AUSTIN, Texas — More than 70% of Americans say that the economic conditions in the U.S. are fair or poor, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. People across different generations are struggling with the job market, but Gen Z faces unique challenges in finding jobs.
The end of the fall semester is here for University of Texas at Austin students, signaling the end of college for many seniors graduating this month. What should be an exciting time is being met with anxiety over the prospect of landing a job.
UT senior Lauren Murphey has been working on some of her final projects ahead of graduating with a degree in public relations.
“I was put into public relations as an alternate, and I just fell in love with how it kind of connected and created a relationship with people and how you could do so many different things with it,” Murphey said.
The prospect of almost being done with school is being met with a mix of emotions.
“The fact that I am not really sure where I’m going to be, what state, what job I’m going to be doing, if I’ll have a job… that’s the part that’s putting a lot of stress and damper on the graduation part,” she said.
Despite working throughout her time in college and taking on several internships, she says seeking her first job post-college has been difficult.
“I’ve applied to, I think, almost 70 jobs at this point. In-state, out-of-state, in different countries and a variety of different roles… from PR to comms to marketing to brand partnerships and deals, stuff like that, but it is moving very slowly,” she said.
She’s not the only graduating senior struggling to find work. Several UT seniors Spectrum News spoke with are also on the hunt or know classmates still seeking employment. Business strategist Suzanne Castle says many factors contribute to the challenges Gen Z is facing in the job market, including generational differences, the rise of artificial intelligence and getting ghosted by potential employers.
“From the outset, I want to say there’s definitely communication differences; that’s true of any generation whatsoever. Gen Z is hitting a market where I think employers really want experience without offering the chance to gain it,” Castle said.
Standing out in the world of AI is something job seekers, like Murphey, are attempting to navigate.
“Employers are using AI to kind of go through the resumes and kind of just find keywords that are just for the first round because so many people are applying. How can I use that to my advantage? How can I tailor my resume to figure out what keywords they’re going to be looking for with an AI vetting model?” she said.