My son graduated from college in the spring and soon my daughter will begin her freshman year. It is a momentous time for our family, but one tempered by the knowledge that college graduates are experiencing a much tougher job market than we did decades ago.
Competition for entry level positions is fierce, and many recent graduates are struggling to launch their careers. In fact, a Randstad USA analysis of 126 million global job postings shows entry level employment opportunities are shrinking, across industries. We’ve seen hiring crunches before and I’ll share my advice later in this article.
You may not know this but our company, TBF, was founded by my father Robert Boehm (now retired), myself and my younger brother Adam. I lead the company today along with Adam, and we depend on the talents of an incredible team of professionals to succeed as a business.
Our hope for the new generation entering the workforce is that they will secure the jobs they need, excel in them, and that workers of all ages will benefit from collaborating across the generations, just as we have over the years at TBF.
Obstacles
One of the biggest obstacles facing Generation Z job seekers is fewer available positions. “The number of entry level jobs is shrinking globally and has dropped by 29% since January 2024,” Randstad USA reported in late 2025. “In the U.S., postings for junior roles have grown much more slowly than those for mid-career and senior positions–rising just 3% since January 2024, compared to increases of 31% and 25%, respectively.”
You might think qualified graduates from competitive schools would be immune from problems securing entry level jobs in their chosen professions. Not so in the current job market. My son Brandon recently graduated with a finance degree from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, which U.S. News and World Report ranks among the Top 10 undergraduate business schools in the nation, but I know from social media discussions that some of his classmates are having trouble landing job offers.
In years past, job openings were plentiful in the fall of a student’s senior year for employment the following summer. That has changed.
Employers who still hire that far out sometimes end up over-hiring for the number of positions they anticipate. They subsequently delay the start date in hopes the applicant will go elsewhere. Second, employers who used to hire that far out did so because they thought they would miss out on top talent if they delayed hiring. Now, employers know that there will be talent available later, so they tend to hire only when they have immediate needs. If you are not offered a position after your rising senior summer internship, you are likely looking for employment post-graduation.
Strategies
One way students can boost their chances of job success is by getting involved in college clubs and activities related to their intended careers, outside of the classroom. Professors who oversee the clubs often have professional connections that can be useful for students later.
Once the job hunt formally begins, LinkedIn, Handshake and other platforms can provide visibility on employment openings in the marketplace. To attract real offers, however, job seekers who network have a clear advantage.
The point of networking is building relationships with people who could prove helpful in the job search, and this requires more than sending out a few emails and texts. It means picking up the phone and asking to meet them in person, perhaps for coffee, or meeting online when distance is an issue. Building a network of helpful contacts can take six to eight months, including follow-up with your connections via emails, texts or calls to keep them informed of your progress and learn about new opportunities.
Why is networking so effective? It’s because each of your connections has relationships with others in their industry, multiplying the potential opportunities. If you reach out to enough people, you’ll also find a close connection or two who are natural mentors—willing to offer career guidance if they feel you are working diligently and proving worthy of their time and effort.
Which brings us to the value of finding, and being, mentors. Informal and formal mentoring relationships are incredibly helpful for job seekers and workers who want to build their skills and careers. Research by AARP shows 86% of those surveyed felt mentorship was important to their professional development. Additionally, while most mentorships followed the traditional older-to-younger pattern, one-third of workers said they had mentored someone older than themselves or generational peers.
Collaborating across generations in the workplace sparks creativity, new insights and a sense of energy. In AARP’s research, employees surveyed said:
- working with younger generations helps them to share their knowledge (87%), gain new perspectives (85%), better understand different communication styles (83%), boost creativity (78%), stay current with technology trends (73%) and learn more about AI (55%).
- working with older colleagues gives them a fresh perspective (87%), opportunities to learn new skills (85%), insights into different communication styles (82%) and contributes to a more productive work environment (78%).
I know the value that multiple generations can bring to the workplace as my father, brother and I built TBF together from the ground up. We succeeded because each of the partners worked hard, refused to let anyone down, had a specific role to play, excelled at that role, and created a financially profitable business.
Attitude
I’ve talked a lot about the importance of hard work, diligence and taking personal responsibility in this article. These are qualities valued in my family, from generation to generation.
My father created a special book to pass on this wisdom and his advice to younger generations in the family. He gives copies to each grandchild when they graduate from high school and are headed to college. The book is full of “Poppyisms,” as we call them, but there are two that are especially helpful for professionals building their careers.
“You are the master of your own destiny.”
and
“The harder you work, the luckier you will get.”
Brett Boehm
Brett Boehm is CEO and Co-Founder of TBF, a commercial debt acquisition company that pioneered debt buying in the equipment finance industry. He can be reached at bboehm@tbfgroup.com
