Reports indicate that college graduates have been facing an increasingly competitive job market, meaning applicants have to find ways to stand out now more than ever.
The Ram spoke with faculty within Fordham University’s career center, and employers and recruiters at Fordham’s recent Spring Career Fair and Fordham students to learn how applicants are approaching internships and job applications. From the conversations, four main themes stood out: network, be unique, do not downplay yourself and use the resources available.
One resource that is available to Fordham students are the events held by the Career Center, many of which target different job markets and give students networking opportunities.
“Last year, we held over 500 employer and student-related career readiness type of events and recruiting events,” said Annette McLaughlin, who is the currently the director of the Office of Career Services.
According to Ryan Reisner, president and founder of The Reisner Group — a national recruiting company that has worked with Fordham students and attended the recent career fair — building your network and net worth is all about following-up with them.
“There’s an old saying that says your network is your net worth,” Reisner had said. “You can network and build a relationship, but you have to maintain that relationship with follow-up and adding value and the ability to connect the dots on who knows who and how they can help each other out.”
Tomas Vonder Haar, GSB ’28, connected and had calls with 30 alumni through RamConnect which is a platform where students can network, receive career advice and learn of job opportunities from students, parents and alumni. He also highlighted that the Fordham University Personal and Professional Development Center as a good resource for students to get their foot in the door.
On Ram Connect, all Fordham students have access to training modules, such as IBM training, Salesforce artificial intelligence, Handshake courses and free AI training that could lead to paid projects, according to McLaughlin.
However, McLaughlin also said it is important not to be over-reliant on using AI to write your resume, as it can lead to every resume sounding and looking the same.
“Think about what is unique about you and make that come out,” she said. “You have to create a personality on the resume so that they know what’s unique about you.”
Reisner also noted a similar importance with highlighting your unique qualities and skills, advising students to get involved in various student organizations, leadership organizations and early internships as a way to build their resume.
“Being able to identify [transferable skills] and how they transition to the work world is pretty important,” Reisner said.
The Career Center surveys all seniors in their spring semester in what they call a “first destination survey,” which last year had showed that 6% of students were unemployed six-months post-graduation, down 14% from when McLaughlin first started her position nine years ago.
McLaughlin said students are not experiencing a true job recession, but that entry into the professional world is more difficult than previous generations are used to. She also said the Career Center is doing what they can to help make the job search easier.
“We’re talking to employers and alumni every single day to find out what are the opportunities, where are the openings, how can we help assist our students to understand that strategy and what they need to do to be successful,” McLaughlin said.
There is no shortage of jobs on Handshake, as there are over 130,000 postings last year, according to McLaughlin. However, for more specific industries, McLaughlin said it is important to know the strict deadlines.
“Being aware and cognizant of when your respective industry recruits is also incredibly important because you don’t want to just be late, and then you have no chance in the beginning,” she said.
Madison Cossaboom, FCRH ’28, applied for internships her first year at Fordham because she wanted to get experience sending out applications and received two internship offers.
“I sort of just wanted to get myself in the rhythm of what it’s like applying to internships and potential jobs and seeing how I can, through this experience, improve my resume, improve cover letters,” Cossaboom said.
Although Cossaboom has been accepted to the two internships, she had advised students to stay grounded when they are inevitably rejected from somewhere. “Understand that it is okay to entirely expect rejection letters,” Cossaboom said. “Keep your sense of self and understand that what you do here at Fordham or outside of campus is still amazing work.”
Cossaboom also encouraged seniors to utilize the Career Center, especially if they have no work or internship experience and no career plan. “You might show up for a resume workshop,” Cossaboom said. “And you might be leaving with an email to a recruiter at a company that you just learned existed, and it actually aligns with your goals perfectly.”
Various information about everything Fordham offers is publicized in two main places — RAM Connect and the Career Center newsletters — as well as Instagram reels and also Youtube videos.
