Interview with the Mentor: Does Graduation Equal Unemployment? A business mentor shares his successful job-hunting experience in the US!

Date：2023-10-24   Author：admin

The employment slump brought about by the economic winter is terrifying. In 2023, the number of college graduates across the country increased by 820,000 compared with the previous year. According to the data, one in every five graduates cannot find a job.

Not only in China, but also overseas students are facing the problem of difficult employment. One predicament after another, such as "layoffs at big companies" and "visa tightening", seems to be trying to "drive" all the students who are struggling to study abroad back to China.

But in this regard, most of the students who have already gone abroad to study still want to do their best to "survive" a little longer. Surveys show that over 80 percent of students go abroad to study with the aim of their future career development.

So, if one can find a job abroad, it will undoubtedly be an added bonus for both long-term development overseas and promotion upon returning to China.

However, in the current employment environment, can one still find a job overseas?

Considering the needs of most students, we interviewed a Chinese-American mentor who seemed to have received a "feel-good female lead" script. "Four Great Managers" and "two promotions within two and a half years" are all her past achievements and honors.

But after having an in-depth conversation with her, we found that behind every success of hers lies diligent dedication and hard work, and every step she takes is genuine.

There is no such thing as "cheating" or "talent", only solid long-term planning and continuous ability training. Therefore, we have compiled her story into an article, hoping to offer some direction to those students who are still confused and struggling in their job hunting.

Tina


Chinese American
Supervisor for finance/Auditing/accounting directions

Graduated from a prestigious business school in the United States. After graduation, I worked in the audit department of a multinational listed company. Later, I worked in the asset management audit team of EY Financial Service Office. I was promoted to Manager twice within two and a half years. Currently employed by a leading private equity fund company.

Tina has a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of business applications and job hunting in the United States. She has long been guiding fresh graduates through their internships and full-time job hunting processes. Based on her years of overseas working experience and familiarity with the US job market, she has provided professional guidance such as resume polishing, interview training, and career planning for many students. She has also helped many students not only secure offers from prestigious universities but also successfully obtain job opportunities.

01 The Path of Learning
"Change must be made."

With the relaxation of entry and exit policies in 2023, the study abroad market has gradually started to "warm up". In today's wave of studying abroad, it seems that choosing to study overseas is no longer a distinctive option. When Tina's mentor chose to pursue further studies in the United States, it was not a "routine choice" with a lot of reference information.

According to the data from the "Study Abroad White Paper", the number of people choosing to study abroad in 2011 was approximately 339,000. Although there was a 20% annual growth rate compared to 2008, the international economic situation was unclear at that time, and the pressure of job hunting overseas could not be underestimated. To choose such a job-hunting and employment route in the United States, one needs to have a strong sense of purpose, planning awareness and action ability.

* Image source: Studyabroad.com. Please delete if there is any infringement


According to Tina's recollection, from the moment she entered university, she had already been analyzing her own strengths and weaknesses and thinking about her future path choices. Whether it's a master's degree from a domestic 985 university or a prestigious overseas university, both seem very attractive. However, no matter which one it is, it cannot guarantee that one will definitely get a satisfactory job after graduation.

Tina, who has an interest in the cultures of different countries, is well aware that if she doesn't determine her direction and plan early, this interest will only remain in her heart and won't bring any change to the current situation.

George Bernard Shaw once said, "In this world, those who succeed are those who strive to find the opportunities they want. If they can't find opportunities, they create them."

* Image source: Pinterest. Please delete if there is any infringement


Since you want to seek employment in the United States, take the first step: go to the US to pursue a master's degree! So, Tina began her study abroad plan from her freshman year. However, since there was no precedent of studying abroad at home before, most of the information was obtained through communication with study abroad agencies and personal collection from various sources.

One piece of information obtained through integration is that the current social work major does not align with one's long-term development. So, at the end of her freshman year, Tina chose to transfer from the social work major to the more promising accounting major as the top student in her major, which also set a very clear direction for her subsequent application path.

In her freshman year, Tina was busy changing her major and determining her direction. From her sophomore to junior year, she spent most of her time exploring the accounting major. Of course, like most Chinese students, she also spent a lot of time painstakingly learning the language.

By her senior year, with a strong desire to improve her English, she chose to go to UCD for an exchange and study. After this exchange, she scored 105 on the TOEFL. It was precisely because of this exchange that Tina became even more determined to study accounting in the United States.

Image source: UCD official website


With the smooth release of her GMAT scores, she has successively received offers from several master's programs in accounting in the United States. Like most Chinese students who prefer high-ranked and well-known domestic institutions, Tina chose a master's program with a good major and a high ranking in the business school.

02 From 0 to 1
"Don't believe I can't find a job."

During her postgraduate studies in the United States, some of Tina's Chinese classmates were also full of enthusiasm for job hunting in the US. However, the reality was cruel, and only a very small number of them could stay.

The more tortuous the process was, the more it ignited her fighting spirit. With the thought of "I don't believe I can't find a job", she began to send out applications and attend interviews one after another. Before getting a job offer, she had already sent out hundreds of resumes.

The Career Center of the school is a department dedicated to supporting students' job hunting and employment. They will do their best to assist students in finding jobs. Therefore, Tina would almost meet with the Career coach of the job hunting department every month at that time.

* Image source: USC official website


The Tutor answered and analyzed for her one by one how to optimize her resume and how to prepare for an interview. In addition, the Career coach helped her solve a lot of confusion about job hunting. If there were seniors in the same major, the Tutor would also help introduce them.

Tina received some very valuable advice from experienced seniors who have had successful experiences. Just like applying for study abroad, when looking for an internship or a full-time job in the United States, it is also necessary to start preparing at least one year in advance.

Moreover, a great deal of effort needs to be devoted to Networking. For those freshmen who have just entered the university, if they want to look for summer internship opportunities in their first year of postgraduate study, seniors all suggest that they should start preparing to submit their resumes in August and September when the new term begins.

* Image source: Columbia University official website


At this point, Tina suddenly realized that international students, especially Chinese students, do indeed have to put in more energy and effort than others when looking for jobs. She began to spend a great deal of time every day training her interview skills. Every question and every answer became more perfect after her repeated preparations and revisions.

Although she had tried many times and failed many times, when Tina received a job Offer, she found that her job-hunting ability had been cultivated. The efforts she had made before were indeed not in vain, but became one of the powerful weapons in her future work.

03 Rapid Promotion
My goal has always been very clear.

After completing a 1.5-year master's program, Tina began her full-time job in the United States - working as an auditor for a multinational publicly traded company.

But this was not her ideal offer, because as early as the beginning of her first year of postgraduate studies, Tina had already set her goal for job hunting in the United States: "I must go to one of the Big Four." So, after working in one job for about one and a half years, she seized the opportunity to apply for Ernst & Young.

* Image source: LinkedIn. Please delete if there is any infringement


It seemed like a natural progression for Tina to get a job at An Yong in the US at this point. Compared to the confusion she felt when looking for a job, this time during the interview, she had a clear idea of what kind of employee the recruiters were looking for.

Her confidence, proactive expression, coupled with her past internship and full-time work experience, firmly attracted the interviewers. Eventually, she successfully entered Ernst & Young to work as an auditor.

In the United States, not only Chinese people but also many Asians are numerous. Everyone has one thing in common, that is, they only know how to keep their heads down and work hard. But Tina, who is already well-versed in the American cultural environment, is well aware that in the American workplace, one must take the initiative to showcase oneself.

Only by showcasing one's own strengths and presenting the achievements of successful projects can there be a chance to be noticed.

During her time at Ernst & Young, Tina's professional ability and positive attitude were noticed by her partners at that time. Soon, her promotion became a natural progression.

Therefore, during her two and a half years at Ernst & Young, Tina was promoted twice and became one of the people in her team who was promoted to Manager ahead of schedule.

* Image source: Ernst & Young official website. Please delete if there is any infringement


However, two years after becoming a Manager, Tina began to consider her next job opportunity. Because if one wants to keep improving continuously, job-hopping is undoubtedly a fast way.

After seeking advice from her previous boss, she began to look for good job opportunities and eventually chose to switch to the private equity fund company where she is currently working, achieving a doubling of her income.

04 Work in the United States
Effort and timing are both indispensable, but what's more important is persistence.

Looking back on her past experiences, Tina believes that to stay and work in the United States, there must be a dual boost of effort and timing.

Especially for students majoring in business, getting into the Big Four is definitely a way to grow rapidly and greatly enhance their abilities. At the same time, the various opportunities that can be obtained in the Big Four are extremely precious to business students.

Especially for students who want to enter investment banks but failed to do so for various reasons, the Big Four can serve as an excellent stepping stone. If you have ever worked in the valuation departments of the Big Four, you will be able to obtain a qualification ticket to enter investment banks.

Tina has met many students who wanted to work in the United States and sought her advice. However, many of them were too afraid of failure to go all out and focus on just this one thing.

* Image source: Provided by Teacher Tina. Please do not reproduce

Such remarks have emerged many times: "I want to prepare for studying in the US while also seizing the job opportunities in China," "The school I chose strikes a balance between the possibility of returning to China and staying in the US," "I've heard that it's getting more and more competitive now. I think I might not be able to stay even if I try my best..."

The success of the previous generation is inspiring, but there are always people who worry that such success may not necessarily be replicated in themselves. Tina once heard a saying that one can never achieve a goal without being determined to focus on one thing.

Having more choices is actually a good thing, but sometimes it is precisely because of such a diverse range of options that there is less insistence on taking a desperate gamble.

05 The Germination of the educational spirit
"Use my experience to help more people.

Tina's original intention of becoming our mentor was to use her own experience to help more students with such thoughts. She also almost missed a great opportunity because of a lack of some information.

For instance, when she first started preparing to look for a job in the US, she thought that in the US, just like in China, a title from a university was a stepping stone to enter a prestigious enterprise.

Later, when Tina was at Ernst & Young, some of her colleagues graduated from schools that were not well-known in China but were among the Big Four Target schools in the United States. The year Tina was job hunting, the Big Four only recruited a single-digit number of students from the several hundred graduates of her class, but every year, students from Target schools were sent to the Big Four in an endless stream.

Such information was completely lacking at the beginning of her job search preparations. So, Tina has always regarded Networking as one of the important links in her studies and job hunting. The experience sharing of the older generation is always extremely valuable.

* Image source: Provided by Teacher Tina. Please do not reproduce


Now, whenever Tina sees students who have just entered university, she always thinks of herself back then. Therefore, she is very willing to share all the real information about studying and job hunting overseas with her students. But every time, she would also sigh that if she had had such a person to guide her when she was an undergraduate in China, her job-hunting journey would have been much smoother.

Written at the end
"Use my experience to help more people.

It can be said that Tina is a very good role model for many students studying business. Not only did she keep getting promoted in the American workplace environment, but she also successfully stayed in the United States through a series of trials and challenges to herself.

Besides being a successful person in the workplace, she is also willing to share her own experiences. She has helped countless younger students and freshmen find jobs on the difficult job-hunting road, and also guided many confused students to find their future career directions.

She said that even if the start was tough, as long as she could step out of her comfort zone and break through herself, she would surely get what she wanted.

This sentence is not only for students who are currently job hunting, but also for all those who have goals and aspirations. As long as you know how to seize opportunities and go all out, what you want will surely come easily.

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