This website uses cookies

Read our Privacy policy and Terms of use for more information.

A 22-year-old biology graduate applied for 511 jobs and was rejected by Whole Foods after an interview with a chatbot named Sage. A computer science graduate spent two years looking for work before enrolling in a Ph.D. program. A public-health job seeker finally got an interview with two actual people, only to watch one recruiter apparently fall asleep. “At that point, just give me the A.I.,” he told The New York Times. Asked to describe the job search, young people kept returning to the same phrase: “the void.”

We’ve given young people plenty of advice about how to avoid ending up there. Get a degree. Learn to code. Earn a credential. In Work Shift, Emily M. Dickens and Elissa Salas describe Molly, who enrolled in a six-month coding bootcamp after working for a few years. By graduation, the market had shifted, employers weren’t convinced her credential demonstrated she could do the work, and AI coding tools were taking on some entry-level tasks. She had followed the advice. The promised opportunity failed to materialize.

Even figuring out where the jobs are is complicated. Inside Higher Ed reports on an analysis across the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia comparing student interest in courses with employer job listings. Business and engineering showed gaps between employer demand and student interest in all four countries. The study measures interest rather than actual enrollment, but it’s a reminder that the information behind our advice goes stale faster than the advice does.

Some schools are making those connections more concrete. In Ohio’s Lakota district, cybersecurity students meet monthly with industry professionals and can pursue internships with employers including Fifth Third Bank, Kroger and Great American Insurance. Education Week’s reporting describes a program built with employers, starting with a lunch where district staff asked what students would need to get hired. In Arizona, K-12 Dive reports that Western Maricopa Education Center has almost no vacancies among its roughly 100 CTE instructors. Competitive pay helps: its teachers average about $85,000 against a state average of $65,000. So does public investment: Voters approved a $415 million bond to expand its campuses.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift’s advice to her daughters includes preparing specific examples, researching the people interviewing you and finding a warm connection. Schools can help students practice those things and meet those people before the first application goes unanswered. Swift also advises against bringing iced coffee to an interview, which puts her on one side of a debate that started on TikTok in September and, CNBC reports, hasn’t cooled off.

Then there’s Carmello. In DREAM ON’s latest episode, he goes from earning less than $24,000 at Pizza Hut to $60,000 plus overtime at an Atlanta data center after a free, 16-week Per Scholas bootcamp. The offer sounded like a scam. It led to a job. Per Scholas is itself adjusting its training toward data-center work as AI threatens some of the entry-level tech roles it has historically prepared people to fill.

That’s the work behind the federal bet on short-term credentials. StriveTogether CEO Jennifer Blatz writes in RealClearEducation that Workforce Pell’s success will depend on local connections among schools, training providers and employers, especially in rural communities where each may be miles apart. She points to Learn to Earn Dayton, where career navigators work inside high schools to connect students with employers and college credit. Before another student signs up for six months of training, someone should be able to explain which employers recognize it, what graduates earn and how they’ll get from the classroom to an interview.

— Thomas

K-12 Education

Higher Education

Federal Policy & Politics

2026 Elections

Early Learning & Child Care

State & Local News

Educator Talent & Staffing

AI & Technology

Student Health, Safety & Nutrition

Workforce & Career Pathways

School Choice

Also Reading

Job Opportunities

Looking for your next opportunity in education? W/A Jobs features 3,100+ career opportunities from 300+ organizations across the education industry.

Recommended for you

View all
caret-right