and you can do better on this chilly Saturday is to come up with just one opportunity for a full-time job for students graduating in the spring or an internship for next semester or the summer.  If you cannot, could you reach out and mentor just one junior, senior or grad student on what it will take or provide them with a sounding board when they've applied to 60-90 jobs and hear back from only 3 or 4 and did not move past the second or third interviews for those.  Those stats are very typical right now in the worst job market I've seen since 2008. If you know of students or recent alums who are struggling with finding a full-time job...or an internship...send them a copy of my free ebook- ["The Marketing of Me"](https://www.derbymanagement.com/the-marketing-of-me-2025). It's a detailed playbook of what it takes to find the best jobs in this economy.  I wrote this last November and December when my frustration was at a high level not expecting that the job market would be 2X-3X worse this November. What I now know from many hundreds of experiences with students over the last year, is that the processes in the book always work.  What I can't be as certain about is the actual timing...other than it will be shorter.  Have a great weekend!    Tags: [2026 Business Planning](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/2026-business-planning) ### Subscribe Here! ### Most Popular Posts ## Share this Page [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.derbymanagement.com%2Fblog%2Fworst-job-market-for-college-students-todays-wsj%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on LinkedIn](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/linkedin-24x24.png)](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=True&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.derbymanagement.com%2Fblog%2Fworst-job-market-for-college-students-todays-wsj%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dlinkedin) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.derbymanagement.com%2Fblog%2Fworst-job-market-for-college-students-todays-wsj%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.derbymanagement.com%2Fblog%2Fworst-job-market-for-college-students-todays-wsj%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Worst%20Job%20Market%20for%20College%20Students-Today%27s%20WSJ) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.derbymanagement.com%2Fblog%2Fworst-job-market-for-college-students-todays-wsj%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.derbymanagement.com%2Fblog%2Fworst-job-market-for-college-students-todays-wsj%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ## Recent Blog Posts