Three Data-Driven Tips to Jumpstart Your Career
Three Data-Driven Tips to Jumpstart Your Career
Many Americans are about to start their careers after graduating from high school, community college, a four-year college, or another training program. New hiring is picking up steam as we approach the summer, and employers are eager to recruit next-generation talent. The question on many job seekers’ minds is how to get their careers off to the best start. Three key rules emerge from a decade of ZipRecruiter data and research and corroborating evidence from numerous outside studies.
1. Gain Real Experience As Soon as Possible
Job seekers who have completed internships or apprenticeships are much more likely to find well-paid jobs that use their skills. That’s according to ZipRecruiter survey research and studies by other organizations such as the Burning Glass Institute.
Among young workers the same ages who started their jobs within the last six months, 55% of those with prior work experience found their jobs within one month, compared with only 30% of those without prior experience.
| Among recently hired young workers aged 18 to 24 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| How long it took to find a job | Job seekers with no practical work experience | Job seekers with some practical work experience | |
| 0 to 1 month | 30.2% | 55.1% | |
| 1 month to 3 months | 54.7% | 34.6% | |
| 3 months to 6 months | 15.1% | 9.4% | |
| 6 months to 1 year | 0.0% | 0.8% | |
| Source: ZipRecruiter Q1 2024 New Hires Survey1 | |||
Upon applying for their current jobs, 50% of those with some practical work experience heard back from the employer within three days, compared with only 28% of those without any work experience.
| Among recently hired young workers aged 18 to 24 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| How long it took to receive a response to their job application | Job seekers with no practical work experience | Job seekers with some practical work experience | |
| 1 to 3 days | 27.9% | 50.4% | |
| 4 to 6 days | 55.8% | 23.6% | |
| About a week | 10.5% | 15.0% | |
| About 2 weeks | 3.5% | 6.3% | |
| More than 2 weeks | 2.3% | 4.7% | |
| Source: ZipRecruiter Q1 2024 New Hires Survey1 | |||
Increasingly skeptical of the value of degrees, employers want to know about candidates’ greatest accomplishments and contributions on real-life projects, the challenges they encountered, and how they solved them. In fact, newly hired workers tell us that the number one topic employers wanted to discuss in job interviews was not their education, training, or career goals but their past work experience.
| Among recently hired young workers aged 18 to 24 | |
|---|---|
| Issue interviewer focused on most | Average Ranking |
| Prior work experience | 1 |
| Soft Skills | 2 |
| Hard skills | 3 |
| Education and training | 4 |
| Career goals and plans | 5 |
| Source: ZipRecruiter Q1 2024 New Hires Survey1 | |
Job seekers without experience often find themselves stumped in interviews and trapped in a chicken-and-egg problem—they can't get a job without experience, but they can't get experience without a job. The solution to that problem is to gain experience early through internships, apprenticeships, and temporary summer jobs or flexible part-time jobs that accommodate school.
If you are graduating now and didn’t get that kind of practical, hands-on experience during your training, one way to make up for it is to delay getting your first “real” job and get an internship first. There are thousands available at any one time, and they can be valuable stepping stones to better jobs down the road. Job seekers who rush into a first job that pays poorly and does not use their skills often find themselves underemployed and underpaid years later.
DATA SNAPSHOT: INTERNSHIPS AND APPRENTICESHIPS
(All data is for Q1 2024)
Demand
Employer demand for apprentices and interns has cooled this year
⇓ 23% - Year-over-year decline in the number of apprenticeships posted
⇓ 14% - Year-over-year decline in the number of internships posted
Working Arrangements
Most apprenticeships and internships are onsite and in-person
5.6% of apprenticeships are hybrid and 0.5% are fully remote, up from 0.5% and 0.2% in 2019.
12.5% of internships are hybrid and 1.4% are fully remote, up from 2.1% and 1.5% in 2019.
| Top 5 Industries for Apprenticeships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 11,317 jobs posted in Q1 2024 | ||
| 4,404 | ||
| 2,745 | ||
| 2,676 | ||
| 2,625 | ||
| Fastest-Growing Apprenticeships | ||
|---|---|---|
| +6X YoY | ||
| +4X | ||
| +85% | ||
| +22% | ||
| +7% | ||
| Top 5 Industries for Apprenticeships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 11,317 jobs posted in Q1 2024 | ||
| 4,404 | ||
| 2,745 | ||
| 2,676 | ||
| 2,625 | ||
| Top 5 Industries for Internships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 26,354 opportunities posted in Q1 2024 | ||
| 25,488 | ||
| 23,028 | ||
| 21,684 | ||
| 21,219 | ||
| Fastest-Growing Internships | ||
|---|---|---|
| +26X YoY | ||
| +4X | ||
| +3X | ||
| +75% | ||
| +33% | ||
Source: ZipRecruiter, Inc. internal data, Jan. 1, 2024 to Mar. 31, 2024.
2. Get The Skills Employers Actually Demand
There is extensive evidence that the subjects Americans study at school strongly influence their career prospects. People who major in the humanities are much more likely to be unemployed or underemployed than those who earn degrees in healthcare-related fields, economics, or engineering, for example. A recent study finds that the median return on investment (ROI) on an English degree is just $53,761, while the median return on an Economics degree is $548,594—more than ten times as much!
Even for those who do not go to college, the certifications and occupational licenses workers invest in can make a substantial difference to their employment and earnings. The right credentials can get one a foot in the door. The wrong ones can be a source of great disappointment, yielding little bang for the buck.
A job seeker with a Master’s degree in Psychology recently reached out to ZipRecruiter for advice. She had done extensive research and writing on speech and language delays in children and post-stroke speech therapy. She had volunteered with special needs children and older stroke patients and felt she deserved a good job as a special education teacher or speech and language pathologist (SLP). The problem was that she was neither a certified teacher nor a certified SLP. She had all the knowledge and experience, but not the crucial pieces of paper that employers require of new hires, despite years and years of schooling.
Her situation is all too common. Many job seekers study what interests them without first researching which degrees and certifications employers actually require. They come to what they believe is the end of their studies only to discover that actually landing a good job in their field will require more time and money, more studying, and more exams. According to past ZipRecruiter research, one in three college graduates regret their major choice and, of those, 35% say the source of their regret is their discovery that getting a good job in their field will require further education, which they do not want to pursue.
One way to avoid this predicament is to begin your job search before you start your studies and choose your courses and majors with your end goal in mind. Another is to think of yourself as a lifelong learner rather than compartmentalizing life into separate periods for schooling and work. Rather than closing the book on your studies without qualifying to take the next step—and then having to settle for a low-paying job that does not use your knowledge or interests—extend your studies by a year or two and pick up a related internship, part-time job, or gig work at the same time. Keep browsing job postings in the meantime so that you know exactly who the key employers in the field are and which skills, degrees, and certifications they require.
DATA SNAPSHOT:
SKILLS REQUIREMENTS
(All data is for Q1 2024)
| Top 10 Most In-Demand Soft Skills | ||
|---|---|---|
|
40,696 job postings required the skill | |
|
25,986 | |
|
25,500 | |
|
20,619 | |
|
11,787 | |
|
10,428 | |
|
10,309 | |
|
6,828 | |
|
5,883 | |
|
5,722 | |
| Top 15 Most In-Demand Hard Skills | ||
|---|---|---|
|
13,179 job postings required the skill | |
|
9,285 | |
|
8,623 | |
|
8,085 | |
|
7,770 | |
|
6,461 | |
|
6,298 | |
|
6,221 | |
|
5,500 | |
|
5,074 | |
|
4,773 | |
|
4,748 | |
|
4,228 | |
|
4,228 | |
|
3,930 | |
| Top 10 Skills With the Fastest-Growing Demand | ||
|---|---|---|
|
+72% YoY growth in share of jobs requiring skill | |
|
+59% | |
|
+54% | |
|
+50% | |
|
+48% | |
|
+44% | |
|
+42% | |
|
+41% | |
|
+39% | |
|
+38% | |
Source: ZipRecruiter, Inc. internal data, Jan. 1, 2024 to Mar. 31, 2024.
3. Understand the Numbers Game and Play It to Win
Job seekers who are more actively engaged in the job search process generally experience better outcomes. For example, those who create more complete job seeker profiles, browse listings more frequently, tailor their applications to specific postings, apply to several jobs each week, and respond to employers promptly generally find better job opportunities more quickly.
Many job seekers do not follow these best practices, however. Some send out just a handful of applications and then get discouraged when they don’t hear back. Others send out a firehose of applications in the first week and then wait for the next few months to hear back. If they knew how the process really worked, they would no doubt behave differently.
Here are some key facts to bear in mind when looking for a job, especially your first job:
Some jobs attract hundreds, or even thousands, of applications. Entry-level positions with minimal education and training requirements and pleasant working conditions generally attract the highest job seeker interest, especially those that are hybrid or remote. Many are harder to get into than Harvard. Boost your chances by applying for a sufficient number of jobs, particularly in popular industries.
Employers generally only review applications received in the first few days. Many employers receive enough applications within the first week and then effectively close their search. Applications received after that point are often never seen. Boost your chances of getting a job you like by applying early. That requires browsing job postings frequently and applying to new ones as they appear, or signing up for ZipRecruiter email alerts that let you know within minutes when a job that is a good match for your skills and talents gets posted. When a job you like is posted, do not delay. Apply right away to maximize your chances of being considered.
Receiving multiple offers is the key to more successful offer negotiations. Applying for more jobs increases your chance of receiving multiple offers. That, according to ZipRecruiter research, is the single most important factor determining whether candidates negotiate their offers successfully.
DATA SNAPSHOT:
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
(All data is for Q1 2024)
| Job Categories with the Most Entry-Level Opportunities | ||
|---|---|---|
|
45,646 active job postings, on average, at any time in Q1 2024 | |
|
25,986 | |
|
30,041 | |
|
27,072 | |
|
2,6454 | |
|
18,078 | |
|
16,533 | |
|
14,306 | |
|
14,154 | |
|
13,719 | |
| The Most Competitive Entry-Level Jobs for College Graduates that Relatively Many Candidates Want | ||
|---|---|---|
|
65.3 clicks per job posting, on average | |
|
51.6 | |
|
32.5 | |
|
31.0 | |
|
28.1 | |
|
22.1 | |
|
20.3 | |
|
19.9 | |
|
19.2 | |
|
17.8 | |
| The Most Competitive Entry-Level Jobs for Non-College Graduates that Relatively Many Candidates Want | ||
|---|---|---|
|
54.1 clicks per job posting, on average | |
|
42.0 | |
|
40.9 | |
|
37.1 | |
|
36.7 | |
|
32.5 | |
|
31.7 | |
|
29.1 | |
|
21.2 | |
|
20.1 | |
| The Least Competitive Entry-Level Jobs for College Graduates that Relatively Few Candidates Want | ||
|---|---|---|
|
3.1 clicks per job posting, on average | |
|
4.9 | |
|
5.0 | |
|
5.2 | |
|
6.9 | |
|
7.0 | |
|
7.5 | |
|
7.6 | |
|
8.3 | |
|
8.7 | |
| The Least Competitive Entry-Level Jobs for Non-College Graduates that Relatively Few Candidates Want | ||
|---|---|---|
|
6.5 clicks per job posting, on average | |
|
7.1 | |
|
7.3 | |
|
7.3 | |
|
7.8 | |
|
7.4 | |
|
7.9 | |
|
8.2 | |
|
8.4 | |
|
8.5 | |
Source: ZipRecruiter, Inc. internal data, Jan. 1, 2024 to Mar. 31, 2024.
The bottom line
Employers prioritize your work experience, followed by the soft and hard skills you offer. They post jobs based on supply and demand in their market. To stand out and land a job that matches your skills and interests, gain practical experience early, develop the required skills, and strategically time your applications. These tips reveal key insights into employers' attitudes and behaviors, giving you a competitive edge in your job search.
1 The ZipRecruiter New Hires Survey is a nationally representative survey of 1,500+ U.S. residents who are currently employed and started their jobs in the prior 6 months, conducted by ZipRecruiter, Inc., in the second month of each quarter.
