Most of his friends are back from college and also stuck with their parents. He doesn’t have a strong connection to any other areas.
It was for me! Graduated with a BA in Classics, my only criterion in finding a job was “Not in ____” (the city where my parents lived).
Seriously, this doesn’t need to be the most momentous decision of his life.
1- reconnect with career services at his college. This is what they get paid to do- help their graduates launch. Whether it’s tweaking his resume, giving him names of recent grads who have jobs which might be appealing, helping him use their “handshake” system (the online job board most colleges use now)- they should be his first stop.
2- Start looking on Indeed, ZipRecruiter, Linkedin. Any entry level job which has as its qualifications “College degree” should get full consideration. Rental car company? Cruise line? Property/Casualty Insurance analyst? Digital marketing assistant? Assistant manager for a supplements/vitamin retailer? Sales rep for a sporting equipment company? He should set the search parameters to USA, NOT California.
3-Has he drawn a circle around the weightlifting industry and figured out which companies are in that sector? This is an important part of the search… so it’s gyms, equipment manufacturers, apparel companies, vitamins/supplements, events organizers, mainstream food and beverage companies which sponsor competitions, banks which lend money to people purchasing franchises in this industry, etc. That will likely yield 50 or so companies to explore…plus all the media companies-- sports coverage?
4- Has he taken any of the occupational type tests that his career services team at college use? Sometimes they can uncover a latent interest which has a really practical application!
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My husband and I had to move 2,500 miles for our first engineering jobs, after sending out 273 resumes from Alaska to Hawaii to Maine. It was tough at the time, but it worked out well.
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Thank you for the thoughtful feedback! I will have him take a look at some of your suggestions. I do think looking at that weightlifting industry could be fruitful. He would love to work in that field. He networks a lot at competitions, but he mostly knows small gym owners who are barely getting by. They’re not really looking for full time employees.
It is amazing to me how poorly EMTs are paid to save lives! An acquaintance went through the program to be certified but it wasn’t financially viable so she kept working at the local health food coop who came closer to paying a living wage + benefits. She ended up going back to grad school eventually.
Hope he can find something that is exciting for him!
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Every industry has its aftermarket-- if there’s money in competitions, eventually there are deep pockets providing that money! So whether it’s Wheaties or ESPN … I just did a quick google and nutritional supplements for the weight lifting industry were estimated at $16 billion in the US in 2019.
So your son’s targets are not the guys who can barely make rent… it’s the guys who are part of the $16 billion (or apparel, or equipment, or advertising, or whatever…)
But he needs to own this… your post is not “difficult time finding a job with a living wage”, it’s “son needs to figure out what he wants to do with his life” which is not the same thing at all!
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A distant relative who did kinseology pivoted to do UI/UX (after some training), and is making 80k after a couple of years. This can be remote. So you can pick an inexpensive place to live.
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You’re absolutely right, he needs to find his path. He is working more than full time, but he’s having difficulty seeing a path forward toward independence. He’s discouraged and needs some guidance.
I sincerely appreciate all of the suggestions!
Career Services!!! If he didn’t tap into their expertise senior year, it’s not too late. Most colleges have robust services for alums!!!
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How about a strength and conditioning coach at a university as a career objective? He would need various certifications and get some experience.
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He has looked into that too. He would need to become certified as an athletic trainer, which is different than a personal trainer. He has applied for a few jobs at our local university to see if he can get a foot in the door there.
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Perhaps because it may be a stepping stone to other career directions, it gets a plentiful supply of people willing to do it.
@blossom — if you have those links, I would love to see them! Thanks!
Tech sales is a great field for someone who might not have the right skills for programming or analytics… but strong people skills like the OP’s son
Lots and lots of interesting careers here!
Good luck.
Would he be interested in being a paramedic?
UVM has a lot of interesting certificates too.
After working as an emt and ride along with fire, I don’t think so.
Thank you!!
Do you have any sense on how easy/difficult it is to get a job after taking one of these programs?
Depends on the student and depends on the program.
I think the certifications in things like fundraising are not that valuable… a motivated person can read a bunch of job postings, realize “Hey, everyone uses Raiser’s Edge” or whatever the software is, download a tutorial and teach themselves. They don’t need a “certificate” or a program.
In other areas- the certifications are critical (CFA for example). If a company lists a CFA as “Highly advantageous” it’s a good bet nobody is getting that job without it. It’s the gold standard in some sectors of the financial sector.
So there’s no hard and fast rule. But for someone without much direction or focus, I think skipping a few steps and jumping in to a certification process is a mistake. FIRST figure out what you want to do. THEN make a plan to get there. Which is why I think a college’s career services team is so important- take advantage of their expertise in helping to figure out “now what” before you jump into something new.
I know a lot of folks in their 20’s doing data analytics certificates and they all seem to be getting jobs very quickly- retailers (someone at Amazon is figuring out that if you order Windex you also need a case of paper towels!), banks, insurance companies, ad agencies, etc.
But what is the person interested in doing? That’s the question! I’m not going to suggest an analytics certificate for someone who doesn’t want a desk job and needs to be outside all day!!!
If a few of them moved in together could they afford to move out from home?
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The rental market in my area, western San Fernando valley, is brutal. He and two friends have been looking for a while. Rentals are extremely unaffordable and highly competitive. The few places they felt they could stretch to afford, they were not selected. Landlords aren’t real keen on renting to a bunch of dudes if they have other options, and they do.
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