I’ve advised hundreds of Harvard students—the ones getting hired in today's job market are doing 8 things

It's a brutal time for college students entering the labor market. Unemployment rates for recent grads are rising, and the U.S. saw little job growth in 2025, with only 116,000 jobs added compared to 1.46 million jobs added in 2024.

In the face of shrinking options, many students resort to what they think is the solution: applying to more and more jobs, often using AI to generate their resumes, cover letters, and even emails. But those AI whizzes churning out hundreds of applications with one click all end up looking the same, sounding the same, and landing in the rejection pile.

Meanwhile, the young people I'm seeing get hired are the ones relying on the oldest of old-school tactics. They're looking left, looking right, and building relationships intentionally.

Here are the strategies I share with the students I advise — especially the first-generation, low-income students who don't have the parents, mentors, and older siblings sharing the "unspoken rules" of career building.

Don't wait until the eve of graduation to start building toward a job you want. Today, more students than ever are showing up — or quickly filling their resumes — with research publications, non-profit leadership roles, competitive sports, side projects, startup experience, and corporate internships. Their less-savvy peers may have little beyond a transcript to show prospective employers.

Scaffold your way to the job you want by picking extracurriculars, part-time jobs, and summer internships that move you closer to the career you want. 

A few years ago, students typically applied for junior summer internships during the fall of their junior year. But in fields like finance and consulting, sophomores are now networking, interviewing, and getting offers for junior summer internships that don't start for another 18 to 21 months. 

To avoid being locked out of your dream career, it's crucial to know the latest timelines and all the up-to-date prerequisites and expectations.

These days, the companies with the most resume-worthy opportunities, the interview questions they ask, and the number of slots they're hiring for can change in a single fundraising or recruiting cycle. The more older students, alums, and TAs you know who've been through the process ahead of you, the more current information you'll have. 

And the earlier you get to know them — through sports, clubs, or group projects — the more likely you'll be to say, "Nice to see you again" at a career fair, job interview, or internship while everyone else is racing to introduce themselves for the first time. 

The most tried and true hack? Find the campus clubs that consistently send members to the companies you're interested in and join one or more of their leadership teams.

Look beyond the same dozen or so companies everyone talks about on campus — and that become artificially competitive as a result. Since it's hard to know what's out there, I created a free and continually updated directory of over 1,000 companies offering leadership development programs, rotational programs, and internships with direct links to their hiring pages. 

Willing to work for a lesser known company in a smaller city? Prioritize them. Chances are, they aren't getting as many new grads vying to work for them, which means a better chance of standing out.

I've met many students who secured better jobs than their peers who have more experience, more connections, and higher GPAs by doing one thing: applying early. Keep track of companies you're interested in and be ready the moment the portal opens. You never know when an employer is reviewing applications on a rolling basis or filling spots long before the official deadline.

When the job search gets hard, students instinctively turn to grad school, but it's often the wrong approach. Just because you have a master's doesn't mean people are more likely to hire you, unless you're looking at roles that require advanced degrees (like lawyer, doctor, tenure-track faculty member, or licensed clinical social worker). Prioritize work experience over letters behind your name.

Every person you meet could eventually hire you. When a guest speaker comes to class, don't just listen. Ask a well-researched question during the Q&A, approach them afterward, introduce yourself, and ask for their contact information. 

When you take a class with a professor with strong industry contacts, doing well in their class is table stakes. Meet them during office hours, too, and consider becoming a research assistant for them, if you can. The students with at least one deep faculty contact have a champion to call on when they need a reference. 

And for anyone who shows an interest in your career, send the occasional update. You may not get an offer overnight, but you never know who will come knocking with an opportunity years or even decades down the road — especially now that lifetime employment is a thing of the past.

In the end, the unspoken rules of career building haven't changed, even though the apps we use every day have and the job market is tougher than it used to be: It's all about demonstrating the Three Cs of competence, commitment, and compatibility.

Everyone you meet — alum, recruiter, or manager — is secretly asking themselves three questions:

• "Can you do the job well?" (Are you competent?)
• "Are you excited to be here specifically?" (Are you committed?)
• "Do we get along?" (Are you compatible?)

AI can't demonstrate these Three Cs for you. You need to do it yourself — and the bar has never been higher.

Gorick Ng is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of "The Unspoken Rules: Secrets to Starting Your Career Off Right" and the How to Say It® flashcards for professional communication. He's a first-gen professional turned Harvard career advisor turned keynote speaker across the Fortune 500 and author of a weekly career strategies newsletter.

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