How New Graduates Can Survive The Financial Stress Of Today’s Job Hunt

Danielle Goldstein, a 23-year-old in West Orange, New Jersey, began applying for jobs while still in her last semester of college at Montclair State University, anticipating it might take a bit of time to find a job in her field. That was in spring 2024.

A year and a half and thousands of applications later, Goldstein still hasn’t been able to find a job. While she graduated with a degree in communications and media studies and with several internships under her belt, the overwhelming response from companies has been that she doesn’t have enough experience for entry-level jobs.

It makes her feel “doomed,” she says.

Goldstein isn’t alone — while some of her classmates have been able to find jobs, many have also faced similar difficulties in finding work. Goldstein and her classmates are among the many post-graduates looking for jobs in the worst job market for new graduates since June 2021, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The U.S. economy is slowing — the first-quarter 2025 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted slightly, given that Americans bought more foreign goods and less domestic goods in anticipation of higher tariffs. It’s unclear how tariffs will continue to affect the U.S. economy over the next year, though experts say they will continue to drive prices higher, and many predict the odds of a recession are rising. Amid this economic uncertainty, until they land a full-time job, new grads will have to scramble to earn and save money, and they may need to postpone important financial milestones in their financial independence, like moving out of their parents’ home.

“A slowing economy puts all workers, especially new graduates who have the least experience, at a disadvantage,” Bankrate Financial Analyst Stephen Kates, CFP, says.

While Goldstein has taken on freelance opportunities to tide her over as she hunts for a full-time role, she lives with her parents, who pay all of her day-to-day expenses, including rent, utilities, groceries and other essentials. It’s unclear when she’ll be able to find a job, as there are limited openings for the millions of students who graduated in the past year.

“When I started college, I imagined that at this point I’d be in an apartment with roommates and a job at this point, but with rent only going up and no job, it looks like I may end up having to skip that stage of my life altogether,” Goldstein said in an email.

Clashing economic factors are creating job scarcity for new grads

The unemployment rate for recent college graduates stands at 5.8 percent — nearly two percentage points higher than the 4 percent rate for the general population, according to March Federal Reserve Bank of New York data. That’s the highest that unemployment has been for recent college grads since July 2021, when the U.S. was in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unemployment rate for recent grads was 6 percent.

Today, recent college grads are facing a number of economic factors that are stacking the deck against them. Unemployment today is relatively low — it’s hovered around 4 percent since mid-last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). But the percentage of job openings is relatively low, too. Many companies are ratcheting back hiring or pausing hiring altogether due to concerns about economic uncertainty. This has created a phenomenon known as the “Great Stay.” With hiring slowing, many workers are staying put at their current jobs instead of job-hopping, which, in turn, contributes to the lack of roles.

“It’s a good time to have a job — but not so much to be on the hunt for one,” Bankrate U.S. Economy Reporter Sarah Foster says.

Jobs for the class of 2025 are especially scarce in certain industries, such as support services, information, finance, insurance, real estate and some manufacturing, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Whether you’re a new graduate or not, the only sectors steadily adding jobs are health care, as well as leisure and hospitality, according to the BLS.

In contrast to Goldstein’s experience, Tiffany Williams, a class of 2025 graduate from Texas Tech University, found a role relatively quickly in her field. She graduated with a master’s of education in counselor education, and after a few months of searching, she found a role as an associate licensed professional counselor with a private practice. Originally, she wanted to work in higher education, but the lack of jobs there pushed her towards a position related to health care. She found a job after roughly 100 applications and emails reaching out to health care practices.

“I’d say the response rate I got from private practices was pretty (representative of) the need of counselors,” Williams says.

Complicating matters even more for new grads, many entry-level jobs or tasks, such as in marketing, information technology, customer service and data entry, are increasingly being done by artificial intelligence. Major companies, like Microsoft, Google and Salesforce have also announced new AI initiatives and layoffs at roughly the same time, according to USA Today. While industries like customer service and marketing certainly haven’t vanished, demand for entry-level work is softening as a result of AI implementation.

‘Navigating Now’: How to weather today’s job search and manage your finances along the way

Finding a job is rarely easy, and managing your finances when the job market is stacked against you can be even more of a challenge. Here’s how you can afford day-to-day life while searching for a role in today’s market.

1. Continue to live like a student while on your job hunt

With today’s high cost of living, it can be difficult for many people to afford their necessities, whether employed or unemployed. Until you’re able to find a full-time role with a competitive salary, you may need to make some trade-offs to stay afloat financially.

If you need to make every dollar count when on your job hunt, Pentis advises continuing to live like a college student. That means living with your family, if possible, or with roommates, and cutting out unnecessary spending. Unnecessary spending might include:

• Subscriptions and memberships, such as gym memberships
• Dining and drinks out, including coffee and alcohol
• New clothing, shoes and accessories
• Beauty and skincare, including salons or barbers
• Travel expenses

If you have student loans, keeping your expenses under wraps is especially important in the six months after you graduate. Most federal student loans (and many private student loans) have a six-month grace period, where interest accumulates, but you don’t need to begin making payments. Before you start making payments on your student loans, take this opportunity to pay off any outstanding debt, like credit card debt, and try to save as much as you can so you can start building an emergency savings fund.

2. Take stock of your personal financial situation

• Create a budget
  

  Make a budget if you don’t have one already. Write down any income you bring in (including from a part-time job, freelance work or funds you receive from family) and any expenses you have. Make sure what you’re bringing in is more than what you’re spending — if it’s not, you’ll need to minimize your spending or look for new revenue streams, such as a side hustle.

• Start saving
  

  The time to start saving is now, if it’s just a small amount. If you have any stream of income, make sure you’re putting aside a small portion of that in a savings account, even if it’s only $20 or $50 a month. Starting a savings habit now won’t just prepare you in case your job search takes a while; it will also be the start of a great financial practice when you’re bringing in more money from a full-time job. Consider a high-yield savings account (HYSA), too, which will pay higher interest on your savings than a traditional savings account with a big bank. An HYSA will give your savings a much-needed boost — and many don’t require a minimum balance.

• Check if you still have health insurance
  

  If you received health insurance through your university, it’s likely lapsed since you graduated. If your parents have health insurance, you can be covered under them until you’re 26 years old. If not, moving and losing your health insurance after graduating from school counts as a qualifying event, meaning you can purchase new health coverage under the Affordable Care Act. If you have very little or no income, you may also be eligible for Medicaid or could apply for low-cost marketplace options.

3. Consider a side hustle

If you’re searching for your perfect role, but need a way to keep bringing in income, consider a side hustle, especially one where you can make your own hours, so you can still take the time to search for jobs.

Some great side hustles for recent grads include:

• Tutoring. Put that degree to work by tutoring, especially if you still live near your university and are able to tutor students in your major.
• Selling stuff online. If you have dorm room furniture or childhood clutter you want to get rid of, don’t dump it outside your university when moving out — sell it instead. Selling on Facebook Marketplace, Craiglist, Poshmark, eBay or Etsy will allow you to get rid of items you don’t want and bring in additional income.
• Gig apps. Apps for petsitting or dog walking, such as Rover or Wag, as well as task-fulfillment apps like Taskrabbit, are great options for new grads. You can get paid to walk dogs, put together furniture or run errands for someone on your own schedule.
• Freelancing in your field. Not only will freelancing bring in money, but it can also add more experience to your resume. If you had an internship in college, but they’re not looking to hire for a full-time role, reach out to your internship coordinator and see if they accept freelancers. Alternatively, reach out to local businesses in your area and see if they would accept low-cost freelance work, such as business consulting, social media management, marketing assistance or building a new website.

4. Widen your job search

If you’ve been looking for roles for a while with no luck, it may be time to widen your job search. In addition to full-time roles with competitive pay, also consider applying for:

• Internships and fellowships in your field
• Roles that may require you to move to another city or state
• Freelance and contract opportunities
• Roles that are in-person or hybrid, if you’ve been prioritizing remote roles

Taking on internships or freelance work could be especially important if you don’t have a long resume and need more experience. If you’re being turned down for your lack of experience as a new grad, gaining more experience could be invaluable.

You may also want to consider applying for jobs outside of your field or below your desired pay. Any job is better than no job, and you can continue your search if you take a role that isn’t a perfect fit.

“Unless you’re flooded with contract work in your desired field, don’t ignore decently-paying roles that might feel ‘beneath you,’” says Bankrate Consumer Lending Analyst Andrew Pentis, who writes about student loans. “Being underemployed isn’t ideal, but at least it can help you pay your bills without over-relying on debt.”

5. Improve your resume and credentials

When competing against other job applicants — especially those who have more experience than you — it’s important to know how to advertise yourself.

“Remember that the job market functions just like any other market. You’re selling your time, but you have to have a buyer,” Foster says.

Even if you think you don’t have any marketable skills, you might be surprised by what you can put on your resume. Include any fellowships or internships, as well as any volunteering or school extracurriculars that you’ve done as “Experience.” Or, add them under the “Education” section of your resume. This is a great way to showcase the soft skills you developed during your time at school, such as conflict management or leadership.

If your hard skills seem lacking, consider taking courses through your university or online platforms like Coursera, which will allow you to add more certifications to your resume. For example, if you’re looking to break into the communications field, consider looking for certifications in Google Analytics or crisis communications. If you’re looking to break into computer science or IT, consider learning a new programming language or getting a cloud certificate, such as for AWS.

Additionally, if you haven’t already, consider building an online portfolio that showcases your schoolwork and any related extra projects you’ve done during school or post-graduation. Include your name and contract information on your portfolio and link to it on your resume to show off your best work.

6. Break through the noise by using your network

Kates graduated from college in 2009, during the Great Financial Crisis, and understands how hard it can be to find a job during periods of economic instability.

“It feels a lot like screaming into the void,” Kates says.

Today, job applications are easier to fill out than ever, with major job boards like LinkedIn and Indeed providing quick-apply options that allow you to apply for a position in a few minutes. But it’s also easier than ever for your resume to be tossed aside by an AI screener when thousands of people apply for the same job.

To stand out from the crowd, according to Bankrate experts, utilize your network. In college, depending on your field, it can be incredibly important to make connections with professors, alumni, guest speakers, internship coordinators and other people who can serve as your network when you’re looking for your first role out of school.

If you’re graduating from college and don’t have a strong network to fall back on, don’t worry. There are a few things you can do to start to build one:

• Make a LinkedIn account
  

  Create a LinkedIn account you don’t have one already, and label yourself as “Open to work.” Make connections or follow people in your industry, even if you don’t know them personally. Try to send invites or message at least one person a week and ask if they would be interested in hopping on a phone call or answering questions over email for a new graduate who’s looking to break into their field. You might get some “No”s, but you might be surprised how many people in your field are interested in helping out a new grad.

• Attend alumni meetings and local meetups for your industry
  

  Your university most likely has an official alumni organization on social media — and has probably already begun sending you emails, too. Try attending an alumni meeting or joining industry mixers, which are often advertised on social media, Meetup or Eventbrite. You’ll be able to meet other people in your industry and can ask them questions about the job search process, what roles are available in your area and what their career progression was.

• Join your local industry association
  

  While associations often come with a fee, many have discounted rates for students or early-career professionals. Get involved with your local industry association and keep an eye out for webinars to learn new skills; you can also attend networking meetings and conferences.

The bottom line

Job hunts are difficult, but not impossible. Treat searching for a job like a job in of itself — set a certain number of days and a certain time each day to look for roles (for example, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday) and give yourself breaks, too. By managing your finances carefully, expanding your network and improving your application materials, you’ll be in a better position to weather the job search process. The perfect job is out there waiting for you.