Seriously? 50% of college grads do NOT have jobs

By Kaycee Cash

50% of new college graduates do not have jobs…. Seriously? Here I am, pouring my heart and soul into my college education, and now I am threatened by this statistic. You don’t apply to colleges hoping to give them all your money and leave with a piece of paper but no money to your name. You think that you are going to college to get the “whole experience,” which is of course worth it and I encourage it, but me personally? I’m in college now so that I can get that job that I want. That one job that I have been dancing around, declaring majors for. Right now it happens to be a small animal veterinarian. It could change to anything with animals- but that’s just me. I feel like a lot of people go through the same cycle of not knowing exactly what you want to do with your life, and this statistic of not having a job is scary. None of us want to end up like that.

But here I am, not even finished with the third paragraph of the introduction to this book that is supposed to teach me how to get a job. “Do This! Get Hired!” is the title. Forceful, but it gets the point across. Why should I trust what this book says?  Well, to start off, the first chapter is titled “What Qualifies Me to Give You Advice?” Apparently, Mr. Lyden is quite qualified.

One of the things that I have learned about the author is that he evaluates college students for a living. He recruits people like me for businesses, grad school, etc. If I had to guess, he probably knows what he is doing, and I feel a bit more comfortable about the advice that he has to give. Not only does he recruit college students, he teaches them how to get recruited through several classes. Some of these include methods on how to succeed in applying online, interviews, and resume writing. I made my resume with a guide off of google, and I’m pretty sure it isn’t as good as it should be. I hope that the things that he has to say in his book will help. He also teaches others how to recruit, how to read resumes, and did I mention the businesses that he works for are ranked and rated highly? Within the first few pages I’ve already learned a lot about him and a fun fact: always put your GPA in your resume or run the risk of your resume getting thrown out immediately. Nobody has the time to call you and ask about anything you left out.

The most striking thing to me is his story behind writing this book. I know that the proceeds of the book go to saving animals, which is a fantastic thing, but he got the idea by reading somebody else’s help book for college students. That somebody else has a Ph.D, and his book was long and way too descriptive.  Not only that… some of it was wrong, at least from Mr. Lyden’s experience. What’s great about this book so far is that there is nothing fake to it. It’s concise and informative, and already helpful. Not only that, it has a sarcastic tone that keeps the book humorous.  I look forward to the rest of the book, and I think I have a lot left to learn about getting a job. (And I mean A LOT.)

Salary Negotiations by Abby Soley

Mark Lyden’s book, “Do This! Get Hired!” clearly identifies the steps you have to take in order to get hired, for almost any scenario. He explains how to make your resume as powerful as possible, how to succeed at a career fair, and how to master the interview. He goes beyond this, though, and helps you out even after you and the job!

“Did you know that failing to negotiate your starting salary at your first job by just $2000 will cost you about $250,000 over a career?”

I didn’t know that, but it makes perfect sense in hindsight! And I don’t know about you, but I am already imagining what I could do with that money (new boat anyone?)!

Mark describes exactly what you have to say in order to effectively negotiate your salary.  He explains the basics of the two-five rule, which is a way of determining your ideal salary range. It’s easier to explain in an example, so here is a scenario that Mark described in the book.

If the company offers you a salary of $61,000, add $2000 to it to come up with the bottom number of your range, and then add $5000 on top of that number to get the top number of your range. Here is what you should say to the company: “First, thank you for the offer. We are close! My ideal salary for this position is sixty-eight thousand with my range being between sixty-three and sixty-eight thousand.”

It’s that easy! Now, have fun on that new boat!! ;)

MARK LYDEN’S BIO

Mark Lyden is an expert at getting people jobs…in THIS difficult job market. He has already helped thousands with his advice because it is different and it is PROVEN to work! The advice he gives is not the traditional advice that can be found on the Internet or being given by most career professionals. Now and for the last 15-years, Mr. Lyden has been a Professional Lead Recruiter for a Fortune 50 company. Mark is the author of: College Students: Do This! Get Hired!; Veterans: Do This! Get Hired!; and, Professionals: Do This! Get Hired! Visit DoThisGetHired.com for additional information. A substantial portion of the proceeds from book sales are donated back to charity to help veterans and to help the stray and abandoned animals at Logan’s Run Rescue.