FAQ - For Educators

What makes Be Employed When You Graduate different?

There are many books about a specific aspect of finding a job (such as how to interview) and there are a variety of books that promise to unlock the “secrets” of getting a job for those already in the job marketplace. Be Employed When You Graduate is written specifically for undergraduate students and shows the steps they need to take while they are still a student to have a job at graduation. Undergraduate institutions of all kind provide resources to students to help them find jobs. Be Employed When You Graduate is a system for students to tie all the resources together to obtain a better outcome. The book also explains the “why” for the common job hunting actions which is critical for millennials to understand.

How does Be Employed When You Graduate fit in the classroom?

Be Employed When You Graduate easily fits in the classroom setting. At the most basic level, Chapter 4 (Thrive in college) allows you to explain the structure of your institution and point students towards resources of which they might not be aware. Chapter 3 (Create your plan) promotes long term planning and an understanding of the many requirements to get a degree.

Most of the chapters lend themselves to thoughtful discussion and group activities. For example in Chapter 8 (Nail your interview), I have all my students put their name into a jar. Then we work our way down the list of questions from Monster.com and randomly draw a name out of the hat. I find that student’s who’s names aren’t drawn have a clever answer and the student who’s name is drawn tends to freeze up. Not only does this allow students to see how others might answer the same question, but it also generates artificial anticipation and stress so students can see how they perform under that setting. Another example is in Chapter 9 (Negotiate your offer). I give the same salary negotiating scenario to several teams and then put the results on the white board. The range of salaries from this in class exercise shows students how one’s negotiating skill can have a dramatic impact on one’s starting salary.

Who is the audience for Be Employed When You Graduate?

Be Employed When You Graduate is written specifically for undergraduate students. It is not a comprehensive text on communication theory, design principles, or management. Rather, it provides a practical hands on approach for students. Early drafts were test read with a range from freshman to 5th year seniors as well as other educators and professionals. Freshmen tended to focus on the text more while the older students found the exercises to be most helpful. Generally speaking, the student readers found the book very helpful and the adults found it to be “basic.” However as another educator said to me, “I thought about it a bit and realized I don’t know where I learned these skills myself.”