It's graduation season! The job market is hot and employers plan to hire nearly one-third more new college graduates this year than last year, according to a report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Check out our infographic which details optimistic hiring statistics for upcoming college grads.

Finding summer internship opportunities can be challenging right now due to COVID-19 restrictions still in place for organizations and the current state of the job market. If you’re a student or recent college graduate looking to gain real-life work experience, consider these tips to help guide you to find an internship you love this summer.

If you’re a recent college grad, it’s extremely important that your entry-level resume best displays how you’re a qualified candidate, even if you have little professional experience. You must take what you did throughout your college career and make it shine on paper.

As the school year comes to a swift close, many college graduates are on the hunt for entry-level positions. Finding a job can be difficult, especially for recent-grads that may have little to no experience. However, with a four-year diploma and the right mindset, you can land your first ‘real world’ job right out of college.

When seeking entry-level candidates, recruiters not only look at one’s experience and knowledge but their skill set. Your skills are the result of your knowledge and experience. It’s what sets you apart from your competition, making it imperative to list your soft and hard skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile. Because you are an entry-level candidate, employers don’t expect to see a long list of advanced abilities but, they do expect to see a handful of relevant, desired skills. To best portray how qualified you are, we are sharing our expert advice on what essential skills you need to illustrate to help you get found by recruiters!

Yet another new buzzword, “gig economy”, has been trending in today’s evolving digital world. The term refers to a labor market where people are hired for short-term assignments and temporary or individual contract work. The gig economy is comprised of freelancers, side hustlers, temporary agency workers, and contractors. People working in the gig economy typically are those who have recently been laid off, in the process of searching for a full-time job, in school, or looking to make extra money on the side in addition to their full-time job. In short, the gig economy translates to, individuals working a part-time job.

With Generation Z soon entering the workforce, organizations are looking toward the positive, new change they will bring. Gen-Z includes those born after 1996, with a large number of students graduating college this year. Since their priorities and aspirations differ from Millennials, it is important for employers to adapt their recruiting efforts to attract and retain members of this generation.

Millennials can now breathe a sigh of relief knowing Generation Z is next in line to receive all the attention and scrutiny of the media. Gen-Z, people born after 1996, is about to rapidly change the workforce as we know it. A common misconception is that Millennials and Gen-Z have the same values and motives. The main difference is, Gen-Z doesn’t know life without smartphones and cutting-edge technology. Their priorities, aspirations, and wants in the workplace are very different from any other generation and it’s important to know these differences when marketing to them.

Just because you’re going to be a college graduate, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re qualified for every entry-level job that comes your way. There are things you need to do in college to proactively gain experience so you can be ready to dive into the job market. Take a look at the infographic below which shows the five things students should know before they get ready to graduate and enter the workforce.

For most of your college career you have probably been told that internships are key for landing a job after college. While they still are very important for your career, internships are not the only way to gain new skills and experience in your particular field of interest. There are additional ways to gain that needed experience both in and out of the classroom that you may not have thought of initially. Keep reading to see which experiences in college can translate to experience needed when searching for jobs.