Graduating from college isn’t the reliable ticket to a good job that it once was, contributing to college students' career fears. Landing a job often takes months (12% of 2023 grads were still looking for a job 6 months after graduation) and many grads end up settling (1 year out, over half are in a role that doesn’t require a college degree).

How can we help address college students' career fears? That’s the question we’re working on with our partner organization, a non-profit that provides comprehensive college access and success services, from admissions advising to career preparation. Through interviews and surveys with their students, we’ve been learning a lot—from how much they underestimate what strong interview prep looks like to how rarely they tap into their networks.

There’s one trend that especially stands out when addressing college students' career fears: students don’t start their job search early enough. Of the unemployed grads we surveyed, 76% hadn’t started looking at jobs until after they’d graduated. Those months without income are hard and stressful—so why don’t they start looking sooner?

They’re Paralyzed by Fear of Failure

One reason we found: seniors were avoiding their job search out of fear of failure, underscoring the need to address college students' career fears.

In the words of one unemployed grad: “I didn’t have much internship experience and was worried I wouldn’t find an ideal job, so I procrastinated on applying to my dream roles.” Her hireability wasn’t anything out of the ordinary—56% of college students who want an internship don’t get one—but fighting imposter syndrome is a constant battle for first-gen students.

And she wasn’t alone. When we looked across students’ stories, college students' career fears tended to cluster around a few common themes:

  • Not good enough.
    “️My biggest fear is not being qualified enough/not having the necessary experience.”—Brian
  • I’ll have to settle.
    “My biggest fear is not getting a job that makes you feel fulfilled and makes you burnout.” —Nimo
  • A bad start will stick.
    “My biggest fear is your first job hindering your trajectory and not being something you like.”—Godson

It’s only human to avoid things that you expect to hurt.

We Created an Activity to Address College Students' Career Fears Head-On

What can we do about this paralyzing fear of failure, exemplifying most of college students' career fears? It’s a prime opportunity to lean on interventions from the academic world of behavioral science:

  • Self-compassion—Expressing understanding and kindness to yourself as you might express to a friend insulates you from getting overwhelmed by failure or rejection.
  • Distanced self-talk—Referring to yourself in the third person reduces distress.
  • Saying-is-believing—The act of writing down a message reinforces your belief in it.

Read the full article about addressing college students' career fears by Maddie Kau at ideas42.