Getting that first job is much harder now, finds survey

‘This is a key challenge faced by students, early professionals’

Getting that first job is not an easy task.

A recent survey found that 21 per cent of respondents in Karnataka believed it will take them at least one to three months to find a job right out of college. This, however, was lower than the figures for Maharashtra (32 per cent) and Kerala (26 per cent).

Online professional network LinkedIn, which has over 313 million members, released the first instalment of the ‘Life of a professional’ study, which pointed to a key challenge faced by students and early professionals today — bagging that first job.

The survey revealed that the task has become more difficult over the last two decades. Interestingly, the Information Technology industry continued to hold sway among those surveyed in the State. Across the country too, IT and telecom had the highest number of takers, followed by professional services and finance. The survey was conducted in India, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia with over 6,000 students and professionals being surveyed.

In Karnataka, there were 184 respondents aged above 16. Nationally, 36 per cent of students and early professionals with less than a year of experience said they believed it would take them, or it took them one to three months to land their first job. In contrast, professionals with at least 15 years of experience said their first jobs were fairly easy to land: 38 per cent found a job within a month of leaving university.

On internships

Students and early professionals cited internships as an important step to increase their chances of getting a first job quickly, followed by showcasing university work and building contacts through social media after finishing their education.