Many new young graduates described a job market shaped by tightening opportunities, the rise of AI and shifting employer expectations. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenMany new young graduates described a job market shaped by tightening opportunities, the rise of AI and shifting employer expectations. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images‘I feel helpless’: college graduates can’t find entry-level roles in shrinking market amid rise of AIYoung American graduates expressed frustration over fewer job openings and longer searches Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox American college graduates are facing the worst entry-level job market since the pandemic, with the underemployment rate reaching 42.5% – its highest level since 2020.Several young graduates told the Guardian about their struggles navigating a job market shaped by tightening opportunities, the rise of AI and shifting employer expectations.Gillian Frost, a 22-year-old student at Smith College in Massachusetts, has been searching for work since last September. Majoring in quantitative economics with a minor in government and set to graduate in May, she described a grueling and often discouraging process.“Every weekend, I dedicate over two hours to job applications. As of today, I’ve applied to over 90 jobs. I’ve been ghosted by nearly 25% of them and rejected automatically from around 55%,” she said.The jobs AI can’t do – and the young adults doing themRead moreDespite securing some interviews, Frost said the lack of communication from employers had been particularly frustrating.She said: “I’ve gotten around 10 interviews but many of them don’t even bother to tell you you’re not a good fit … I feel helpless. No one seems to know how best to prepare due to the unique conflux of events occurring. How do you prepare for a tight labor market coinciding with the emergence of AI and direct US involvement in war? Most generations have dealt with maybe one of these but our generation is the first to deal with all three.”For Jeff Kubat, a 31-year-old in St Cloud, Minnesota, the challenge is different but no less severe. After spending eight years optimizing accounts payable at a construction company, he returned to school to pursue a master’s in accounting. He has since struggled to secure a role.“I should be about to graduate and it’s been a struggle to job hunt … Even companies out in small-town Minnesota are being incredibly literal in who they’re looking for and it’s just a dearth of willingness to train people who have relatable backgrounds into what they need,” Kubat said.As his job search continues, Kubat said he was beginning to lower his expectations.“I’m about to drop my standards for salary after this next round of interviews gets hashed out since my next job isn’t my forever job … but I still need to make money and it really does feel like I’m in an area that doesn’t match with my industry. It is a reflection of these stories that say that hiring has fallen to the point of the Covid years. It seems like the only roles that are opening are due to people falling out of roles rather than genuine growth in the area,” he said.Others said the difficulty lies not just in finding jobs, but in meeting increasingly demanding requirements. A 25-year-old graduate from New York University who majored in media, culture and communications said many so-called entry-level roles felt out of reach.How the anxiety over AI could fuel a new workers’ movementRead more“Decent-paying jobs that are listed as entry-level will often ask for candidates with three to five years of experience – an amount of time that simply cannot be achieved if one is fresh out of college,” the graduate said. “Most job descriptions make me feel so un- or under-qualified, I won’t even bother applying since I don’t have years of experience to draw from.”The graduate also described the growing influence of automated hiring systems, saying: “For every job, especially ones for larger entities who are likelier to use AI in the hiring process, it’s essential to tailor my resume explicitly for that position and include as many keywords as possible. It’s aggravating and exhausting, but sadly a necessity in this fucked-up market and point in technological development.”They added: “I hate that I have to worry about passing a machine’s arbitrary and unknowable tests before anyone considers my human capability and what I could bring to a given position as an individual.”View image in fullscreenAnna Waldron, 22, said structural barriers in hiring practices had made the job search especially challenging. Photograph: Courtesy of Anna WaldronFor Anna Waldron, a 22-year-old originally from Portland, Oregon, structural barriers in hiring practices have made the job search especially challenging.Waldron, who is set to graduate from Loyola University Chicago in May with a double major in political science and journalism, said she usually applied “on job boards like Handshake, LinkedIn, FlexJobs, etc, but other times I look for places in Chicago that I know of and apply through their careers section on their website if they have one”.She continued: “What I’ve found is that a lot of jobs don’t get posted on these sites because they hire internally or keep it ‘in the circle of the company’, which makes it hard for entry people like me who don’t have as many connections.”Despite multiple internships and relevant experience, Waldron said she had yet to secure a position: “I have done three internships since being in college and have skills both in writing for news publications and doing policy work, including working for the US Senate, but despite me applying to all kinds of jobs related to both of these fields, I am still struggling to find something.”Explore more on these topicsUS newsJob huntingWork & careersCareersUS universitiesCollegesfeaturesShareReuse this content