As the summer nears its end, there are still many 20 somethings that are either college graduates or returning college students that have still not found a job. You can blame the economy, you can blame your location, or you can read this article about reasons why you do not have a job this summer:

Reason #1: Your resume sucks.

Taking the resume template from your cousin Steve and changing some of the information on it will not work wonders for your job hunt. This was my strategy in high school when trying to find minimum wage work at grocery stores, but when trying to find a job relevant to your field it simply won’t cut it.

Reason #2: All you did was send a bunch of resumes.

I have a friend that is fairly qualified and he’s been scratching his head over why his college degree hasn’t found him a job yet. When we sat down for a few beers one day, we started talking about this and he admitted that his approach to "serious job hunting" was emailing over a dozen resumes a day. Great plan in theory but in execution you need more than a college degree on your resume to get noticed.

Reason #3: You have not pursued any entrepreneurial ventures.

If you can’t find a job then why don’t you use your God given skills to earn some money. This is the first summer that I have spent actively pursuing earning an income with my writing skills by focusing on growing my blog. The summer is the best time to give entrepreneurship a try because you have plenty of free time. A few of my recommendations for summer entrepreneurship are: yard maintenance business, tutoring help for new college students, starting a website, freelance writing, and car wash services.

Reason #4: Your networking skills are horrible.

I have met many smart people in college that simply have no social skills when it comes to networking and meeting people. You can spend 5 hours a day emailing a bunch of resumes or you can spend that time trying to directly connect with any acquaintances you may have in the field. An acquaintance of mine graduated from college a few years ago and has still not found work in his field because he simply hates interaction with strangers. He is too afraid to step out of his comfort zone to actually speak with strangers or cold call employers.

Reason #5: Umm, maybe you don’t want a job.

Some of the jobless college students that I’ve interacted with don’t really seem like they want a job all that bad. Sure they complain about having no beer money and this and that, but it doesn’t seem like any real effort to find a job was made. Next time you think about why you are unemployed this summer you should really ask yourself if you want a job.

Further Reading

For additional information please take a look at my thoughts on college students earning an income. Are there any other reasons you guys think college students/graduates have not a found a job this summer?