Universities are such: They put a lot of people into the job-market
every year.

Recessions are such: They put EVEN more people into the job-market
and make sure they stay that way and take a lower pay.

The issue for fresh graduates in a recession is that all the good
jobs seemed to be snatched up by recently laid-off 35-year olds who
are desperate and willing to take a huge paycut. And many fresh
graduates are forced to take jobs that doesn’t even need high
school education.

I have heard this many times, “Well, this is how it is. You just
have to take what you can get in this market.”

Does your degree count for nothing??!

If you only know how to look for a job using OLD conventional,
outdated ways in this knowledge economy (or would only take jobs
based on your conventional outdated mindset), the answer is, “Yes,
your degree really counts for nothing.”

To start with, most people are looking for jobs at the wrong
places… places like Monster, JobsDB, Career Times, Job Market…

Now, here’s what you can do to recession-proof yourself:

1. Decide on what you REALLY want and the kind of work you are
interested in (Yes, work that you’ll care about) and TELL people
about it.

Yes, this means NETWORKING!

2. Do free work for the industry, company, project that you are
interested in.

No, free work is not an internship.

Free work is done remotely (i.e. off-site). This means that you can
work for people in any part of the world. To the employer, it is
called “outsourcing.”

Employers usually worry about wasting time and money when they
hire. These are the two big risks. With free work, you remove the
risks altogether. They don’t have to set up a desk for you, they
don’t have to spend too much time to train you, they don’t even
have to care that much about you.

They’d also have really low expectations of you. And that’s where
you can over-deliver!

Yes, no salary now but the objective is to secure trust with the
employer and prove your worth so that you will earn much more later
when you secure the job. BTW, having a degree does not mean you are
entitled to a job an pay-cheque.

What you need to do is this:

“I’d like to work on project ABC for you. I’ll work on it for the
next 2 weeks and give you an update on my progress every 2 days.

“What I need is some direction about the project and what
outcome/result you’d like to get with some feedback on my regular
email updates.  This will make sure that I am on the right track.

“If you don’t like my work at the end of the 2 weeks, you can trash
it and we’ll move on. No lost for you and no hard feelings from me.

“But if you do like my work, I’d like to discuss doing more work
for you.”

When you do get the free work, do it professionally and speedily.
And always appreciate the opportunity that you have been given.

And by the way, you don’t have to do free work alone – Gather up a
few friends and work together!