Two years ago, when Gina Petersen graduated with an associate’s degree from Kirkwood Community College, she described it as “the greatest accomplishment I’ve ever accomplished.”
When she returned home as a working college student, she struggled to balance her studies by working part-time online while working as a trainer at a technology company. She got the job through connections and was hoping that her college degree would be a big help if she needed to find a new job in the future.
We told the story of Petersen’s college career as part of our 2022 three-part podcast series called “Second Acts.” This story took her more than seven years to complete and had several false starts.
On this week’s episode of the EdSurge podcast, we interviewed Petersen again to find out what this degree has meant to her professional and personal life.
And it turns out that qualification doesn’t open as many doors as she expected.
A few months after I last spoke to Gina, she was laid off from her training job of 10 years. And initially, she quickly found a project manager position through her network. However, she felt the job was not a good fit, so she quit after a little over a year, hoping to find another job soon.
But what she faced was a job market that suddenly felt much more difficult.
“I sent out my resume to probably 150 different places for 150 different roles and still got nothing,” she says, despite getting professional help with her resume. says.
Even worse, she says, she’s been ghosted by employers despite gaining initial interest. “I asked them for a phone interview and they said yes and confirmed it, and then I literally never heard back from them,” she says.
Labor market experts say Petersen is not alone.
Guy Berger, director of economic research at the Burning Glass Institute, says job seekers are finding it easier to apply for jobs thanks to one-click applications on company websites and the growth of platforms like Linkedin. He points out that there are more opportunities than ever before. But as a result, you also have to work harder to find the right fit. It used to be common to apply to 15 jobs, he says, but now it’s not uncommon to have to apply to more than 150 jobs.
“Now you’re applying to more things – you’re getting more cracks – but you’re just getting more rejections,” Berger says.
That’s both demoralizing for job seekers and difficult for employers who struggle to sift through the flood of applicants, he added.
Meanwhile, Berger says there have been fewer jobs for recent graduates, and just having a degree doesn’t guarantee a “meal ticket” as much as it used to.
“College graduates still generally have higher-paying jobs than those without a college degree, and they have a wider range of opportunities available to them when looking for work,” he says. “But when you look at the amount of boost it brings, it’s probably smaller than it has been in the past.”
Still, Petersen said she’s glad she earned her degree because she learned valuable skills at university that she applied to her job. However, she has no intention of returning for further higher education at this time.
Hear more about Petersen’s search, hiring trends and what universities can do to respond to this changing landscape on this week’s EdSurge podcast.
Check out the episode of spotify, apple podcastor in the player below.
